Mailbag: Passing the first Interview

Dear David,

After your suggestion, I applied to a volunteer project. I received an email today saying that I was selected for interview. In this project I will be helping a school that aims to teach public school students about their health through classes. They are currently using Salesforce, but they are looking for a consultant to help them to further utilize the system and set up some key reports and new ways of organizing their data. It says on the project page that once I am selected for the project, project managers and I will plan out action steps and milestones for the project. This later part sounds easier, but I do not have interview experience for a Salesforce project.

How should I get prepared for the interview?

David, you are like a lighthouse.

Thanks a million,
Interview Newbie

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Dear Interview Newbie:

Congratulations on getting an interview and thank you for volunteering your time!

Most admin interviews focus on case studies. The interviewer will present to you a problem that’s probably something they’ve recently encountered, then ask you for a solution. You need to be able to present potential solutions and explain the pros and cons of each.

In your scenario, you mentioned the company is using Salesforce to teach students about their health through classes. Try to research/imagine the different ways their Salesforce org might be set up, what objects they’d use, what kind of business processes they’d have, etc. Even if you’re way off, you’ll still learn a lot about the company and fill your mind with ideas and relevant questions for the interview.

I also recommend these following resources to build your understanding:

1. Salesforce Trailhead – Salesforce’s official training tool
2. Admin fundamentals workbook – my personal favorite guide for learning admin concepts. It basically walks you through a example of building an app on Salesforce.
3. Salesforce Udacity class – similar to the workbook, but taught through videos.
4. The Salesforce Reporting and Dashboards Bible – everything you ever wanted to know about reporting, a fundamental concept for admins.

If you come across a question during the interview where you simply don’t know the answer, be honest and say you don’t know. But make sure you tell the interviewer what steps you’d take to solve the question instead of leaving them hanging!

Finally, find any excuse to highlight how hard you’ve worked to learn Salesforce. Companies nowadays are willing to hire candidates without experience if the candidate is focused and hard working. Certifications go a long way here!

In two days I’m doing a webinar on how to build your career in Salesforce, stop by and say hi!

Best of luck!
David

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