Alumni Spotlight: Glenn Goodwin

Glenn is a U.S. Army veteran and member of the Merivis Foundation Cohort III Salesforce training program. He is currently a Salesforce System Admin for a small energy company, Elect Energy based in Plano, Texas.

Through the Merivis Foundation in partnership with Vetforce, I have recently gone through the Salesforce Admin 201 training program in Austin, Texas. As a Vietnam veteran, I was thrilled to have discovered the amazing opportunity these two excellent organizations provide to military veterans. Thanks to Vetforce, the Merivis Foundation and most of all, Salesforce for recognizing these extraordinary individuals who gave so much to our country. We certainly appreciate it.

I applied for the Merivis Foundation’s Salesforce training program in the spring of 2017. With the extensive capabilities of Salesforce, it was important for me to learn about this extensive CRM platform to be effective in my role at my company. We needed to organize our customer database, track & convert leads to create more business and provide our clients & prospects with information about the ongoing information specific to the energy business. I knew all of these and more could be addressed with Salesforce but only if I knew how to use the capabilities available on the platform. As I went through the well laid out, efficient and comprehensive training, this program was clear this would be very challenging for me. The depth of the Salesforce platform with all the pieces and parts was extensive and sometimes overwhelming but I persevered. Having never graduated from college, this course and subsequent certification test was something I hadn’t experienced in several decades so it was tough. After completing the course which included a substantive, multiple hour certification prep call with our entire cohort (which was extremely helpful in prepping for the test), I passed the certification test my second attempt!

I want to give a major shout out to Jason Noma and all the Vetforce team who offer this opportunity to veterans. They do an awesome job! And the great group at the Merivis Foundation who run the programming as a 501c3 nonprofit, including Hector and Kate Perez, Joe Castro, our instructor Dan Goldston as well as the rest of their incredible team. They have put together a sharp, comprehensive training program preparing each of us to take the certification test and more importantly, to be an effective Salesforce team member. Their attention to detail, the inclusion of volunteer coaches (mine was Svatka Simpson…she was incredible and so supportive) assigned to each of our 19 students in our cohort, the networking with potential employers, providing new headshots; along with LinkedIn, resume, networking & job interview coaching was an incredible and valuable experience.

I feel it is important to share my perspective on the level of difficulty of the training and particularly the certification test itself. It was, without question, the most demanding training and test I have ever taken. I realize the Salesforce certification team makes it that way by design. The training and certification tests must be difficult to maintain the level of excellence and support the Salesforce brand and most of all, support your customers. Salesforce has a significant responsibility to build and create efficiencies for each company they work with and each team member must be ready and able to consistently deliver successful solutions to its customers. Regarding the certification test… If this test was easy, you run the risk of having an inefficient team delivering problematic results. Obviously, maintaining that level of quality is why Salesforce has become the respected and successful international brand it is today.

As a 68-year old who never stops working and more importantly, is always looking to learn about exciting and new technologies that create opportunities in the workforce, I found the depth of the Salesforce platform very powerful because of its many facets and capabilities. In addition, the awesome, encouraging and friendly team members are always ready to help. Overall, this experience has been quite inspiring.

Thank you again for this opportunity to learn, engage and be a part of the Salesforce network.

Interested in sharing Glenn’s experience? Apply to be a part of the Merivis Foundation Cohort IV Salesforce training program. Learn more or visit www.merivisfoundation.org/apply to get started.