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 How to get a Salesforce developer job series.
So how do you get your first job as a Salesforce admin or developer if…
This is one of the most common questions in the industry because people are starting to realize how lucrative a career in Salesforce can be. But because of this, it’s harder and harder for you to stand out among the crowd.
Here’s the formula for getting your first Salesforce job…
1. Help a non-profit as a Salesforce admin or developer
This is the most important thing you can do to stand out for many reasons:
Why am I so confident in this strategy? A huge portion of people I work with got started this way!
Next steps: Visit Salesforce’s Official “Help a Non-Profit” site and register to be a volunteer!
2. Get Salesforce certified!
If you haven’t already started on this, do it now! This is the only way to definitively prove your skills on your resume and recruiters don’t want to risk wasting their time interviewing someone who says they know Salesforce, but can’t prove it.
Two certifications isn’t enough, go for three as a minimum. Everyone nowadays has Admin (ADM 201) and Developer (DEV401) certifications.
Next steps: Check out how to get five Salesforce certifications!
3. Get involved in the Salesforce community
This one is not as big as the other two, but in an industry where candidates seem indistinguishable from one another, every ingredient counts.
One of the worst fears for companies is hiring someone who has no passion for what they do. Someone who will only contribute when they’re specifically asked to, and someone who will only bother doing the bare minimum. You know what kind of person I’m talking about!
The key on your resume to showing you’re not this type of employee is to be involved in the Salesforce community. If you’re willing to contribute to a community and learn during your free time, you’re likely the type of person who is dedicated to doing good work.
Next steps: Join your local Salesforce admin or developer user group, be active in the Salesforce Success Community, and definitely go to Dreamforce!
These three steps are guaranteed to get your foot in the door for Salesforce interviews! Now you’ll still need to prove yourself during the actual interview, so don’t forget to study!
Next post: How to get job interviews for Salesforce developer positions!
Hi, I just got my first certification. Can someone please guide me to start off my career in Salesforce ? I am looking forward to opportunities in NGO
What about temp job assignments. That would def help.
I do have the same question. How do i register after clicking on that link.
It looks like registrations for pro bono work are limited to actual Salesforce employees only.
That’s a shame. Working for a non-profit sounds like a great way to gain experience and I’d love to increase my own social footprint.
Hi David,
This month I have done with two certifications….
Salesforce platform developer I and platform developer II.
My goodness cleared both…
Now searching for a job in non profit Salesforce industry.
Because already I have worked in non IT background almost 9 years, but now started with my certifications and expecting for an opportunity to get real time experience.
From which location you r from
Hi Prabhu,
Have you got the job opportunity?
Would you mind being in touch? Please drop a message on dshthkr18@gmail.com.
Thanks,
Disha Thakur
I have 3 year experience in teaching in Polytechnic college. i want to change my carrier with salsforce certification for salesforce company. please guide me.please reply me.
As a VetForce member and Trailhead Ranger who had zero real-world experience, I can attest that this advice is spot on! I was fortunate to be able to secure a volunteer Admin role with a veteran-focused nonprofit company. Once I added that detail to my LinkedIn profile, recruiters began contacting me.
I would add a bit of advice to this thread: LinkedIn is a great way to get a pro bono Admin job. There are plenty of nonprofits who are looking. Write a post that states you are looking for a volunteer Admin opportunity and you will be surprised at the response. Once you get this role, make sure that you update your LinkedIn profile “Intro” and “Experience” sections and turn on the “Career Advice Hub” tab so recruiters can find you.
Hope this helps you blaze a new trail!
Great tip, thank you David!
I am working on getting ready to take the Salesforce admin certification, and I have been reading up on finding a job after. I have a question, I don’t have IT job experience technically. I am a salesforce user for the company I currently work for and have been on the user side for about 6 or more years. I have a higher role and profile to be able to do some things in the settings (auto add catalogs to orders, auto add stickers). I setup new products when we release them. I also have done a lot of creating my own Integrations through Integration Manager which is more an IT task. So would these tasks count as IT experience even though my job title is not IT. I have kind of been a figure it out and do it myself type of person especially when we went into a transition of not really having an IT dept.
That counts Cristen!
Don’t worry, I wouldn’t focus too much on the whole IT or not thing. Technically I’ve never been part of an IT team and it really doesn’t matter. All that matters is you’re willing to learn Salesforce!
Thanks David. I only have an associates degree so not having a bachelors or IT job experience has been my concern when I do go to apply for a salesforce job down the road. I am really looking forward to this career path in salesforce. I have worked for the company I am at now for 12 years so starting over is a little scary but I am ready for something new and I really enjoy learning to do new things through salesforce.
I’ve been working with a non profit on Salesforce for over a year, and that’s how I got interested in more. Just now learning Trailhead and branching out into meeting people. Thanks for this website!
My pleasure, welcome!!
Hi,
How could i register for the Non Profile group as an volunteer.
Could you please help me with the URL.
Hi am Rahul,
Worked on non profit basis on salseforce in one company but now not getting relieved properly from it , meanwhile I did salseforce certification …if any appropriate job please tell me
Can u plz share some kind of non profit organizations that use Salesforce, even I want yo work for them
Please share non profit org if you find them
Hi,
I would like to volunteer my time (20 hours a week) to help a non-profit with any Salesforce.com admin/development tasks.
I can work remotely with any English-language org.
Appreciate any leads or any direction you can give.
Sincerely,
Shubham Agrawal
Have you got any leads
I have 10 years teaching experience in Computer science engineering colleges and I want to change my career from teaching to sales force company, please guide me and get inform to me on anupam.srivastava82@gmail.com
Hi ,
I passed Salesforce Admin 201 exam. I wanted to know how should I prepare myself for the interview and the job as a salesforce admin.
Also I am interested in working as a volunteer so I need some guidance regarding this.
Study for the interview as if it was any other industry, plus brush up on your 201 knowledge!
can you give me any suggestion to clear certification admin 201
Hi Sikha,
Congrats for clearing certification!
Could you please help me out how you prepared yourself for certification and before 201, how you have done training and other important concepts.
Please reach me out.
Hi Megha,
Hope by now you might have landed a job, if so please could you guide me thru the process.
I am new to salesforce pursuing my certification 201.
DID YOU find a job?
Hi,
Am Shilpa.I got certified sales force admin and platform developer I.Looking for an opportunity.I had completed Masters.Please reach me @deekshith.s333@gmail.com
This is fantastic advise. Unfortunately, I am feeling pretty dumb right now. I have visited the pro bono page on salesforce.org multiple times to volunteer and can’t figure out where to find how to apply to position. I have the 201 certification and working on several others, but no experience. It looks like this page is for Salesforce employees now. Have things changed? Am I missing something? Any help or guidance would be appreciated.
Hi,
I have only done the beginner development Trailhead section. I am interested in changing my focus towards a certificate since it can be memorized. Would you recommend going ahead and pursuing a certificate (Admin or Developer first?) or continue my studies with Trailhead and/or your website.
Thank you for your time,
Chris
Certifications IMO are first priority!
Hi guys,
i am anamika saxena and i am looking for a job as a salesforce administrator..i have total 4.8 years of experience mail.comout of which 3.5 years of relevant experience in Salesforce..if you have any openings please let me know.my email address is anamika.saxena86@gamil.com.
The most effective way to enter the Salesforce development field is to build a network of people who are currently in this field. It is the best way to stay connected and updated about the developments in the industry. You can then leverage this guidance to build your profile.
hi all i m karan khot i looking for job in salesforce in india @maharashtra if any one have opening for salesforce please inform me
email:- karankhot7@gmail.com
These are really good tips on how to get started in a salesforce career. I’ll have to look to see where I can get certified, I hope I can find a place close. I wonder if getting on the internet can help me find a place?
You can get all certifications online – no need to go in person. I took all my certs in my pajamas at home
How can I get certificates with out real experience.
Hi,
Can anyone help me, how I will get certifications on salesforce in online. I am a BE and having 3 years of experience in technical field but I am new to salesforce.
Thanks in advance…
Susanta Sethy
I am trying to get into this field too. Did you get the salesforce job after certs? can you share the tips? I am Jing Li.
Hi My name is Rahul . I have 5.6 Years of experience in IT field as a QA Analyst and 3 months back i have drop my job now i want to do Salesforce Administrator 201 certification. I want to know if i do this certification can i get a job .
I am looking to recruit the sort of person who this blog was written for so I hope you will not mind me adding a job opportunity to work with our charity.
Junior Salesforce Administrator with The Landmark Trust, near Maidenhead UK
This is an exciting opportunity for a newly qualified Salesforce Administrator to gain practical experience. The Landmark Trust is a charity that preserves historic buildings then gives them a future as holiday rentals. We have over 200 buildings in the UK & Europe. Our diverse requirements need creative, complex solutions so we are looking for an energetic individual to help maintain the current fast pace of an ambitious development plan. You will assist with administration of existing applications & design/customize/implement enhancements. This is a 12 month fixed term contract.
Please send your CV to Michca Morris on mmorris@landmarktrust.org.uk
https://appexchange.salesforce.com/job?jobId=a0N3000000Dxl5PEAR
If you accepted remote positions I’d create a new post for you – good luck!
I am interested please mail me at 17jo05@gmail.com
Any such kind of jobs in Sydney, Australia. Currently I am doing voluntary work as a Salesforce Support Analyst for a non profit organisation, Mission Australia. You can mail me at sfdc.avi@gmail.com. Thanks for considering me.
Regards
Avinash
hi David,
Thanks for great website. I was working with large MNC in India and have around 8 years of software development experience using various tools .
I left my job 2 months back ,My job was very demanding and i was not able to give enough time to my kids. Plus i did not like the work i was doing there.
I had been learning salesforce since then and taking care of my kids. I have cleared ADM 201 certification .Now preparing for Platform Developer I. I am learning Apex and Visualforce from your website . and trailhead. I feel I have learned a lot by now. But still lot is left for Platform Developer I certification.
Meanwhile i was looking for some admin related work which i can do remotely from.home. I checked the pro bono options but could not find any.
Can you please help me on how to get salesforce work which i can do remotely to start with. Once i get some hands on and other certifications cleared . I will look for permanent job or will try to start freelancing.
Need some guidance.
More certs!
Thank you very much
Very good suggestions and say the way go to the salesforce certification
How do i register as a volunteer to help non profits?
Hi David!
I just completed Dev 401 and Admin 201 certifications. I am a fresh entrant in salesforce.
As advised by you planning to put some hours for non profits to gain some working experience but when i am trying to register its giving me the below error:
“Error: You have logged in from a Developer Edition org not registered with the Foundation, which is not allowed.”
Does it mean since i am not a on job working professional, i won’t be able to register to provide my services to non profits?
Please guide the process if i am not getting in right.
Regards,
Sushil
Scroll down more on the page =)
From what I know, it is more complicated to step into a non-profit world for fresh entrant if you are not in North America. It is possible but just more difficult. Sushil, why don’t you try to check locally? Salesforce non-profit world is still undiscovered territory outside of US, Canada, UK. I would recommend approaching local charities, foundations, educational institution and tell them a story how beneficial will be for them to start using a system like a Salesforce. Especially, if they get 10 first licenses for free. Try it, in parallel with regular Salesforce channels.
Awesome advice!! Thank you Sergey!!
Thanks for your genuine advise!
Hi Sushil,
I am new in salesforce field and currently preparing Admin 201 exam, Can you share me your success views and share latest exam dumps , that would be helpful for me?
Waiting for positive responce
Many Thank’s
Mukesh kumar gupta
Hi Mukesh,
I simple followed the path advised by David on the below url:
“https://www.sfdc99.com/2014/10/02/guide-to-passing-all-salesforce-certifications/”
1. Very first i started with the video tutorial about Salesforce on Udactiy website(very useful) on below url. It has nice content for a beginner like us.
“https://www.udacity.com/course/intro-to-point-click-app-development–ud162”
2. Then i completed the “The Official Admin Fundamentals Workbook” which was really very useful to clarify the concepts.
Parallely i prepared my own brief notes about important points topic wise which i used for revision.
Then i mugged up the Quizlets as suggested in the link and it helped a lot.
3. In between i also completed Trailhead tutorials on below url: “https://developer.salesforce.com/trailhead”
4. Then as suggested by David, googled “Official Developer Certification Study Guide” topics and read the detailed documentation for each topic in the Study guide.
4. There are also good short videos on topics on youtube by Salesforce, which were useful.
Also below Quick Tour Demo videos by Salesforce are good.
“https://help.salesforce.com/apex/HTViewHelpDoc?id=quicktour_videos.htm&language=en_US”
The guidance by David was really useful and helped me to get certified(401 & then 201) in a couple of months time in my very first attempts.
Just like you I am totally a beginner in Salesforce.
I’ll suggest that keep yourself focused and put in your best for at least a couple of months and most importantly “Be Positive”.
You’ll definitely go through.
Please let me know in case you need more information. I’ll be pleased to help you out.
Regards,
Sushil
Hi Sushil,
I will follow your way and tutorials.
Many Thank’s
Mukesh
Hi Sushil….thanks for your guidance for beginners. But the link you provide didn’t work https://www.udacity.com/course/intro-to-point-click-app-development–ud162
Can you update with the new link.
Currently I am working with Infosys BPO as a Process executive. Where we use salesforce. So if I do Admin & Developer certification then after how many years of experience am I qualify to apply for an Admin position ???
&
If I do Developer certification, is it considerable as in BPO its nowhere deal with coding.
Thanks
I did not understand this Pro Bono Service. Can anyone help me in detail with this ?
It’s an application to volunteer at a non-profit company =)
Hi David, I am new to SF, just cleared Adm 201. Can you pls guide me how to go about the pro bono
I’ve looked at a few of the listings for non-profits and most require some experience with the Nonprofit Starter Pack (NPSP). Does anyone have any thoughts or suggestions for the NPSP for those that are not familiar with it? As a first step I was thinking of completing the NPSP workbook: http://www.salesforcefoundation.org/help/nonprofitstarterpack/
Thanks,
Hi Matthew, you are right. I am facing similar issue.
Please check http://www.forcify.me/salesforce-nonprofit-training/npsp-introduction ,there are many videos there which can be extesion of NPSP workbook.
I would say NGO Connect (new salesforce Nonprofit offering) knowledge can be also handy, but I can not figure out in the moment how to get the application….
Thank you Sergey!
David, These information’s are awesome. Thanks a lot.
David, I applied for 2 probono projects stating that i’m a newbie in salesforce, but very confident that would complete the task. Still both of my applications are rejected. Could you suggest any alternate ? Or shall i keep on applying with same and they rejected :( .
Learn more and apply as an intermediate =)
David, what is a reasonable amount of hours to state you will donate to a non-profit? I am looking to gain more experience, but more importantly help, however, I don’t want to under- or over-commit and fall short of expectations. Any guidance would be much appreciated. Thanks.
I say overcommit =)
Best case scenario: you push yourself to work harder and learn more! You get better assignments as a result of higher commitment!
Worse case scenario: the company gets slightly less resources from you and they realize you’re a human being that’s donating your time for free =P
I am where I am in my career today because I did this in 2007.
I did exactly this in 2006. I donated 50% of my time as a Salesforce consultant. I worked with 4-5 NPOs in the Greater Boston area and did 100% of the deployment…from needs analysis to config to data migration, training…the whole thing. It was invaluable experience that gave me the credibility I needed to enter the commercial world of consulting. I am now a Sr. Functional Solutions Architect providing consulting services to F500 companies at the top of the earning scale.
Thank you for sharing your inspirational story!!
Awesome ! This is a wonderful stategy. I will definitely try out the steps and respond back with Positive result.
Thank you so much David
This is good piece of advice, David. Thank you for it. Would you recommend to approach Non-profits which don’t have yet salesforce?
I would first recommend approaching non-profits that do use Salesforce – whether or not they advertise any Salesforce job openings!
Then after that you can approach those without Salesforce =)
I agree with Reshmi. I also have my DEV401..working towards ADM201, joined two users groups in my area, and have one and potentially another non-profit I am working with as admin/developer.
Hey David,
Am curious and eager to know if the non-profits really do hire an individual with no real world experience but only with a few certifications in hand??
And even if they do, will there be a much more senior person on the job with actual Salesforce experience to guide or will it be a 1 man-show?
It sounds scary to me if I would be able to do justice to the work or not. Pls advice.
Thankyou!
Geetanjali
If you are not sufficiently scared if you can succeed or not, you aren’t challenging yourself enough =)
David is the man! I totally agree.
Thank you sir AO!
David, i’ve registered as a probono 1 month back, but i never got a single call to work. Do we have any other alternate ? i’m switching from testing to salesforce, so desperately looking out for some work before applying for a job. i’m in a desperate need of job change and that too in salesforce. Please suggest
A few things I’d recommend:
1. Apply to the postings listed directly on the page
2. Update your volunteer submission (more hours?)
3. Find non-profits using Salesforce outside of that page, and apply directly to their website!
Hope this helps!
David
Wow..:) Thats is Grt Advice. I was looking something like this :) I done my DEV401. Registered as a Volunteer. So my way to begin :). Thanks Alot David :)