From Futureforce Intern to Full-time Employee: Beatriz Mendonça de Oliveira

As Salesforce continues to expand its reach across Argentina, Brazil and Mexico, Futureforce has also established its intern and graduate programs across these regions, helping to ramp students and graduates for success in their careers. One such example is Solution Consulting Specialist Beatriz Mendonça de Oliveira - who joined Salesforce in May 2020 as a Customer Success Intern in Brazil - dialing in remotely from her home in Saō Paulo. So what was her reaction to joining Salesforce as a Futureforce intern?

“It was honestly the best day of my life, I never imagined that I would be able to join Salesforce - but the offer arrived and I was (and still am) so grateful for this opportunity! I was concerned about the language barrier, I studied English for four years ago but I was worried about talking publicly. But the job offer made me more determined to improve so I joined English classes offered internally in the company and studied everyday. It’s still a daily challenge but I feel my English has improved a lot!”

Beatriz’s first week mainly consisted of general onboarding and settling into life at Salesforce from home. She joined meetings with Customer Success colleagues to begin understanding the needs of the customer and think about the solution always in terms of the customer.

“We are dedicated to putting the customer at the center of everything we do to deliver a great customer experience and success to their business by following the best practices and leveraging Salesforce Clouds and products. I also support my colleague and Trailguide in projects like configuration of the platform, and professional services.”

Despite the virtual nature of the program, Beatriz and her team have found ways to stay connected, and more importantly, maintaining a good work/life balance throughout the last year.

“Everyday I am connecting with my manager, my work friends; maybe because I joined remotely during the start of Covid-19 but I don’t have problems with staying connected. In fact I wasted more time when I had to commute to college with the traffic, but now I use this time for studying and other things - and it’s good to stay at home and stay with my family.

Beatriz has also had an opportunity to give back during her internship - utilizing the 56 volunteer time off that ALL interns at Salesforce are given.

“Everyday, I try to do a least 30 minutes of virtual volunteering such as Hot Mapping, which supports the The Missing Maps Project, founded by Humanitarian OpenStreetMap Team, and maps places that are literally 'missing' from any map. This helps reduce their vulnerability to disasters and disease. For me, it's important to do VTO and feel that you’re helping the community, people and giving back.”

Beatriz’s trajectory from interns to full time employee occurred in just a space of five months. We asked her for some advice for fellow interns starting on their careers, or other students hoping to kickstart their career at salesforce?

“My one key piece of advice is to seize this opportunity as if it’s the last opportunity in the world, be available and give your best.”

“I want to follow in the footsteps of my manager and build my career inside Salesforce, just give my best daily and support everybody in my team. I want to grow here; I don’t have the words to describe to say how proud I am to be part of this company. And again, I’m so grateful for my Futureforce recruiter who helps me everyday, my manager, and my Trailguide who supports me everyday in all projects.”

You can learn more about opportunities available to interns and new grads at Salesforce across Argentina, Brazil and Mexico on our Futureforce website.