From Air Force to SalesForce
Tom Strathearn recently joined Pracedo as a consultant through the Salesforce Military Alliance, which connects veterans and military spouses to free training, certifications, and career opportunities within the Salesforce ecosystem.
As well as being a Royal Air Force veteran, Tom has taken part in Brazilian Ju-Jitsu tournaments in Melbourne and Japan. We caught up with him at the end of his first week.
How do you feel your first week has gone?
I feel like things have been going well. I’ve enjoyed getting to grips with the job and learning about how consultants work. So far, I’ve been doing quite a lot of shadowing during meetings and helping out a bit on projects.
Why did you decide to start a career in Salesforce?
When I started looking for a career outside of The Royal Air Force, I found the Salesforce community really welcoming. I think my experience of coming from a military background and the sense of family and community I had there was similar to the Salesforce ecosystem. That was an important deciding factor for me.
After attending a Salesforce Admin User Group, where everyone was really friendly, I knew that this was the right industry for me.
Why did you decide consulting was the right job for you?
As part of the Salesforce Military Program, I got selected to attend a Dreamforce event where I met some consultants and chatted to them about what it was like to do their job. What appealed to me the most was how proactive and engaged they were, as well as the way they learned fast and on the job.
The Military Alliance supported me to work towards my Admin Certification which I earned before joining Pracedo.
What skills from the Air Force do you think will help you as a consultant?
The mindset is really important. We had a saying in the Air Force: ‘agile, adaptable, capable, Air Force.’ I guess the same thing could be said for Salesforce! The ability to change and think on your feet is invaluable. In consulting you have to accept that change happens and is something you need to adapt too. I’ve already seen that in my first week!
What certification is next for you?
People have been suggesting App Builder to me so possibly that one, although I’m also interested in Service and Sales Cloud. Maybe I’ll look for one where my experience with maps can help.
