The Salesforce training academy for leading UX communities

oe:gen’s Salesforce Developers sharing knowledge

Pete Fells

PETE FELLS

Pete is the Managing Director for UK Salesforce Partner, oe:gen. Day-today, he makes sure his team have the environment, direction, and motivation to fulfill their potential. He’s also a marathon runner in aid of Mind the mental health charity, and a passionate advocate for accessible learning and equality.

OE:GEN IS THE LEADING UK SALESFORCE PARTNER IN UX COMMUNITIES. WE CAUGHT UP WITH MANAGING DIRECTOR PETER FELLS TO TALK ABOUT THEIR SALESFORCE-TRAINING ACADEMY THAT DEFIES CONVENTIONAL EDUCATION PATHWAYS.

Hey Pete, tell us how oe:gen began

When we started off, we were just four people doing web development. Specifically, internal systems. There was me doing all the development work, 2 UX design guys, and Paul on sales and marketing. That was primarily where we began our journey.

When did Salesforce come into the picture?

We were all about classic Microsoft web-server architecture, SQL server, and .NET— but then one customer bought a Community for their business and asked us if we had any experience with it. We said we didn’t, but we have developers and designers that’ll try anything.

We ended up being able to really tailor their Community for them. But it wasn’t until we were then contacted about designing a system for the BBC that it all started to become a bit more real.

Could you tell me about the impact that’s had?

Well, we’ve grown organically over several years. We’ve had some ups and downs, and it plateaued a couple of years ago. Then we decided to fully-embrace Salesforce. What helped us, especially around Communities, was our background in UX web design. We had a re-boot of the company, started working closely with partner managers and AEs, and that’s when the growth started — and the oe:gen academy came about.

What’s the oe:gen academy?

It’s for people who have never had experience in Salesforce before who want to learn — across all kinds of backgrounds, ages, and abilities — not just those fresh out of university.

“We love that level of self-determination where people can take control of their own careers and development and push themselves forward.”

So, they don’t have to have a degree?

No! The initial focus was to create apprenticeships to bring in young people who wanted a different pathway after school. Instead of going to university and spending so many years getting in lots of debt and then coming to train in Salesforce, we thought: ‘let’s get them in, introduce them to Salesforce and get them excited from day one’.

How would someone apply to something like this?

We started to get people from completely different backgrounds and ages as well, so it’s not just about bringing young people in. It’s for anyone who wants a career in Salesforce.

So that’s the premise of the academy really, a different education pathway and a chance to be trained in Salesforce, get that real-world experience, and love it.

What career options would someone have with the oe:gen academy?

They can do config stuff, or they can become consultants or developers. We’ve covered all of those now, so we have people currently doing different pathways with that. It entirely depends where they want to go with their career.

So, what’s the training like?

One of the first things we do is get them set up on our myTrailhead and pick trails out depending on the pathway they want to take. And along the way we’re helping them in the real-world scenarios of working with Salesforce as a platform. Plus, the whole oe:gen team give support, so they have experience working with other developers, consultants and configs. They sit together and get that real-world insight and perspective.

We allow people to work at their own speed, as well. We set a minimum requirement, but we try and encourage people to exceed and push themselves. We love that level of selfdetermination where people can take control of their own careers and development and push themselves forward.

There’s a great careers page on our website which has a contact form to apply. Another way is to come along to our quarterly Nottingham Salesforce Administrator’s Group and Salesforce Women in Tech events.

You’ll meet the people who work here, and you’ll get to learn some great stuff too. The Salesforce Women in Tech events always have inspiring speakers, and the Salesforce Admin one covers a lot of Salesforce topics, so you get to understand the key things about Salesforce. You can come and talk to the people who do it, day in and day out, and get an insight into what it’s like working with Salesforce.

If you’re looking to join the oe:gen team or want a stunning UX Salesforce Community, get in touch with Pete via the oe:gen website: www.oegen.co.uk

Blazing trails the oe:gen way

oe:gen’s Head of Salesforce Development working alongside a Salesforce Consultant