An inspiring story to share with up and coming Salesforce enthusiasts as we go into the new year.

Prior to Dreamforce this year, I had a LinkedIn connection reach out to me requesting to meet up while we were both in San Francisco. 

In our discussion, I learned she was a little reluctant in asking for my (or anyone’s) time, which I think is the case for many of us, but I’m glad she did as one of the important suggestions that I made to her was to work on overcoming fear of rejection and to ask others for what you’re looking for. Sure, they may say no or ignore you and if that happens you’re not any worse off than you were before asking (other than maybe a slightly bruised ego). 

I used our Dreamforce meetup as a good example of asking, with the hopes that more positive ideas and suggestions came out of our discussion, but she had to take the 1st step to get my attention.

Fast forward 3 months later, she received word from the local Salesforce User Group that a company was looking for an Admin. She decided to be proactive and reach out to the company director and ask if the position was still open. It was and she was able to put her candidacy in.

After multiple interviews, a can-do attitude, providing honest answers to questions she didn’t know, and asking intelligent questions about the companies goals, processes, etc. while expressing her passion, genuine interest and why she felt she was the right person for the position, she received the offer.

Now, this didn’t come without speaking and being rejected by other companies along the way, but I think as each door closed she learned something new, made some adjustments and started getting slightly comfortable with being uncomfortable, which inevitably built her confidence for the next interview.

This story and the right opportunity existed for her as it has for many others and will for anyone else who’s willing to take a few bumps and risks in their path to achieve what they’ve set out to do.

If you haven’t gotten that 1st Salesforce career break yet, 2019 has your name written all over it.