How one student took a leap of faith and embraced a post-pandemic career change after completing the Salesforce Career Administrator certificate program.

Diana had a longstanding career as an admin and in client relations when she felt the urge to “fire up her neurons” and change jobs. Then, the unexpected happened: the outbreak of COVID-19 forced Diana and many others to work from home. Diana didn’t expect that the pandemic would also allow her to carry out a professional audit on herself and serve as the push she needed to pursue a new skill.

In her previous role, Diana had the opportunity to use Salesforce as an end-user. She was intrigued and began to learn more about the program.

“I saw the kinds of mistakes that were made by end-users who were given too many permissions. I knew Salesforce had the potential to give you valuable client insights and that was the point I realized I had the confidence to flip roles and become an architect of Salesforce.”

The onset of the pandemic wasn’t a great time to look for a new job, but it was an excellent time to learn a new digital skill she was passionate about.

“It’s always important to explore ways to stay relevant at any stage of your career. I decided to enroll in the NYU Salesforce Administrator Career Certificate and gain the skills I needed to stay competitive. I also wanted to find a career environment that I would thrive in.”

However, Diana still had hesitations. She hadn’t been a student, in the traditional sense, for some time and this program was 100% online.

“But, I knew if I went with just a book or the Trailhead program without an instructor, it would not have yielded the same results. The fact that there were deadlines, but with a forgiveness period within reason was very important to me. I wanted to be accountable to myself, my time, and the instructor’s time.”

Once she began the Salesforce Administrator Career Certificate Program, she found it to be a well-designed program. Between the instructor, training materials, and the career guidance package Pathstream put together, the journey was seamless.

“The instructor had industry experience…he would draw from real-life experiences on working with the platform, how he used it, what the goal was, how he got there (what techniques or skills he used). Once you’re an efficient user, there are so many different ways to approach issues and build out your company’s platform.”

She appreciated the time the instructor gave students and recommended taking advantage of the office hours, which she found fundamental to the learning process. Even at times when she doubted herself, her instructor empowered her.

“When I learned about process automation, I would say I am not a linear thinker. My instructor said, ‘Yes you are Diana; you are a baker.’ He was able to identify skills that I didn’t realize translated.”

As she approached graduation, Diana worked closely with Career Services to tighten up her resume and make it more relevant. Her goal was to market herself for new Salesforce Administrator roles.

“I was able to use the work I produced from the hands-on labs during my interviews. For example, I learned how to build and use a portfolio, where I showcased the case studies we created for different projects. This showed potential employers that I was ready and knew what I was doing.”

Diana landed her new role as a Salesforce Administrator and Executive Assistant three months after completing the certificate program. She credits the skills she learned in the program and the help from Career Services.

When we asked Diana to give prospective students advice, she said,

“Making a decision to continue towards financial stability and commanding your worth can be hard. But be confident and keep yourself motivated and skills up to date. The certificate program can give you a career with so much flexibility and Pathstream’s Career Services will guide you and help you define your career objectives.”