Sparking an interest in Salesforce through a Masterclass by Bootcamps
To better equip students with the technical skills they need for today’s business world, Ted Rogers School of Management’s Business Career Hub partnered with Salesforce to run a Masterclass Bootcamp on the company’s leading customer relationship management (CRM) platform.
Hosted by Salesforce SPARK (an initiative dedicated to educating the next generation of Salesforce Solution Engineers, Consultants and Enthusiasts), this Masterclass was a 2-Level delivery on the foundations of Salesforce administration and an interactive activity to build a complete application. It also included an Industry Challenge event which was in the form of a Case Competition that was held at the Salesforce office in Toronto.
This opportunity was promoted to Ted Rogers School and Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU) Computer Engineering and Computer Science undergraduates. A total of 38 students participated in the 2-Level sessions of learning, and 17 students competed in the Industry Challenge.
Partnership and alumni involvement
Bootcamps has partnered with many consulting firms over the last five years to enable students with opportunities to learn and explore the Salesforce platform. This opportunity was championed by Mariia Andreiko, a Solution Engineer at Salesforce who is also a Ted Rogers School Finance Co-op graduate (’22).
Andreiko was a Bootcamp Facilitator as a student and also participated in one of BCH’s past partnerships on the Salesforce platform with Traction on Demand (now acquired by Salesforce) in 2021.
“Funnily enough, my journey with Salesforce began as an attendee in a similar industry Bootcamp, where I first discovered the potential of the tech world,” she points out. “Inspired by this, I took the initiative to bring the SPARK program to TMU so I could share what I had learned and help others unlock their own potential.”
Aakifah Luthfee, Manager, Bootcamps and Stakeholder Engagement, says that this Masterclass highlights the strength of our alumni and employer partnerships. “It creates meaningful opportunities for students and benefits for all involved – from skill-building and job offers for students, while allowing employers to build brand awareness and preview future talent,” she explains. “We are grateful to our alumni for championing these impactful initiatives.”
Learnings and opportunities
For the case competition, students were placed in teams and had one week to leverage their knowledge of Salesforce from the series to build a solution that would improve employee volunteer time tracking processes.
“The Salesforce Masterclass offered an excellent blend of hands-on learning of the CRM software and practical application through a case competition,” said third-year Business Technology Management Co-op student Wisha Khan. “The facilitators broke down the complexities of the software into clear, easy-to-understand steps. I highly recommend this exceptional series of workshops for any student eager to learn a key software used in the workplace.”
Khan was recognized as a standout presenter and was selected in addition to the first place team for prizes. The winning team received a voucher to complete the Salesforce Administrator exam for free, a virtual coffee chat with a lead from their recruitment team, and floor tickets to the Raptors opener game. In addition, some participants have since met with hiring managers from Integrate 2 Cloud and were provided job offers.
“Looking back, it’s incredible to think that the Bootcamps at the Ted Rogers School that helped shape my career are now making a tangible impact on the TMU community,” says Andreiko. “Empowering others to innovate and succeed through these opportunities fills me with pride, and I’m excited to see how Salesforce continues to inspire and elevate the next generation of tech leaders.”
