Salesforce Certification: Journey to Salesforce Ecosystem
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You have the required skills, and what you need now is salesforce certification to bear testimony to your salesforce knowledge.
The Salesforce ecosystem and industry is one of the fastest-growing job markets in India and around the world. With its user-friendly interface, Salesforce makes it easy for MNCs, small businesses, or start-ups to have their sales, support, and service teams work remotely to offer a convenient solution for their patrons and client base.
A salesforce professional has the versatility to work and contribute their professional expertise in a wide range of services and fields like healthcare, financial sector, education, and banking to name a few if not more.
An admirable aspect of the Salesforce profession is the prospect of climbing the growth ladder faster than other service sector professionals. One usually starts as a junior resource and with the precise skills can get into managerial or freelancing roles rapidly.
A nagging question that arises now is, HOW TO GET THE REQUIRED SKILLS IN SALESFORCE? And the answer is simple, Career Accelerator Program of Premium Learnings which offers a specially designed Salesforce course to make you industry ready.
You have the required skills, and what you need now is salesforce certification to bear testimony to your salesforce knowledge. Salesforce has a list of certifications for a person to learn, earn and showcase knowledge. A minimal investment as salesforce certification cost and lucrative positions like salesforce administrator or developer is up in the offering with salesforce admin certification or salesforce platform developer I certification respectively.
Benefits of Salesforce Certification
Salesforce certifications increase your marketability in the IT job market by allowing you to become a subject matter expert. You can get certified in a matter of a few hours, days, or months and you have control over your own career path and progress with a salesforce certification cost of around $200. You can plan your certifications and their examination schedule yourself. The certifications adding specialist value to your credentials boost your career trajectory with gainful knowledge earned.
Salesforce roles or job functions range from the technical (architects, developers, implementation experts) to ones with specializations and domain expertise. Every role varies in terms of the required depth of understanding and experience in using Salesforce’s platform. Salesforce admin certification with a salesforce certification cost of $200 has almost become a protocol for fresher and new entrants into the salesforce journey.
If you aren’t sure what these roles are and need a better understanding of the salesforce career paths, you can start with our blog here.
Salesforce Certification based on Job Functions
Salesforce has a variety of credentials or certifications targeted at a range of job functions, including:
Administrators
Architects
Developers
Marketers
Consultants
Most tracks offer individual certifications that demonstrate expertise in a given salesforce role/job function.
It is to be noted that the Salesforce Architect role is however unique; candidates can earn individual certifications or they can bundle together these earned certifications/specializations in pursuit of higher-tier certification, like the Salesforce Certified Application Architect or the Salesforce Certified System Architect. Professionals who excel in both of these architect tracks can then achieve the pinnacle of Salesforce Certified Technical Architect.
Salesforce Administrator credentials
Salesforce Certified Administrator (Salesforce Admin Certification)
Salesforce Certified Advanced Administrator
Salesforce Certified Business Analyst
Salesforce Certified CPQ Specialist
Salesforce Certified Marketing
Salesforce Certified Administrator
Salesforce Certified Platform App Builder
Salesforce Architect credentials
Application Architect
B2B Solution Architect
B2C Solution Architect
B2C Commerce Architect
Heroku Architect
System Architect
Technical Architect
Salesforce Developer credentials
B2C Commerce Developer
Industries CPQ Developer
JavaScript Developer I
Marketing Cloud Developer
OmniStudio Developer
Platform App Builder
Platform Developer I
Platform Developer II
Salesforce Marketer credentials
Marketing Cloud Administrator
Marketing Cloud Consultant
Marketing Cloud Developer
Marketing Cloud Email Specialist
Pardot Consultant
Pardot Specialist
Salesforce Consultant credentials
Business Analyst
Education Cloud Consultant
Experience Cloud Consultant
Field Service Consultant
Marketing Cloud Consultant
Non-profit Cloud Consultant
OmniStudio Consultant
Pardot Consultant
Sales Cloud Consultant
Service Cloud Consultant
Tableau CRM & Einstein Discovery Consultant
Some of the credentials/certifications appear in multiple job functions. These certifications have to be done once and not separately for the respective job functions.
NO REASON TO WORRY ABOUT THIS HUGE LIST OF CERTIFICATIONS TO CHOOSE FROM!!!
Here is the salesforce certification list along with salesforce certification cost and other details for a fresher salesforce professional or for one with a few months of experience in Salesforce.
1. Salesforce Admin Certification – If your chosen career path is a salesforce consultant or you are a fresher or someone who wants to start off as a salesforce administrator, you should be targeting to have a Salesforce Admin Certification. Salesforce certification cost for salesforce admin certification is $200, in case you are unsuccessful to clear this exam, the salesforce certification cost to retake this salesforce admin certification will be $100. A Salesforce administrator needs to have good knowledge of Salesforce features. Having a salesforce admin certification proves that:
You basically have a broad knowledge of the Salesforce application.
You are well aware of how to configure and manage the Sales cloud, Service cloud, and other applications.
You know how to manage Salesforce CRM and are good at your presentation skills.
You have expertise in basic functionalities like managing users and customizations.
The Salesforce Admin certification exam details are as mentioned below:
Salesforce admin certification cost: $200
Salesforce admin certification cost (cost of retest): $100
Questions: 60 MCQs
Salesforce Admin Certification Passing percentage: 65%
Time: 105 mins
Syllabus:
Configuration and setup
Object manager and Lightning App Builder
Sales and Marketing Applications
Service and Support Applications
Productivity and Collaboration
Data and Analytics Management
Workflow/Process Automation
Weightage for salesforce admin certification examination is as shown in the below pie chart
2. Salesforce Certified Advanced Administrator – You need to have a Salesforce Certified Admin certification as a prerequisite before you attempt Salesforce Certified Advanced Administrator certification. Along with this, you need reasonable hands-on experience as a Salesforce administrator and be capable of using the full set of Salesforce features. A Salesforce Advanced Administrator certification proves that:
The professionals are comfortable with designing robust and scalable applications for clients.
You have handled a number of Salesforce Orgs as an admin.
The Salesforce Certified Advanced Administrator exam details are as mentioned below:
Salesforce certification cost: $200
Salesforce certification cost (cost of retest): $100
Questions: 60 MCQs
Passing percentage: 65%
Time: 105 mins
Syllabus:
Security and Access
Objects and Permissions
Auditing and Monitoring
Cloud Applications
Data and Analytics Management
Environment Management and Deployment
Process Automation
Weightage for salesforce certified advanced administrator examination is as shown in the below pie chart
3. Salesforce Certified Platform App Builder – This Salesforce certification is for someone who has experience in developing custom applications on the Salesforce Platform. Having a Salesforce Platform App Builder certificate proves that:
You have a good understanding of the point-and-click declarative part of Salesforce.
You are comfortable with the lightning experience and the lightning app builder.
The Salesforce Certified Platform App Builder exam details are as mentioned below:
Salesforce certification cost: $200
Salesforce certification cost (cost of retest): $100
Questions: 60 MCQs
Passing percentage: 63%
Time: 105 mins
Syllabus:
Salesforce Fundamentals
Data Modelling and Management
Business Logic and Process Automation
User Interface
App Deployment
Weightage for salesforce certified platform app builder examination is as shown in the below pie chart
4. Salesforce Certified Platform Developer I – If you are a developer with hands-on development experience developing applications, then you should be looking at becoming a Salesforce Certified Platform Developer I. A PDI-certified developer is supposed to have rich development experience on the salesforce platform. Having a Salesforce Developer Certification proves that:
You have good proficiency in building custom applications on the salesforce platform.
You have knowledge of Apex and Visualforce.
The Salesforce Platform Developer I exam details are as mentioned below:
Salesforce certification cost: $200
Salesforce certification cost (cost of retest): $100
Questions: 60 MCQs
Passing percentage: 68%
Time: 105 mins
Syllabus:
Developer Fundamentals
Process Automation and Logic
User Interface
Testing, Debugging, and Deployment
Weightage for salesforce certified platform developer I examination is as shown in the below pie chart
5. Salesforce Certified Platform Developer II – As a prerequisite to becoming Salesforce Certified Platform Developer II, you first need to be Salesforce Certified Platform Developer I. Generally, people who go for this certification have a few years of experience as a developer and a good knowledge of the code and no-code features of salesforce along with hands-on integration experience. Having a Salesforce Platform Developer II certificate proves that:
You have mastered Apex and Visualforce.
You master in integration, SOAP, REST APIs, Heroku, and building Lightning components and apps.
The Salesforce Platform Developer II exam details are as mentioned below:
Salesforce certification cost: $200
Salesforce certification cost (cost of retest): $100
Questions: 60 MCQs
Passing percentage: 70%
Time: 120 mins
Syllabus:
Advanced Salesforce Fundamentals
Process Automation, Logic, and Integration
User Interface
Testing, Debugging, and Deployment
Performance
Weightage for salesforce certified platform developer II examination is as shown in the below pie chart
Typically, for freshers in a development role, Salesforce App Builder or Salesforce Platform Developer I would be the right starting point. If you get certified as a Salesforce App Builder, you can further your career by getting certified in the Architect role. If Salesforce Platform Developer I is your chosen career path, then you can climb the progress ladder by becoming a Salesforce Platform Developer II.
Which Certification to target first?
The choice for your first certification and the ones to follow depends on the type of role or job function you intend in your career progression like a Functional career path (less inclination towards coding) or technical career path (more inclination towards coding).
Functional career path:
If you are more functionally inclined (functional career path) then the following certification path is more suitable for you.
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You can start with salesforce admin certification which will testify to your working knowledge of basic salesforce point and click functions. You can follow it up with a salesforce-certified app builder certification which will add to the administrator’s knowledge along with a bit of app development exposure. Next in the target could be the various consultant certifications that will make you eligible for a salesforce consultant role in the industry.
Along with these, you can consider the specialization salesforce certification like salesforce certified advanced administrator or either of the system architect or application architect if not both.
Technical career path:
If you are more technically inclined (technical career path) then the following salesforce certification path is more suitable for you.
The base of salesforce basic functionality is the Salesforce admin certification, you can begin your journey from this certification and follow it up with a platform app builder certification exactly like the path of functional career. Professionals choosing a technical career path can now choose Platform Developer I certification and couple it up with JavaScript Developer I certification which will be a solid base for any employee in the development domain.
You can follow this up with any development specialization salesforce certification or domain expertise salesforce certifications available on the salesforce platform. You may also want to have the Salesforce Platform Developer II certification which will make you almost an expert in the salesforce development domain while Salesforce System/application architect certification if achieved will open up doors of excellence in the field.
Unsure of Functional or Technical career path?
If you are a fresher and at the start of your journey to the salesforce ecosystem, and yet unsure of the career path or progression you wish to achieve; you can follow the below-mentioned certification path and make up your mind in the due course of gaining industry experience.
The first two Salesforce certifications have almost become a must-have for any salesforce professional. Start with the salesforce admin certification and back it up with Salesforce platform app builder certification which will make you well aware of the basic salesforce administrator and development features.
Now is the right time to question your inclination, between functional and technical career paths again. If you are still unsure, you can do the Salesforce advanced administrator certification and follow it up with sales/service cloud certifications. By the time you reach this stage, you will have enough salesforce experience to be able to choose the right career progression and the path you need to follow.
Furthermore, you can gain specialist salesforce certification and domain expertise certifications mentioned in the salesforce certification lists (salesforce admin certification, salesforce platform developer certification, etc, given along with salesforce certification cost) at the start of this blog and excel at your chosen salesforce job profile with the help of salesforce certification or credentials.
HERE'S WISHING YOU A VERY GOOD LUCK WITH THE WONDERFUL SALESFORCE CERTIFICATION JOURNEY! WE ARE SURE YOU WILL EXCEL IN WHATEVER PATH YOU CHOOSE!
Categories: Career, IT Industry, salesforce