Meet the </salties>: Dylan Richts

What is your role at SALT and what excites you about working with SALT?

My role at SALT - School of Applied Technology is to project manage the set up of our new Salesforce Developer training program, which involves ensuring the curriculum, marketing, sales and recruitment teams are all supported to implement the new program. I’m really excited to work with SALT for two main reasons.?

Firstly, the approach, specifically the focus on practical, hands on, learning is something that really complements the theoretical Salesforce training available. This will put the candidates in great stead for the workplace.?

Secondly, the team has been incredibly welcoming and are just a bunch of really smart people who seem good at getting things done, so I am looking forward to working with them.?

Tell us a bit about yourself and your work before joining SALT

Most recently I consulted at Salesforce Foundation in Amsterdam, where I worked on developing a more accessible process for supporting external workforce development programs like SALT to set up their own Salesforce training programs. The goal was to ensure a greater number of young people are able to access the amazing roles that are available in the Salesforce ecosystem.

Prior to this I was Head of Partnerships at an awesome South Africa based software developer training non-profit called WeThinkCode, where I was responsible for finding funding and placement opportunities for candidates. It was here that I really came to appreciate the size of the gap for Salesforce skills in the market.

What strengths and skills do you bring to your position?

I think the most important skill that I bring to the position is the ability to look at a massive challenge and break it into manageable pieces. In addition, I really enjoy working with people, which is critical when the success of the project hinges on the buy-in of so many internal and external stakeholders.???

How is it to work in the tech industry??

While everyone is aware of the big tech companies, I actually think the line between traditional industries and the tech industry has become really blurry in the past few years. No matter whether you are an FMCG, construction or legal business, you need technical talent and it is often these more traditional industries that struggle most to find it. I find SALT’s approach really interesting in this regard because many of the candidates are career switchers, so they come with valuable insights into how other industries operate, and we help them build the technical skills needed to solve challenges in these spaces.??

What random hobbies do you have?

I paint… terribly. Aside from a few classes in high school I have no training on technique, but I love it and have experimented with everything from oil paints to coffee. In addition, since moving to the Netherlands, I have been cycling everywhere, which isn’t a novel experience for those of you who grew up here, but is a revelation for those of us that come from places where our cities are made for cars not bikes. I absolutely love it!?