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%
What’s the magic number of Salesforce certifications needed to impress that special someone?
I remember when three certifications was impressive. That was in 2012.
I remember when five certifications was impressive. That was in 2017.
I believe the magic number of certifications needed to impress in 2019 is… SEVEN!
Yeah, yeah, I know. Seven certifications sounds ridiculous. It’s a big mountain to climb.
…but everyone else is doing it.
It’s no longer rare for me to open up a resume and see five certifications. I almost expect it. In fact, if you have less than five certs, I wonder why you haven’t invested more time into earning more. And if you have zero certs, you might as well draw a big red flag on your resume.
It’s true that certifications aren’t a perfect measure of skill, knowledge, or experience. But just like academic grades, it’s the best objective measure we have. If two people have the exact same resume but one has seven more certs than the other, people will naturally go with Ms. Certified every time.
Certification inflation is real. But don’t fight it. It’s a small cost we pay to participate in the highest paying industry of all. So go study for your certifications, pass, and profit!
I don’t care who you are or what your background is: you can earn seven certifications in the next six months if you put your mind to it.
Yes YOU!!
I think that you need to have such amoung of certificates, as your job demands. Depending on are you Admin or Developer, you have different frequencies of certification. The more you have passed, the better proofs of the skill you have.
I’m disappointed to hear that some of these comments aren’t really valuing the commitment people make in order to pass these exams. To me, passing these exams show real commitment to trying to hang onto the dream of being a part of this Salesforce ecosystem. I am just going to brush off and move onto studying for my fourth cert, but passing the last three has been nothing but hard work and a lot of sleepless nights. #nevergiveup Depending on the market you are in, getting entry level admin jobs is not easy. Whenever I run into those who say they were accidental admins, I have nothing but envy! Why can’t I be one? :'(
Hang in there Cass! It’s worth it. =)
I would like to know if you have found a position. I don’t want to sound negative, but there’s something about the Salesforce environment that is starting to bother me.
The reality is that intelligent companies will be looking for people who have solid practical experience not certs. They will be aware of professional test takers who rely on personal connections, exam dumps and other tricks to know just enough to pass the exam. A ton of certifications for an applicant can actually be a red flag. Like “Are you doing anything other than taking tests?”
I’m at the upper end of the age scale and the exams aren’t particularly difficult as I can draw on 30 years of working in all aspects of IT across many platforms. I am under no delusions however that my SF certifications (current 11 soon to be 13) mean absolutely anything when it comes to getting offered positions or promotions. I’m taking them to confirm to myself what I don’t know.
TL;DR: Temper your expectations as to what certs will accomplish for you.
“If two people have the exact same resume but one has seven more certs than the other, people will naturally go with Ms. Certified every time”
interesting that you believe the number of certifications is a deciding factor. is the SF market so shallow that personality, experience and intelligence that are all displayed during a professional interview process are so undervalued that the certification pro will win the job even if they cant effectively communicate?
Wow 7 ! Currently working on my 4th so I’ll get there :) Do you think superbadges are valuable ? Do you see people put their superbadges on their resume and if you do, do you think it’s a good idea ?
If we start getting certifications in numbers, it will simply result into ‘Certi race’ because then people start looking out for dumps and other help to anyhow pass for certifications. Just to show them in numbers makes no sense unless you have that relevant knowledge.
Getting certifications is valuable and fair only if you get them step-by-step, rather than just getting onto the count.
Interesting mix of comments for 7, 5, or zero certs….Wow, I did not know the number of certifications would be so controversial….
I got only 4 from 2half of 2018, now trying to reach 10x in 2019.
I was at Dreamforce in 2009 or 2010 when the certification program was announced. The person in charge of the program appeared on stage in a leather motorcycle jacket that said she was certified.
I thought to myself that this person has never written a line of code, deployed a package, or even created a report or dashboard.
So much for certification.
LOL
I have been recruiting specifically in this area for over 7 years and have helped many companies across Asia Pacific and I agree with the above. Certifications are not everything as I describe in my article here: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/certification-vs-experience-age-old-question-tony-kvatch/.
The key point David makes above is that it is getting to be unusual to see no certifications on someones resume.
Experience IS the most important factor when companies are hiring the best people to help them with their Salesforce platform. However when so many other people have the experience AND the certifications, who would you interview first?
Well… I personally give zero weight to certifications. They are mostly used to convince client that the company is damn serious about salesforce. But there are other ways to prove it. Like if the company is Salesforce partner. From programmer perspective good aptitude wins over certifications. This is because certifications do not guarantee the person will be able to solve the problem at hands. He or She has read the material, and solved few question sets that’s all. This is no use in real life situations.
I agree that certifications aren’t the only thing that indicates one’s expertise in Salesforce, but in my ten years of experience, I’ll say two things.
1. A couple of them are hard to earn if you don’t have at least a passing strength in that area (Admin, Service Cloud Consultant, and Pardot Consultant, in my opinion).
2. Many companies like them and are looking for them when I hiring.
I have six … guess I should think about which one will be my lucky #7!
the realistic thing would be to ask yourselves, how much confident are you about the material in the second test you passed? ;-)
I think the “cert race” thing is ridiculous and proves nothing about how much a person knows about Salesforce. Just like how many badges they have doesn’t really prove anything either. It just shows that they have a lot of extra time on their hands. What really counts to me is how much actual experience they have working with the actual platform with actual clients. Time on the job is a better indicator, imho.
with you. One certification is I guess enough to know the person is seriously interested in Salesforce, while recruiting. Rest is moneymaking for Salesforce :-)
agreed
The whole thing behind the salesforce cert is exaggerated. I dont have many certs but can work much better than most having many certifications. Many do hard work but many also just want to achieve that special number by any means
I have zero certifications. I buy and read study guides for the exams so I know how to do my work, but I have zero time to certify. My Salesforce org at a startup is A LOT OF CLEANUP WORK + I have to commute 4 hours without internet each day. When should I find time to study? My certified Salesforce Admin + Advanced Administrator did not know the real basic stuff like how to properly use filters on permission sets, list views, or create reports for users. Salesforce jobs at startups is a total burn game. I actually have to exit the workforce to find time to certify. That really sucks in my mid-40s and after already surviving 2008 crash.
with you…
That’s true and really inspiring. I am on in. Gave 3 certifications in last 2 months. Target is to get more 4 certification is coming 4-5 months.
I had same question in my mind. Thanks for the post. It is good and informative.
Hi David,
Great post, as always. I gotta say you scare me! I finally got my second certification as Platform App Builder today and this is making me think I’ve got such a ways to go… I was setting my goal on 5 certifications, but apparently that is no longer impressive. Oh well.