De principiante a director: una carrera de éxito del cliente en Dublín

At the age of 26, Francesca Settembrino moved from Italy to Dublin with two goals: 1) To learn English; and 2) to work for a multinational organization. Spoiler alert: she accomplished both — and then some.

Francesca first landed an entry-level role at Salesforce answering customer calls and assigning incoming cases to engineers. Today, she’s the Director of our global Technical Support Engineering team. We sat down with Francesca to discuss her career growth, what she loves about Customer Success, her relocation to Dublin, and more.

Interested in becoming a Technical Support Engineer like Francesca? Check out our open roles!

What does your Technical Support Engineering team do, and what do you love about this work?

We support customers with Sales Cloud issues — from a straightforward “how do I pull a report” question to business-critical issues. Our goal is to resolve cases in the shortest time possible to minimize the customer’s impact while providing a good experience. My team specifically is based in Dublin, but we are originally from all over the world, and we support language-speaking customers throughout Europe. We all speak English and a second language, like Italian, Spanish, French, Portuguese, German, Dutch, or French.

I have spent my whole Salesforce journey in Support, and I love that I still feel like it is day one. Every day is different. Each case we receive from customers is different. What they are doing with Salesforce, how they are customising it, and what they are developing is completely different. I love that we get to solve such diverse problems that truly help our customers succeed.

"There is a sense of belonging and coming together that is very characteristic of the Dublin office, because many of us know what it’s like to uproot and come to a new place.”

Francesca Settembrino

What brought you to Dublin, and why do you stay?

I’m originally from Italy, and I attended university in Milan. After university, I was working for an international agency on a project outside of Italy, but I didn’t know any English. So, I said to myself, “Francesca, you need to learn this before it’s too late. Otherwise, it’s going to limit your career progression.” And so I decided to go to Dublin.

I didn’t know the language, the city, or even anyone in the country — I was starting over, in a way. That for me was always something magic: I got to build up the life I wanted for myself.

The first two years were not easy. Learning English was not an overnight task, but with discipline, determination, and dedication, you get where you want to get. And just a few years after I arrived, I began in an entry-level role at Salesforce as a customer support agent, and now I have my dream job managing a team of engineers and helping our customers.

I stay because Ireland is an amazing country! Irish people are lovely and welcoming. And I love Dublin and the atmosphere over here. There is no better place I could have chosen to build my life.

In Dublin, a good portion of our workforce has relocated from all across Europe and even beyond, like me. And what I love is the culture we create here ... it’s magic. There is a sense of belonging and coming together that is very characteristic of the Dublin office, because many of us know what it’s like to uproot and come to a new place. This place becomes the second family, the second home. That culture of support is incredible.

Did you know? Salesforce benefits include six months of support for employees who relocate to Dublin for their role.

“I got to build up the life I wanted for myself.”

Francesca Settembrino

You dove into your tech career without a formal technical background. How did you achieve that?

Learning technical skills is fun for me — being able to figure out something new always feels like an exciting opportunity. So I made it a priority: I invested my time. I would take Salesforce certifications on the weekends and shadow my senior engineers during the week. I knew that in order to support my customers to the best of my ability, I needed to know more. So, on a daily basis, it was continuous learning, which is part of the Salesforce DNA. We learn constantly, which is very motivating.

You have your own recipe for success: Discipline, Determination and Dedication. Tell us where that came from and what that recipe means to you.

That came from marathon running! That’s something that I’m always applying, not only when I’m preparing for a race but also whenever I set objectives or goals. Running — and achieving anything, really — is all about pushing yourself out of your comfort zone even when you don’t feel like doing it.

Discipline is about being consistent. Determination is believing that you can do it, even though it’s hard. Dedication is about being passionate: what you want to achieve should be your priority. We all have the same 24 hours. What matters is what we do with it.

If you could give one piece of advice to someone wanting to apply for a Customer Success role at Salesforce in Dublin, what would it be?

Make sure you are comfortable adapting to change. It’s what I call the “Salesforce speed” — change and innovation happen very quickly here because we are always growing and learning, and having that flexibility to pivot is key. For technical skills, and any support role, you will need to know the product and our technologies, so take advantage of the free resources like Trailhead to learn.

Interested in a career at Salesforce Dublin? Check out our Career Site to learn more! Plus, don’t forget to join the Talent Community to learn more about life at Salesforce, upcoming events, and career opportunities.