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Mailbag: Are certifications enough?

June 30, 2016

Hi David,

I have been planning out a change of my career from finance to development. I don’t have any experience in any programming languages like Java, C, C#, or Visual Basic either.

Can I make a career shift from finance to Salesforce just by passing certifications? I have the passion to learn but need some credible advice from a guy like you for whom I was searching for.

If I currently pass any one certification, will the industry offer me a position even though I don’t possess any working knowledge of Salesforce?

I read your story in the the “About me” section and started admiring you. I believe all your hard work paid off for you in a wonderful way. I wish you good luck in your professional and personal life.

Sincerely,
Get Me Out Of Here!

————–

Dear Get Me Out of Here!,

Thank you for reaching out to me and I hope my advice can help you achieve your dreams!

One certification with zero experience is not enough to get a job in this industry unfortunately! It’s very common for most job applicants to have at least one certification, in fact, the average resume I see has 2+ certifications, plus at least a year of Salesforce experience.

Here’s what I recommend someone in your position to do:

  • Get at least 4 Salesforce certifications. That’s enough certs for a company to consider taking a chance on you, even if you have no experience.
  • Do volunteer Salesforce work. Recruiters don’t care if you were paid for your experience or if you did it for free. Start your own Salesforce project if you have to!
  • Get involved in the Salesforce community. Your resume might not stand out, but you can make a great impression in person. Tons of recruiters at all events!
  • Learn to code. This fast tracks you through the entire process. Companies are desperate to hire Salesforce developers regardless of experience or certifications!

One other word of advice – certifications don’t make you a great Salesforce professional, but they do look good on your resume. Don’t let yourself get too caught up in getting certified and forget that the true goal is learning Salesforce. You will need to supplement all certification learning with actual, hands-on Salesforce knowledge. This applies especially with coding!

I also recommend you read these pages:

  • SFDC99 reader success stories
  • How to get a Salesforce job
  • How to pass Salesforce certifications

P.S. anyone can code, regardless of background or experience =)

Good luck!
David

Join the discussion in the comments section below! Got a question? Send it to the mailbag: sfdc99.mailbag@gmail.com

8 Comments
Darrell Gallegos
August 13, 2016 @ 11:27 am

With both Admin Certifications under my belt and no experience outside my developer org, I can say, these certifications haven’t “opened” any doors. No negativity intended just offering my personal experience. Since I have subscribed to the APEX Academy and learning to code. Great resource! I have reached out to a couple of non-profits to volunteer, still waiting to hear back. But I have one question regarding this post. David you mention “Starting your own project”. Do you have any suggestions? Website where there may be others in the same boat who may want to collaborate?

Reply
    David Liu
    August 13, 2016 @ 11:44 am

    Example: a friend of mine is really into beer, so he used Salesforce to track and rate beers!

    Reply
      Darrell Gallegos
      August 13, 2016 @ 12:06 pm

      So Accounts as Brewers, Leads as particular beers out, contacts as beers tasted …

      Reply
Anonymous
July 16, 2016 @ 9:04 pm

Excellent thanks !!

Reply
Anonymous
July 15, 2016 @ 7:51 am

Salesforce Admin certification are useless. Learn to code using APEX or your wasting your time. Nobody is looking for administrators.

Reply
    David Liu
    July 15, 2016 @ 1:24 pm

    Strong words! Can’t say I disagree though, admin jobs are getting harder and harder to find it seems!

    Reply
Kumar
July 1, 2016 @ 10:59 am

Hi David,

Extraordinary solution for a person with zero coding background and experience.

Thank you very much…

Reply
    Kumar
    July 2, 2016 @ 8:54 am

    can u pleasw provide flashcards for app builder certifications?
    thanks in advance

    Reply

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