Last updated at Tue, 09 Aug 2022 16:51:12 GMT

At Rapid7, we believe the growth and development of our people enables us to better serve customers who depend on us. When our Engineering team was searching for candidates to help with our Salesforce ecosystem, John Millar demonstrated many of our core values – most importantly, the appetite to learn and grow his career as part of our commitment to “Never Done.” Through his own grit and determination – and support from his team – he transitioned into a new role and acquired a new set of skills along the way.

Here’s a closer look at that journey, told in John’s own words.

Celebrating a new path

Coming up on nearly two years at Rapid7, I am over the moon with what I have achieved personally and professionally. Before joining the company, I was a Q developer working with KDB+ systems. Now, I am an Engineer working in our Salesforce ecosystem in Belfast.

Getting up to speed with our Salesforce system, becoming a valuable member of our development team, and helping to knock out some big projects in that time period have made me incredibly proud of how my career has grown in under two years. I have also become the team’s SME for an integrated software tool that is connected with Salesforce and have completed my first Salesforce certification, with more planned before the end of the year. Rapid7 supported me in obtaining my Salesforce certification as part of their core value of "Never Done."

Creating a new direction for my career and having the opportunity to grow has certainly paid off, but it didn’t happen overnight.

Jumping into something new

Rewinding back to 2020 – I had been working for over two years as part of a periodic low-frequency development team for a Tier 1 bank. We were responsible for the maintenance and development of the low frequency components of the plant. This role revolved around a holistic time series database system built on kdb+ (q language), containing a wide range of data covering both periodic and aperiodic frequencies and all asset classes.

I felt like I wanted a new challenge and was interested in moving back into a role based around an object oriented language, similar to what I had been working with throughout University. I had heard of and researched Rapid7, so when they contacted me and outlined their goals, objectives, and culture along with the specific role I would be applying for, I knew it was for me and wanted to make that jump.

Supporting new skills and growth

One of the core values of Rapid7 is “Never Done,” which encourages employees to constantly learn and improve their knowledge stack. I believe this was pivotal in my upskilling process, as the support needed was very accessible.

Rapid7 was invested in my growth from the moment I joined. As a candidate, I didn’t fit 100% of the requirements at the time. I understood the fundamentals and met the core criteria, but I didn't have a ton of experience in Java and had no experience with Salesforce. Rapid7 recognized my potential and was invested in helping me grow my skills and become a great Salesforce developer for the team.  

When upskilling to Salesforce, the main area I used was Trailheads, a free program provided by Salesforce. These exercises and learning modules are very detailed, interesting, and interactive. They really help with absorbing and understanding the information in conjunction with actively completing tasks in parallel. Additionally, I was supported and mentored by colleagues from Rapid7, who were equally invested in my growth. Whether it was through formal 1:1s or just making themselves available for advice and questions, I felt supported throughout the process.

Creating impact

Making the transition was not easy, and it took a lot of time and effort. I had to be self-motivated and determined to get up to speed with the Salesforce CRM and Salesforce Apex. Having completed this transition journey into Salesforce, it is all the more satisfying when completing and planning work, knowing that it has paid dividends in terms of my career growth.

Our team is making an impact by enabling the Salesforce ecosystem to operate more efficiently. We do this by analyzing and debugging issues, identifying opportunities, and improving our integration capabilities. This means the Rapid7 team is better positioned to support and protect our customers against outside threats to their business, as well as protect the personal information and data of their customers.

I have great confidence and pride in the work that I complete and feel I play a vital role in our team. I would highly recommend anyone thinking of making that jump to something new, to go for it. I know I haven't looked back.

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