As part of our graduate scheme blog series, we interviewed Connor Ellis. Connor graduated from University of Essex this year and is looking to progress his career with BrightGen’s graduate scheme. We’ve summarised the highlights from the conversation in this blog post.
Tell me about an average day in the life of a BrightGen graduate!
The most important task for the day is Trailhead, Salesforce’s learning platform. We spend at least two hours a day taking Trailhead modules, as there is so much Salesforce knowledge to learn. We are also given BrightGen challenges. These are more practical sessions where we apply our learning.
Every day we have a standup meeting, where we go over what we have been working on and what we have planned for the day ahead. All of our graduate team has a daily catch-up too, managed by Carella – our manager. Carella makes sure we’re comfortable with the tasks we’re doing and checks whether we need any extra support.
On a weekly basis we have onboarding sessions with the rest of the business, such as from the Business Success, Delivery or Marketing teams. This is a way to find out how those departments work, who runs them, and how the business fits together. We also have lunch & learns with other Salesforce partners, and also our customers on how BrightGen supports them, which builds our understanding of different use cases.
How do you socialise with your colleagues while you’re all working remotely?
Every two weeks we have a virtual coffee break, where we can be mixed into a small group with anyone from the company. We also have a social once a month called the Brain of BrightGen, which is a fun quiz where everybody has a laugh and tries to win! We also join a regular social with the Technology Enablement team. There’s a sense of family within BrightGen – a bit like Salesforce’s ‘Ohana’. Our graduate mentors are great too – and of course, the graduates! We all have a good laugh together.
There are also quite a few social groups at BrightGen aligned to different interests. I joined the Cuisine Club where we go over recipes and post pictures of food that has been made.
How will you progress your career once you’ve completed BrightGen’s graduate scheme?
In six months I can choose to go into the Delivery or Service team. I currently have my eyes set on the Service team. However, I’m a bit conflicted, as I love the look of both of them!
Before I started at BrightGen my knowledge of JavaScript, Apex and Salesforce was very poor. Using the Salesforce Trailheads, and with the help of my BrightGen mentors, I have been able to improve my skills, not only in JavaScript, Salesforce and Apex, but also within professional programming standards. This will strengthen my career in the Salesforce ecosystem.
I have also joined a Brand Ambassadors group, in collaboration with Marketing. We notify Marketing when we come across any documents or presentations that don’t look right from a brand perspective. We also have a monthly meeting where we discuss how we can improve our branding processes and share our opinions on how we can market ourselves better. This gives me a good understanding of the business and how it works.
What highlights have you had from your listening to conversations with customers?
We have had a series of workshops with customers, where I learned how BrightGen has been able to help them. It’s interesting to see how far Salesforce can reach within the business and what it’s capable of.
For example, in a session with our customer, Halfords, we learned how their admins worked and how they used Salesforce to restructure the entire framework of the company.
What would you say is the best thing about working at BrightGen?
The best thing about working for BrightGen in my opinion is you’re not rushed to learn everything and everyone here is like family. So all our colleagues are there to help you.
There is a lot of collaboration and friendliness. It’s very tightly connected and that’s what I enjoy the most about working here.
Would you recommend BrightGen’s graduate programme to other graduates?
I would definitely recommend any graduate to join BrightGen. The technology enablement team has been very helpful. They make sure to teach you all the content you need to know before you take on a Salesforce certification or challenge. They also let you learn at your own pace. You are able to learn and progress with Salesforce learning and BrightGen helps you further progress your career.
If you’d like to progress your career with BrightGen, email [email protected].