Welcome to another issue of our “Get to Know” series! We hope you’re loving the content and getting to know your coworkers a little better. This week, we have Godson.
Godson DS works as Salesforce Team Lead at CloudQ. He obtained his engineering degree in Electronics and Communication. His teammates describe him as a fun-loving, easygoing, and trustworthy person who has a solution for any problem his team goes to him for.
How do you prefer to start your day?
Usually, I wake up early and work out. At work, I check through my emails and to-do list for the day and start preparing my course of action. I prefer tea over coffee, but I don’t have it frequently. It is not a necessity to sustain me throughout the day.
What’s your go-to productivity trick?
To keep me productive, I take breaks frequently between work. For example, if I am handling a complex problem at work, I will try to find the solution for a few hours, and if it does not work out, I simply close my laptop and relax. I restart the next day with a fresh mind, and it always helps me to solve the problem. Keeping My Mind Fresh.
Are you an early bird or a night owl?
Till Covid hit us, I was a night owl. Later on, I changed my habits and started to wake up early. I faced some health issues due to my late nights, and to keep my mind and body healthy, I have become an early riser now. I believe our parents are the best example of the benefits of waking up early. You get a whole day by waking up early.
Who has influenced you most when it comes to how you approach your work?
I have no one specific who has influenced my work style. I would say I prefer to learn from everyone around me. I believe knowledge comes from everyone despite position or age. I suggest to my teammates that no one is perfect, yet everyone has to offer you some kind of knowledge. So look around and learn from everyone. Looking up to a single person leaves you with limited information, whereas multiple learning sources are abundant.
What behavior or personality trait do you most attribute your success to, and why?
I can say my COMMITMENT to my work is what makes me successful. For example, when I am at the office or during my working hours, I am fully dedicated to finding the solution and making the project a success even if I find time to have fun with my colleagues. It’s like if I commit a date to finish the work, I finish it before the due date. That’s how I roll. This is the advice I give my teammates, too.
What was your first job?
I joined a company in Chennai as a Java Developer. I have a lot of fun memories working there. First jobs are always memorable. I am from an electronics and communications background. I did get a job through campus placement in my core field. I had waited for the offer letter for six months, and due to some issues, I did not get the job. So, I had to search for other jobs in the core which was difficult. I needed to go for expensive courses to get a core job. As I already completed the Java course during my college days, I opted to work as a java developer.
What’s the worst job you’ve ever had, and what did you learn from it?
No such experience.
What’s a mistake you made early on in your career, and what did you learn from it?
I have made no such mistakes, but I have seen my friends face escalation in projects with the clients or the managers. From their experiences, I have learned a lot about project management, client management, and team management.
What led you to this career?
I love programming a lot. Even if we move to the core field, coding is part and parcel of my world. It’s all about programming. As long as coding is involved, I am happy with my job.
What energizes you at work?
I always get to learn something new every time. Even if my day is filled with office work, if I get some leisure time, I prefer to try out new technologies and the latest features. I prefer to try out new languages also. For example, I developed a password manager using VBscript and HTML for my personal use. I try out new things, and if they work out, I share them with my teammates for them to learn. Other than that, to keep me energetic, I have fun sessions with my teammates and try to interact with them. A team leader is as good as his team.
What’s one thing that surprised you about working at CloudQ?
When I joined CloudQ, I felt the team was like my extended family right away which was surprising.
What’s a work-related accomplishment that you’re proud of?
In the early stage of my career, my first company was fully based on medical data. It was all about data mining and selling that to clients. Our clients were facing issues in filtering out the required articles from large quantities of data. I created a tool based on Java that runs through all the articles and fetches all the important keywords, including the synonyms of the word, that were also retrieved. It made the clients’ work easier, and I was appreciated for the work I did.
What’s the biggest misconception people have about your position?
I do not think there are misconceptions about my position. I have no teammates taking me for granted as I am very hands-on with my team and very close.
How would your colleagues and team describe you?
They say that I am very dependable. They believe that if they come to me with a problem, I will for sure find a solution.
What are your preferred methods of communication and why?
For higher-level communication with management, I use email, and with my team, I prefer to use communication tools provided by the company and WhatsApp. I am always close to my team, and I do not over pressure them with work until, and unless, there is an urgent requirement. Sometimes, I have to be strict if they are not committed to work. But I make sure to talk to them to know what issues they are facing and try to resolve them. I keep monitoring my team personally.
Explain a project where you led your team to success.
Here at CloudQ, we had a project named Accesslife which had to be completed within three months. Niyas sir had directed me to finish the project in two months. We split the project into phases, and the first phase consisted of 80% of the project. It consisted of the design to the final product we completed within one and half months. I am very proud of this accomplishment.
What is Salesforce?
There are a lot of CRMs available, but nothing compares to Salesforce. Salesforce is a wholesome package of features that helps you manage all the aspects of your business from anywhere, anytime, at a reasonable price. Salesforce has ready-to-use features which need only a little customization. Salesforce is accessible from anywhere, anytime.
What type of Salesforce projects have you implemented the most?
I have mostly worked on the Sales Cloud.
Explain to me as if I am a client. Why should I choose Salesforce products?
As I said earlier, Salesforce offers you everything out of the box which saves you money and time without the need to spend a lot of time developing a product. Is like you can launch a product in 6 months, whereas it takes 18 months with other programming languages. Salesforce takes care of storing your data and upgrades. Salesforce takes care of data security and hosting. It’s user-friendly, ready to use, customizable, and secure.
What certifications do you have that prepared you for this position?
I have Platform Developer 1 certification.
What are your responsibilities as a Salesforce Team Lead?
I have to find solutions for the technical complexity the team faces, and I work on the design aspect of new requirements. I have to take care of the team, client management, and project management.
What are a few tricks and tips you would like to pass on to aspiring Salesforce executives?
You need to get Salesforce Administrator and App developer certifications to learn the basics. Use Trailhead to test different features of Salesforce and practice the technique.
How do you prefer to end your day?
I prefer to end my day reading books, which is a habit I developed during the lockdown. I now try to stay away from social media mostly. I prefer to read history, finance, and politics. I was an avid reader during my childhood days, but I stopped once mobile phones raided my life. But, the lockdown has helped me come back to my reading habits.
Thank you, Godson, for being part of this series, and we wish you all the best for your future endeavors at HNR company. We are proud of your achievements and contributions to CloudQ.
If you enjoyed this read, be sure and check out some of our other “Get to Know” posts on the blog!
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