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%
Not gonna lie, I’ve made a few really questionable hires over the years.
I fell into the trap of mediocre interviewing – yes as the person conducting the interview!
I’d put way too much stock in a person’s certifications and I’d ask a lot of the common, mediocre questions, like, What’s the difference between a lookup and master-detail relationship?
The problem with these type of questions is it’s too easy to prepare for them. You end up testing someone’s memorization rather than their critical thinking skills. Just like certifications.
But even though I was a horrible interviewer, I knew I could really tell the quality of someone’s skill once I actually started working together with them on a project.
So that’s how I recommend interviewing people now: build something, together! Make it like an actual brainstorming meeting you’d have with a colleague for that spicy new feature. Example:
Google Interview – Part #1 – Data Modeling
| DON’T Ask This: | What’s the difference between a Lookup and a Master-Detail relationship? |
| Ask This Instead: | Let’s build a Salesforce app to manage user reviews on Google Play Apps.
|
Google Interview – Part #2 – Automation
| DON’T Ask This: | When would you use a Process Builder versus a Trigger? |
| Ask This Instead: | We need to indicate if an app’s overall reviews are trending up or down.
|
Google Interview – Part #3 – Integrations
| DON’T Ask This: | When you would use the Salesforce REST API versus the Bulk API? |
| Ask This Instead: | Let’s work with another team that will sync user reviews to our Salesforce org.
|
You’ll want to find your own open ended scenario that mimics projects in your org. And if you build it right, no one can study for it – a candidate can only draw on their own experience and ingenuity.
As for the questions above, they may or may not be questions I actually ask in the interview 😜
David