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%
Preface: this post is part of the Certifications and Careers series.
If you don’t have a minimum of three Salesforce certifications then you must immediately begin studying for your next one… and I’m not even kidding!
After interviewing countless people and reviewing hundreds of resumes at Google and other companies, here are the reasons why I believe everyone must have five Salesforce certifications:
Reason #1: Certification tests aren’t too difficult!
They’re all multiple choice, you can get 35% of questions wrong and still pass, there are no trick questions, and you can take the test from home in your jam jams! Plus, you have unlimited retakes! All that and you haven’t even read my guide on how to pass every certification yet!
If 65% was a passing grade in life, I would’ve went to Harvard.
Reason #2: It’s the only way to make your resume stand out.
How do you compare the skills of two Salesforce professionals just by looking at their resumes? Answer: you can’t. Sure, you can look at a candidate’s listed projects and responsibilities, but those bullets are so often embellished that recruiters can’t rely on them. Certifications are really the only reliable, objective metrics available! Plus, certifications are verifiable.
One of these is not like the others…
Reason #3: The window of opportunity is open now.
The demand for Salesforce professionals is ridiculous. Salesforce developers command $120+ per hour (contract), and easily $130k+ per year (full-time). Every year I wonder how long the demand will remain this high with such short supply. This year is the first year I’m beginning to feel like supply is finally catching up with the demand. Hesitate just a few months, and you’ll miss the boat.
You may never eat fruit this ripe, but you work in an industry even riper!
Reason #4: Michael Jordan would get certified.
Next post: How to pass every Salesforce certification!
Hi David,
Unfortunately I stumbled on to thsi post 3 years later but thought about giving it a shot when I’m currently facing a dearth in middleware jobs.
I’ve been a Opentext Cordys Developer for 3.5 years now and due to scarcity of jobs in this field (owing to invasion of SAP ECM) I’m thinking of switching technology and functional domain.
Can you guide me as to which certification to take first? Salesforce Admin (ADM 201)? or Salesforce Dev (ADM 401)? I have no prior experience in Salesforce till now.
Hoping for a favorable response from your end.
Best Deb
Hi David,
I have a question. Are those exams online or we need to go somewhere specific to pass them?
Are partners to salesforce legit to give exams?
Cheers,
Darko
You can take them all online through WebAssessor, an official partner for Salesforce certifications.
I took all of mine through there and I wouldn’t take them anywhere else!
David,
First off, thank you so much for the site, it’s a godsend!
Secondly, as a current .Net developer, I have considered switching gears in my career to becoming a Salesforce developer. However, it will take me around a year or so to get completely up to spend with certs and other things. Do you think it is too late in Salesforce’s life to consider this?
Not too late at all =)
Now if you wait a year to start, then maybe it will be too late =)
Check this post out!
https://www.sfdc99.com/2014/11/02/salesforce-is-the-5-fastest-growing-tech-skill-job-postings-are-on-the-rise/
I of course had to come read this after you referenced it in your most recent posting and I’m so glad I did! I’m bookmarking this and going to keep coming back to read it till I have my 5 certifications!! Sooo motivating!! I have to stop letting “life” get in the way of my certifications and your words help give me perspective, especially when you reference the almighty Michael Jordan!! :) I just made the Jordan meme my background on my computer, so I will be reminded daily ;)
Another Jordan fan – woot woot!!!!!!!!!
HI David ,
I am finally Salesforce force.com dev 401 certified. Its all because of your motivation .Thanks a lot JJJJJ
Now my aim is to get salesforce project . As dev 401 certificate doesn’t cover program stuffs ,can you please guide me to learn apex/visualforce?any resources??
Awww, glad I could motivate you!
Go here to learn Apex!
https://www.sfdc99.com/beginner-tutorials/
Hi Can you give me the list of certifications that we have in Sales force and the link for Registering for the certification.
Thanks
Ramakrishnaa
Here ya go: http://certification.salesforce.com/“>Salesforce certifications
Thanks David.
I completely agree with you David..I have 4 now and planning to clear couple more by this year end…Definetly a way to stand out…
I was procrastinating to get a certification for almost 6 months……I am booking my test right effin now.
Oh man! You really put the salt in the wound this time! But, in a good way :)
In 2012 I quit my job (I had a permanent position within the company, Telefonica Corp in Spain) in order to study programming, get SF certified, then go back to Europe and reboot my career.
I did a SF implementation and it was the best experience of my life.
It made me see the full potential of Salesforce.
But here I am, stuck at another corporation (Santander Bank) and NOT doing SF. Aaaarrhhggg!
So yeah, I definitely feel like Im missing the boat! BIG TIME!
So “Nothing ventured, nothing gained”.
Its best to rip the band aid off instead of focusing on having it on.
SF or bust!
you can retake … but it’s not free. 400 USD is a serious fee for me. (so I prefer passing at first chance)
Very true! The good news is that 5 out of the 7 certs are only $200. The better news is that each passed test is probably worth $10,000 / year in salary!!
Hopefully you are right because this year I have two more certifications than last year ;)
NICE!!! Great job!!!!! More, more, more!!