One of the most impactful partnerships that we have here at BIT is our relationship with salesforce. Through our partnership, we have created the BIT Academy which includes our salesforce administration course, Salesforce developers’ course and our apprenticeship program. Typically, when you hear the word sales, you automatically assume the worst, but a career with salesforce is so much more than you would imagine. Salesforce is a cloud-based software company that provides customer relationship management (CRM) software and applications focused on sales, customer service, marketing automation, analytics, and application development. And the best part about salesforce, their programs are accessible for professionals with disabilities!
Since the start of our sales force administration course, we have had many talented students come through the program! Recently, we have had the privilege of providing the course to two very gifted international students. Fawaz Abdul Rahman and Marina Aziz have demonstrated both A strong understanding for accessibility and leadership skills! They are now Salesforce certified passing the exam on their first tries! “I heard about BIT from a friend,” explains Aziz. “They took the Salesforce admin course and recommended me to take it as well. Back then, I had never heard of Salesforce, and honestly, I didn’t expect it to be that life changing. I’ve in fact, took a lot of online courses but I’ve never took one that lead me to be officially certified in something.” Aziz, who is from Egypt has a bachelors in languages and translations. She began her journey and technology when she taught herself some programming which includes JavaScript, Python, HTML and CSS.
Abdul, A student majoring in computer science, heard about the salesforce class when a friend of his forwarded an email from BIT. “ I registered immediately,” said Abdul. “I was the first blind student doing a Computer science degree in this country Bahrain; thus, I’ve faced plenty of accessibility challenges while studying. Therefore, I’ve always wanted to enroll in a program where it was designed with accessibility in mind.” One of the major things that makes BIT’s salesforce courses unique, is the fact that all our classes are top by instructors with disabilities. Which is why our programs put such an emphasis on accessibility because our classes are specifically designed to set professionals with disabilities up for success. “It was a dream to have that place where its main goal is to foster blind people with technology interest professionally,” said Abdul. “What made me most excited is seeing the accessibility notes being provided by the instructor with each module, which otherwise I would have to fight on my own to get them right.”
The BIT Academy, through its collaboration with salesforce, has made it possible for professionals with disabilities to pursue meaningful careers within technology. Former students of the BIT academy have gone on to work for incredible companies such as CVS health, Salesforce and Benetech. The future for Aziz and Abdul looks very promising, as the possibilities for where they’ll end up next is endless! They both shared with BIT that they highly recommend this class to other professionals with disabilities and can’t wait to continue their training within the salesforce developer’s course. “You can really profit from The Salesforce class,” shares Aziz. “The instructors are very helpful and responsive, which is not always available outside of BIT. Also, BIT is very supportive and flexible, if you’ve got any specific accommodation or you’re facing a problem, don’t hesitate to reach out. And finally, and most importantly enjoy what you’re learning, and be eager to learn more. Don’t treat it as a certificate to pass, but rather a new job to learn, and keep in mind that you will use what you are learning in real life business situations.”