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Why you should get Salesforce certified right now!

September 25, 2014

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!

19 Comments
Debajyoti Chanda
January 15, 2019 @ 5:46 am

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

Reply
Darko Todorovski
January 20, 2015 @ 1:56 am

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

Reply
    David Liu
    January 20, 2015 @ 12:32 pm

    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!

    Reply
Nick
November 4, 2014 @ 8:21 am

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?

Reply
    David Liu
    November 4, 2014 @ 6:52 pm

    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/

    Reply
Stephanie Herrera
November 3, 2014 @ 9:19 pm

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 ;)

Reply
    David Liu
    November 3, 2014 @ 10:29 pm

    Another Jordan fan – woot woot!!!!!!!!!

    Reply
coolsan
October 5, 2014 @ 2:39 am

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??

Reply
    David Liu
    October 6, 2014 @ 8:14 pm

    Awww, glad I could motivate you!

    Go here to learn Apex!
    https://www.sfdc99.com/beginner-tutorials/

    Reply
Ramakrishnaa
September 29, 2014 @ 2:10 pm

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

Reply
    David Liu
    September 29, 2014 @ 9:55 pm

    Here ya go: http://certification.salesforce.com/“>Salesforce certifications

    Reply
      Ramakrishnaa
      September 30, 2014 @ 6:47 am

      Thanks David.

      Reply
VC
September 26, 2014 @ 8:08 am

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…

Reply
Max
September 26, 2014 @ 6:30 am

I was procrastinating to get a certification for almost 6 months……I am booking my test right effin now.

Reply
Jose Maria Claramunt
September 26, 2014 @ 2:09 am

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!

Reply
david
September 25, 2014 @ 11:12 pm

you can retake … but it’s not free. 400 USD is a serious fee for me. (so I prefer passing at first chance)

Reply
    David Liu
    September 25, 2014 @ 11:18 pm

    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!!

    Reply
      David
      September 25, 2014 @ 11:21 pm

      Hopefully you are right because this year I have two more certifications than last year ;)

      Reply
        David Liu
        September 25, 2014 @ 11:30 pm

        NICE!!! Great job!!!!! More, more, more!!

        Reply

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