Salesforce coding lessons for the 99%Finally, Apex tutorials for point-and-click admins! Written by a self-taught Google engineer.
Salesforce coding lessons for the 99%
I’m starting a YouTube channel, blogging is so 2020 =)
In this video, I share all the juicy details about my pay at my first Salesforce developer job! It’s not a video just about Salesforce, but I hope you find it interesting anyway.
It’s a lot easier for me to give career advice over video, so that’ll be the focus of my YouTube channel. Coming soon is an analysis of my resume that got me job offers from many top companies!
If you like this kind of content, then uhhhh, subscribe to my channel and smash that like button!
David
P.S. go easy on me I’m new to this LOL!
Virtual Dreamin is this weekend!
If you’ve got any burning questions that I can help you with, join my session!
An open panel hosted by Amit Chaudhary to ask me anything!
How I got into Google, becoming an admin/dev/architect, certifications – anything!
But don’t just join because you want to talk to me on a Saturday night – join for the 24 straight hours of content that includes 10+ CTAs, many Salesforce MVPs, and more!
Register for the event here and hope to talk to you there!
David
Times like these get you to think – how prepared are you for the inevitable crash of our industry?
Oracle, IBM, HP – these companies were once the “Salesforces” of their generation. But every great company has a rise and a fall. And Salesforce is no exception.
Make no mistake, the Salesforce industry will decline during your career. It’ll happen as quickly as how Salesforce hit Oracle. And once you realize the decline is here, it’s already too late to prepare.
You need to be ready for an industry shift starting today. Here are my recommendations:
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Salesforce Administrators |
Admins will likely struggle the most during the transition:
That said, it’s certainly not a doomed career path. Here’s what I’d do to prepare:
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Salesforce Developers |
Developers have the strongest career security of the main Salesforce paths during a transition:
Nothing is guaranteed though. Developers still need to prepare for the worst:
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Technical Architects |
Technical architects are also well positioned to overcome industry shifts:
Technical architects too should prepare for industry changes:
No matter how secure you think your job is, we all need to plan for the long-term.
Hope for the best and prepare for the worst!
David
Virtual Dreamin and the most star studded speaker lineup of all time goes live in a month!
Since it’s totally online and free, there’s really no reason not to register for the event!
More info:
I’m very honored to be a speaker too!
Hope you join and ask me some tough questions! I’ll answer everything with my heart, ha ha ha.
Special thanks to Amit Chaudhary, Jitendra Zaa, Rakesh Gupta, and the rest of the Virtual Dreamin volunteers for putting this event together for free on their own time!
See ya there!
David
There’s a big topic around Salesforce certifications that no one wants to talk about…
Are Salesforce certifications actually a good test of someone’s knowledge?
Translation: is it really worth getting 5+ certifications?
The truth is, I don’t believe certifications are a true indication of someone’s skill. Some of the best people I’ve ever worked with have zero certifications, and vice versa.
At the same time, I also believe no multiple choice test can tell you how good someone will be on the job. For their scale, Salesforce certs actually do really, really well. I don’t know how I’d improve the program, honestly, while keeping it computer graded.
Furthermore, the amount of cheating going on with certifications these days is beyond rampant. To those tempted to use dumps – stolen questions from the actual exam – I hope you can find wisdom and plan for a successful career, not just a successful exam. That’s another elephant altogether.
All of this may lead you to believe that getting certifications, especially a lot of certifications, is a waste of your time. That’s a trap. Don’t fall for it.
The truth is, getting certifications is the best thing you can do for your career. Here’s why:
Ethically, I don’t believe the certifications arms race is a good thing. And if you feel that way too, I think you’re on to something. Realistically though, I can’t in good faith recommend anyone to gamble their livelihood over this. Certifications are one of the many taxes we should come to terms with in our careers, whether in the Salesforce industry or not.
For my best certification preparation tips, read every word of my Ultimate Certifications Guide.
Anyway, would love to hear your thoughts on this!
David
First off, hope you and your loved ones are keeping healthy!
If you’ve got the energy for it, now’s a good time to learn a new skill and secure your financial future!
For the entire month of April, all courses in the Apex Academy are FREE!!
Now is an especially good time because I just updated the course!
If you’re really feeling ambitious, you can start my recommended 15 week coding plan, which includes extra homework and projects. Go through it quickly so it’s all free!!
Most importantly though, stay healthy and hug your loved ones extra tight.
David
Not gonna lie, I’ve made a few really questionable hires over the years.
I fell into the trap of mediocre interviewing – yes as the person conducting the interview!
I’d put way too much stock in a person’s certifications and I’d ask a lot of the common, mediocre questions, like, What’s the difference between a lookup and master-detail relationship?
The problem with these type of questions is it’s too easy to prepare for them. You end up testing someone’s memorization rather than their critical thinking skills. Just like certifications.
But even though I was a horrible interviewer, I knew I could really tell the quality of someone’s skill once I actually started working together with them on a project.
So that’s how I recommend interviewing people now: build something, together! Make it like an actual brainstorming meeting you’d have with a colleague for that spicy new feature. Example:
Google Interview – Part #1 – Data Modeling
| DON’T Ask This: | What’s the difference between a Lookup and a Master-Detail relationship? |
| Ask This Instead: | Let’s build a Salesforce app to manage user reviews on Google Play Apps.
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Google Interview – Part #2 – Automation
| DON’T Ask This: | When would you use a Process Builder versus a Trigger? |
| Ask This Instead: | We need to indicate if an app’s overall reviews are trending up or down.
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Google Interview – Part #3 – Integrations
| DON’T Ask This: | When you would use the Salesforce REST API versus the Bulk API? |
| Ask This Instead: | Let’s work with another team that will sync user reviews to our Salesforce org.
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You’ll want to find your own open ended scenario that mimics projects in your org. And if you build it right, no one can study for it – a candidate can only draw on their own experience and ingenuity.
As for the questions above, they may or may not be questions I actually ask in the interview 😜
David
You can become a Salesforce developer this year!
I have witnessed so many people from all sorts of backgrounds become Salesforce developers that I 100% believe that anyone can code. I don’t care what your situation is, you can do this too!
Step 1: Watch this Intro to Apex Dreamforce 2019 session!
Step 2: Learn the basics of Salesforce administration!
There is no scenario where you can become a good Salesforce developer without also being a good Salesforce admin. You must know both to succeed, and preferably, know the admin side first.
You’re ready to learn Salesforce development once you’ve passed the Salesforce Administrator certification. Even better if you also get the Advanced Administrator too.
Check out my Ultimate Certifications Guide for tips on how to prepare!
Step 3: Take my online Salesforce Developer course!
This Salesforce developer course is 15 bite-sized tutorials that you take online. It combines video / written tutorials and Trailhead to prepare you for the Platform Developer 1 and 2 certifications.
Each tutorial has homework and extra credit assignments for the overachievers. There’s also a final project that’s based on a common real-world scenario.
Overall the course brings all my best content into one place – I update it often!
Other highly recommended resources:
Step 4: Pass the Platform Developer I certification!
This achievements opens the floodgates for employers to start reaching out to you with job offers. Perhaps just as importantly, it shuts up the impostor syndrome that may have been boiling inside you. See my Ultimate Certifications Guide for my best tips!
Step 5: Promise me you’ll become a Salesforce developer!
Write a comment on this post and hold yourself accountable to the world!
I have nothing but respect to those with the courage to do this step. Trust me, I know your fears!
You can do this – I believe in you!
David
The other day I was making a bunch of t-shirts and unfortunately the batch was a failure.
That’s OK though! There’s nothing wrong with failing.
A wise person once told me, You either pass, or you learn, and well, I think about that often.
These days, it can be especially tough accepting your failures. And to help you move on, I’ll be giving away FREE T-SHIRTS from my “failed” batch. I hope you wear them with your chins held high!
How to get a free “failed” t-shirt:
I know talking about your failures isn’t easy. So I guess I’ll start with mine:
Phew! A lot of that’s not easy to admit. Hopefully it’ll help other people say theirs too.
Giveaway info:
Hope you enjoy this!!
David
P.S. the shirts in this batch are failures because their logos aren’t centered. That’s it!
Preface: this post is part of The Definitive Salesforce Careers Guide series.
For the first time ever, it’s getting harder and harder to find a job as a Salesforce admin.
It’s not because demand for Salesforce is decreasing however. Salesforce is still by far the #1 player. Rather, the supply of Salesforce admins is increasing really, really, quickly.
That said, you can still find a job with 100% success, you just have to be smart about it. Follow these tips and it’ll be hard for companies NOT to hire you. If I had to start all over again, here’s what I’d do:
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Get FIVE Salesforce certifications |
I imagine this feat sounds ridiculous to most newcomers.
Realistically, getting five certifications with zero Salesforce experience is not uncommon. For some people, this step will only take a month. Remember, these tests are conveniently taken online as well.
How else will your resume stand out vs people with experience and certs? You have to out-cert them.
See my Salesforce Certifications Guide for info on which certs to take and how to prepare for them!
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Earn 100 Trailhead badges and 3 super badges |
Certifications will give you depth, and Trailhead will give you breadth of knowledge.
Make sure to put your Trailhead Ranger (100 badges) status on your resume. This signals to employers that you’re serious about learning Salesforce and you’ve put in the time to prove it.
Special thanks to Steph Herrera, Salesforce MVP and a recruiting company VP for suggesting this!
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Join two Salesforce user groups |
The Salesforce community is a special phenomena. People really like helping each other here!
Getting involved will multiply your success in the Salesforce world. It’s almost unheard of to be a strong Salesforce professional without somehow being involved in the community.
There is such a strong correlation here that I ask every interview candidate how much they’re involved in the Salesforce community. It’s a big red flag if they don’t go to user groups.
Plus, Salesforce recruiters love to hang out at user groups. I’ve gotten a job at one myself!
Find two users groups out of the hundreds of in-person or virtual groups around you!
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Build your own business using Salesforce |
This is required step. It separates the serious people from those just going through the motions.
Build a business in Salesforce – any business. It doesn’t have to involve money. You just need to think like a CEO and build a Salesforce org from scratch using your own creativity.
Example: got a bunch of old stuff lying around? Build a free Salesforce org to track your efforts selling them. You can use Opportunities to track the status, sale date, and price of each item.
Another example: track all your job applications using Salesforce. Use Accounts for each company, and Opportunities for each application. Heck, do whatever is interesting to you!
Put the org login on your resume and show off your reports on your phone during interviews.
This step is absolutely required as it fills the Salesforce experience gap on your resume.
P.S. a volunteer Salesforce position is another great way to get experience – if you can find one!
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Optional: Learn to code! |
While the Salesforce admin job market is squeezing, the developer market is as hot as ever!
I firmly believe that anyone can code – especially in the Salesforce industry. So many people from so many different backgrounds have succeeded. Plus, learning to code is easier than it has ever been!
You don’t even need to be a good developer. Or a full-time developer. A hybrid admin / developer is extremely popular – especially for the smaller businesses that are more likely to hire newcomers.
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Final thoughts… |
All your hard work to get in this industry will be well worth it – especially to your wallet!
And for more Salesforce career tips, check out my Salesforce Careers Guide!
David
