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 Definitive Salesforce Careers Guide series.
Don’t waste too much time the hard way figuring out which Salesforce career path is right for you!
You are an arrow. Point yourself in the right direction, and fly!
Fun fact: Throughout my career I’ve been each of the three main Salesforce career paths: admin, developer, and technical architect! Learn from my experience =)
Do me a favor and let me know your result in the comments section!
Hope you enjoy!
Next post: What kind of company should you join?
I am moving from a small DB environment where I have historically done all aspects of designing and building the solution. Your Apex course has restored my excitement about creating solutions and I look forward to completing all the Apex Academy series. Thank you!
Salesforce Admin, followed by Architect [close second].
Thanks for this personality test. I hope to be learn more about Salesforce, get certified, and hired this 2020.
Salesforce Administrator. Coming from a BA background this is my ideal career path. I just started my first role as SF admin early Nov 2019 and I am loving it.
I am right down the middle with blue and red and one black.
Thank you!
Does anybody start as a Technical Architect? I feel like Developers and Admin is the beginning path, but some of those people, like myself, want to become an Architect. Especially with the financial boost.
I see my path being Admin > Consultant > Architect
Definitely gotta start as admin or dev!
7 Red
6 Blue
2 Black
Wow!
Technical Architect— 5
SF Admin— 9
SF Developer— 1
Seems pretty clear where my interests lie. But I wonder how much of this was me knowing what I know (now) vs. what else is out there. I’m currently a SF admin and am enjoying it. Am I assuming that to be a TA you need to know just a little bit of programming, but not as in depth as a developer?
This post has more info! While dev is not strictly required, it gives you a massive, massive advantage. No surprise that 90% of CTAs are in depth programmers!
https://www.sfdc99.com/2019/12/03/what-is-a-salesforce-technical-architect/
Red – 11
Blue – 3
Black – 1
Salesforce Administrator
I got Salesforce admin (Which I currently posses), developer and certified technical architect. I really aligns with my dream job.
Yes!!
Red 1
Blue 12
Black 2
Never coded before but I signed up for Apex Academy after taking this quiz and surprise, surprise, I LOVE IT!
Red 7
Blue 7
Black 1
My background is a developer but I like to help people understand and use technology. Kinda a split personality – a developer/admin type
Red: 4
Blue: 4
Black: 8
Salesforce Dev: 9
Technical Architect: 3
Salesforce Admin: 3
This was very eye opening for me and reinforced where my head is at these days!
Red 5
Blue 9
Black 2
68 and retired from Engineering. Considering re-inventing myself for a new career.
Welcome! You’re not alone! A few stories here of others in their 60s who did the same! https://www.sfdc99.com/sfdc99-reader-success-stories/
Administrator, Developer, Technical Archictect
Great test! I am currently a Business Analyst but becoming an Admin or a Developer does not sound bad at all.
Red 8
Blue 7
Black 0
Thanks for sharing :)
RED (3)
BLUE (6)
BLACK (7)
Correction :-)
RED (2)
15 red with 2 of the questions bordering on black.
Sapo
Red – 9
Blue – 6
Black – 0
Red = 5
Blue = 3
Black = 7
Technical Architect it was and Technical Architect it is.
Red: 7
Blue: 3
Black: 5
Looks like I’m an admin according to this (and I already have the certs to go along with it).
Thought, I’d like to reach CTA status eventually.
I got 11 red, 3 blue, 1 black. Wow, great assessment, thanks for this tool!
Wow! This was a great assessment. I will share this with my colleagues.
I received pretty convincing results: Red (10) – Blue (2) – Black (3)
Admin it is! Thank you so much.
Great Kelly!
Red – 6
Blue- 5
Black- 4
Looking to be an Administrator, with a little bit of developer, so pretty spot on.
WOW
i’m the most undefined in history LOL
7 blue
3 red
6 black
go for architect or dev (currently working as a junior dev) nice!
thanks david!
7Blue
2 for admin
8 for dev
5 for architect
I’m not working with Salesforce yet, but planning to start from dev with techarch perspective
6 GREY , 3 BLUE, 6 RED
Thanks, David for sharing the amazing quiz, I loved it.
Black – 2
Red – 8
Blue – 5
I got admin what I am now and in future, I definitely want to be a consultant as I am excellent at giving ideas & suggestions.
Currently, I am working as a Salesforce admin/ developer both as my company is using a service cloud for their ticketing and I am here to automate the system as per requirements. also, I must say I can understand the code but when it’s about implementing I always need suggestions. so sometimes I frightened would I code or not.
So, can you help me, David?
How should I go on the path of consultant?
Thanks,
Purvika.
Results
Thanks for sharing David,
Black – 6
Blue – 4
Red – 4
Black – 11
Red – 1
Blue – 3
I got SF Admin (which I currently am), SF Developer (which I’m currently trying to learn) and Technical Architect – which I hope to one day be.
Red – 10
Blue – 4
Black – 1
Currently a Salesforce Administrator.
Developer
Red – 6
Black – 1
Blue – 8
I got-
Red: 6
Black: 3
Blue: 6
So I guess I’m fit to be an admin or a dev, and could be happy either place. Honestly, I’d really rather be a consultant or C-suite leader.
Hi,
First I would like to thank you for the whole web site.
The results are clearly saying that I’m developper’s road even if I’m curious about seeing the whole picture.
Best regards
Amine
it was a great experience. Feels motivated already even if you don’t know the coding steps.
Thanx David, Hope all goes well as per result.
Cheers…
I got developer. Blue 8
Tied between Salesforce Admin and Developer – have been a BA for the past 6 years… open to the challenge!
Kristin,
Thanks for the response, interesting – I also am tied between Salesforce Admin and Developer – have been in a Software Architect/Engineering and BA role for a while now working with business partner application integration for digital marketing, e-commerce, CRM, etc applications, so I have a good affinity for how CRM is utilized, workflows, integrations. So am looking to apply this background to a Salesforce Admin/Dev opportunity.
Admin…
Red: 7
Black: 5
Blue: 2
Ok, I counted them this time. I am definitely an Admin. I got 9 Red, 4 Blue, and 2 Black. At least it is not so balanced and then I would be more confused than I am now.
=P
I don’t see a number. It says my path is Admin-Developer-Architect.
Where do I find the numbers?
12 blue answers out of 15 questions!? Damn!! what do I do now??? 8 BA experience combined with 4 SFAdmin experience.
Thank you David!
10 Red
5 Blue
Path:
Admin
Dev
TechArch
Red- 6
Blue-6
Black-3
I am scared of coding though
Hi David,
I took this test for second time. Red 5, Blue 6, Black 3.
No experience in coding at all. Done some coding in C language during college days.
Please suggest what is best for me?
thanks
red 7
blue 5
grey 2
6 – Red
8 – Blue
1 – Black
Studying to become an Admin., maybe Developer is in my future!
Hi David,
I got Blue -8, Red-6 and Black-1.
Currently I am an admin and recently started learning Apex. Want to be an Admin-eloper.
NA
I’m split between Admin and Dev.
Red = 7
Blue = 6
Black = 2
Admin,Developer and Architect, but dont know where to start i have no experience in coding at all , also no knowledge about salesforce
Please advise how can I get to this path and from where exactly i need to start
Black – 3
Blue – 2
Red – 10
Trying to break in and get a position as a Salesforce Admin. Many years of business experience (age -57) and wanting to do a major career change to Salesforce Admin. Currently studying for the Admin Cert. and looking to get hands-on experience with Salesforce; reaching out to NP’s and for profit companies as a volunteer / low paid intern type position.
Hi Pat, similar situation for me – age 57, with 35 years of SW development and architecture experience, worked on a lot of application integration a lot was with digital commerce, marketing, CRM, social, mobile customer analytics solutions. So I’m very familiar with CRM and how it applies in marketing, sales and service. Have been anticipating a major change to leave pure SW development and focus more on application architecture, I am very impressed with Salesforce and thinking my path could be: Admin –> Dev –> Architect
Red – 2
Blue – 5
Black – 8
Currently a Marketing Technologist
Red 5
Grey 3
Blue 8
Interesting mix of Admin and Developer. Interestingly enough i am just to start a new role as a SF Consultant after 5 years as an admin. I guess the Admin / Developer role blended together is a Consultant role
Almost 100% Administrator. The description is spot on. Now I just need to figure out hoe to het this dream job :)
Hello David,
I am a Salesforce Admin and currently promoted as Team Lead, I have around 6+ years of experience as an admin. Recently I have shifted to another city within the same company though where I am on bench(No Project, No work).
Something clicked me to learn coding and landed on your tutorials and guess what they are driving me to learn development.
I am doing pretty well but my colleagues say its of no use to learn development at this stage of career and it wont help.
I need your valuable inputs on this. Let me tell you I am also looking for change and admin openings are really nill.
Need your advice.
Thanks
Mahi
Haha! Great!
If you’re making more than $200k / year in your current role, then yes, there’s no point learning to code unless you want to do it for the fun of it!
Overwhelmed to see your response, I cant believe you are so much active over the comments David. Thank You soooooo much !!!!!
My current earnings are 19k/year, so I can still learn coding from the career perspective right?
Respect and Love
Mahi
Most definitely!!!!!
Red 5
Blue 7
black 2
red-8
blue-5
grey-2
I am a java developer
Admin, Developer, and Technical Architect
Thank you for the quiz.
Scored:
Red: 6
Blue: 7
Black: 2
Currently system admin
11 Red (Administrator)
1 Blue (Developer)
2 Gray (Architect)
Kind of evenly spaced, not sure yet the difference between building and designing. Red: 6 Blue: 5 Gray: 4. Starting with Admin anyway. People tell me I could be a developer. We’ll see.
My results are :
Red: 5
Blue: 8
Black: 3
Current Role: Admin
Suggested by David’s Math: Developer.
Thanks David.
my results did not show up.
OOpsy..
My results are:
Red: 5
Blue: 8
Black: 3
My Results:
Blue = 9
Black = 4
Red = 2
So Developer…
And my job at the moment… Developer
I am a project manager with 16+ years IT experience, having worked on niche technologies and basic Java knowledge.
Do you think learning salesforce at this stage will be helpful for my career ?
If yes, how do I go about it so that I can start managing salesforce projects later on ?
damn it! the results won’t show up man!
Lol you gotta do the math yourself!
Thank you, David!
I really enjoy taking this test, here is my result,
Red: 7
Blue: 3
Black: 5
So do I have the potential to become a Certified Salesforce Architect?!
Administrator route for me – exactly what I thought!
Red 2
Blue 10
Black 3
Developer!!
Blue -11
Red – 2
Black – 2
Salesforce Administrator
My score is suggesting role of administrator
Ha ha – like it.
Red/ Black/ Blue = 4/4/7 = Dev.
Wooh!! Great Test David
My Result is:
Red: 6
Blue: 9
Developer-9
Tech Admin-6
Completely new to code and salesforce.
So any advise on where to start would be priceless.
I’m a Cloud Career adviser. Official Education Partner with Salesforce.
We can set a call, without any obligation.
Salesforce Developer
Career path
Admin-developer – architect
I have the exact same result in all three categories as I kinda expected. With my background, I have experience in all three areas. Looking forward to new career in Salesforce!
My result is a developer.
My result is Consultant.
Sorry for my late reply
David….I do not know how to say this but, I am growing super frustrated with the ADM201 Test as I failed already 3 TIMES! I have no idea what questions I am answering wrong and it is really frustrating..I have been working with SF for a bit now and this is by heart learning, I am wondering if I am not better off with DEV and the HECK with admin..Far from being stupid, I do not like the fact that one can’t learn from their mistakes on this test and only makes SF richer overtime!!!
an upset user.
Don’t feel bad, I’d probably fail that one too if I took it now.
My tips:
1. Read every word in this guide:
https://www.sfdc99.com/ultimate-salesforce-certifications-guide/
2. Don’t give up. You’ll always have this chip on your shoulder if you don’t go for it
3. Reward yourself when you pass!
I would suggest doing the practice exams on focusonforce.com – they were very helpful when i took my certifications.
6 -> red, 7 -> blue, 2 -> black. I just got started so I guess admin is a good starting point. Thanks for the post!
Admin 13 Architect 1 Developer 1
Interesting results since I’m more full-on business, but would rather swap pie charts with a bit of code here and there. #AdminWhoCodes FTW!
I’m glad to see that most people are leaning more towards pure development, does that mean that business crowd gets less competition?
I don’t care about smaller paycheck as long as I do what I like. Thanks for the test, it really helped a lot with clearing that “start with Salesforce mess”
red 9
blue 5
black 1
Hi David,
It’s a nice test or self ovservation
I got.
Blue: 8
Gray/Black: 3
Red:4
I am happy with this.
8-> Blue, Red->4, Black->3.
I am an Admin starting to learn development as well
I got 7 Red, 5 Blue, and 3 Black. I have the Admin certification and I’m learning Apex right now so it’s looking good right now. #AdminWhoCodes
8 blue, 6 red. I’m an Admin learning to develop, so it’s a good score!
6 blue , 7 red.
But I am a developer.
Should I change my career path ?
Stay on course, it’s close enough that if you enjoy what you do there’s reason to do anything else. Especially if the other thing pays less!
Blue… i. e. Salesforce Developer.
Thanks, David Liu for sharing this article & Clarification on Career
I had answers from all categories, but very strongly blue. The best meeting is no meeting, just let me code.
I like the last slide:
Technical Architect, Technical Architect, Retirement… hahaha
My results have all the flavours.
Red + Blue + Black = Me*
*hope I get to walk that path and reach the level of a Technical Architect :)
100% Salesforce Developer
all blues! developer
11 Grey
2 Red
2 Blue
Architect
Administrator but my 8 yrs of experience as a BA in software development dictated how I chose my answers, though.
Thanq david…..am on right track….currently am working as developer…..
Admin! 8 red, 5 blue, 2 black – thanks that was fun!
You’re welcome Olivia!
this was fun!
Results = Developer! Red(1), Blue(12), Black (2)
Result: Salesforce Developer by far.
Administrator! Although I also got a lot of Technical Architect… hmmm
Developer with a close Tech Architect. I think I’m on the right track :)
My most of the choices are blue i. e. Salesforce Developer.
Thanks David liu for sharing this career test.
My pleasure Kirti!
Hi sir
I have a doubt pls tell me
Create List of Integers and display in the VF page
how it write pls tell me
Result: Salesforce Developer
Currently a salesforce admin but learning apex to become a salesforce developer. One day technical architect.
Result: Architect
Not surprised at all since what I enjoy the most is designing the solution, not implementing it.
The problem is that those roles imply a high amount of hours, a thing i’m not too happy with since I like to have a lot of personal time(atm working 30h/week).
Any suggestion on how this could affect my path and how to take the most of it?
Kind Regards.
Technical architects are in such high demand nowadays that you can get by with 30 hours / week, especially if you get the CTA cert!
Mostly Administrator with almost equal developer score…Only ONE in Architect.
Great discovery quiz. Here is a question though. I have a problem sitting down for long hours and only be in front of a computer all day .
What would you recommend ?!
Admin probably has the least computer time of the three, followed by TA and lastly dev!
My result is Salesforce Developer
Love this. Result = Developer
I became certified administrator in August.
This gives me food for thought on continuing to the next stage.
-HOLLY
Cheers Holly =)
Result – Salesforce Developer.
Blue(12),Red(1),Black(2)
I though I always wanted to be an Architect. But after going through the test, I think I realised what I enjoy the most(and will continue to enjoy).
Great test !!
Thank you Satyajeet, glad this helped you!
6 x Blue and 7 x Red – so Administrator who does a bit of coding?
The #AdminWhoCodes! Perfect!
Thanks for sharing David,
My Result is
RED(6), Blue(7), Black(2), which means the Salesforce Developer as well as Administrator
Great Test!
Thanks
Nirav
Thanks for sharing David,
I got a mixed bag of goodies, guess due to the fact that some question were about my dream role(resulted in black points) and some questions were pointed to what I do or enjoy at the moment resulted in RED and Blue.
Black(7+) , RED(4+), Blue(4+).
So I guess I want to be Architect even though I am a Developer/Admin material. :)
Again Thanks for sharing.
OMG, I have to be an architect one day, most of the choices are Black! Currently in the role of Consultant (BA), studying programming.
Good stuff Elena!! =)
Mine is Salesforce administrator
My Result: Salesforce Administrator
Great test!
-Mazlow
Congrats Mazlow =) Hhmmmmm!!