From Boardroom to Classroom…

Presenting to a group of partners and business executives is one thing; standing in front of a group of 14-15year olds is something completely different. This is what a team from the Salesforce.com Paris office did last month as they ventured out to Lycee Voillaume, a suburban secondary school in Paris where they spoke about cloud computing and business skills.

“These kids are growing up in a world of cloud computing, and without knowing it, are probably using applications run on a number of different clouds on a daily basis,” said Bertrand Hommell, RVP – CFL, Salesforce.com. “The cloud computing talks were well received, with students asking questions and showing great interest in the latest innovations. So intrigued by topics, the students even gave up their lunch break to sit with the team from Salesforce.com to dive deeper into the subject and ask some really in-well thought out questions, which impressed the whole team.”

The second part of the day involved resume building and business skills. The team worked with the students to develop their resumes and taught them how to identify key skills that would be of interest to potential future employers. Speaking with the Salesforce team gave students a new confidence in their capabilities and talents:

“Students didn’t recognize how worthwhile their skill sets were, or maybe they were too shy to speak up,” said Bertrand Hommell, RVP – CFL, Salesforce.com.”It was amazing to help them identify their skills. For young people it’s often difficult to ask some of these questions and I feel it was a great opportunity to discuss some of these topics in an open and friendly environment.”

About Lycee Voillaume:

Lycee Voillaume is a secondary school which teaches technical and commercial subjects and is located in suburbs of Paris. The population it serves is by large new immigrants, often from African/Arabic background.