Career advice for new Anaplanners
As our customers continue to realize increasingly more value from Anaplan and work to bring their Connected Planning visions to life, the need for certified Anaplan talent is more critical now than ever. This creates a unique opportunity for those looking to make a career change and capitalize on this period of hypergrowth, allowing skilled Anaplan professionals to directly benefit from and leave their mark by building digital representations of organization’s competitive advantage allowing them to plan, analyze, and act faster than ever.
To that end, this month we are excited to announce the kickoff of our third cohort of Anaplan for All, a 100% free training program for qualified learners who identify as members of Black, Latinx, Veteran, LGBTQ+, and refugee communities. The program, in partnership with Correlation One, supercharges participants’ careers through 12 weeks of live online training on Anaplan’s business planning software, plus mentorship, career coaching, and job fairs. Upon program completion, Anaplan for All graduates receive dedicated job search support, which opens a world of exciting career opportunities in the Anaplan ecosystem. In fact, more than 70% of graduates from the program’s first cohort secured jobs within the Anaplan ecosystem.
This new cohort also marks the first time that Anaplan customers and partners have officially joined as program sponsors, giving them priority access to recruit program graduates to help meet their Anaplan model builder talent needs.
Here’s a quick snapshot of the metrics of our current cohort:
The Anaplan Community is a vital part of a new Anaplanners journey, offering guidance and support as people navigate the learning process and job search. To welcome our latest cohort, two of the programs’ top sponsors provide valuable career advice and inspiration:
Jay Laabs, CEO at Spaulding Ridge:
- Learn by doing. You will learn about yourself — regarding what you like to do and how you can build on your skills.
- Listen and listen well. You can learn a lot by listening more effectively through practice. Listening is a skill that will serve you well at the start of your new role and throughout your career. At Spaulding Ridge, we work hard to listen and understand our clients in order to best serve their needs.
- Stay true to your values and principles, as they are your guiding force in every situation you face.
- Always work hard. Learn as much as you can about Anaplan’s software and demonstrate commitment to the ongoing learning process. Hard work always pays off. Understanding Anaplan will help you guide your clients towards seamless integrated enterprise planning to help them scale quickly and effectively.
- Lastly, you're not alone. With the Anaplan for All program, you have support at your fingertips. Leverage your mentors and sponsors if you are dealing with a challenging situation. We have your back.
Ryan DuBiel, Global Anaplan Practice Lead at Slalom:
- Don’t be afraid to ask a question. Anaplan is a versatile platform that we use to help our clients tackle complex business planning problems. Anaplan for All will do a great job in preparing you for whatever comes next, but you won’t know everything. Keep learning, keep asking questions, and keep pushing yourself to the edge of your comfort zone!
- Don’t lose sight of what makes you “you”. My favorite part about Anaplan for All is that this program opens doors for people that have historically been under-represented in the Anaplan and technology ecosystems. Your background and experiences may be different from others you cross paths with in your career, but never forget that this is your strength! Diversity of thought brings new perspectives and novel solutions.
- Don’t forget those who come behind you. Most of us would not be where we are today if not for some help from those that came before us. You will soon look back on this point of your career and marvel at all that you have learned and accomplished. Just don’t forget that there will be others that stand at the very point you are in now. Help them to take that next step, and be amazed at what we will all accomplish — together.
If you’re new to the Anaplan Community, welcome! Don’t hesitate to search or post in our Forums with questions. If you’ve been here a while, we value your perspective — leave a comment sharing advice for those who are just beginning their path to learning Anaplan.