Are you the one who wants to build a career in Salesforce but don’t know much about it? If so, there will be a number of questions hovering in your mind like – What is Salesforce? What are the different Salesforce certifications? Why should I go for Salesforce certifications? How much can I earn after becoming Salesforce certified? And many others! But don’t worry as you have reached the right page now. Here we come with the topic “Introduction to Salesforce Certifications.” So, let’s start from the very scratch.
Salesforce is one of the top Customer Relationship Management platforms, has become popular across the world. It offers a number of certifications and brings numerous options for IT and non-IT professionals in multiple job roles.
What are Salesforce Certifications?
The Salesforce certifications are the industry-recognized certifications that demonstrate your Salesforce related skills to the employers and clients. There are different categories of Salesforce credentials; every category involves different levels with a number of certifications. So, it is required to understand these Salesforce credentials first –
- Administrators
- App Builders
- Developers
- Architects
- Consultants
- Marketers
- Pardot
- Specialists
Administrator and Developer exams are the basic level Salesforce certifications and considered to be the entry points to become a Salesforce professional. All the other Salesforce certifications require a prerequisite i.e., Developer exam or Administrator exam. In a general way, most of the Salesforce experts follow the same route of certifications to become a certified Salesforce professional. This route may change according to the job role and the purpose of the certification exam.
Why go for Salesforce Certifications?
The demand for Salesforce certified professionals is regularly increasing, and thus the certification salesforce are gaining more importance. The following points signify why one should opt certification salesforce –
- The Salesforce certifications give integrity to your Salesforce skills and experience.
- These Certifications help you exhibit your expertise to the employers and clients as well
- Companies prefer to appoint certified professionals to tempt clients. Thus, the demand for people with Salesforce certifications is high
- Salesforce has been globally accepted and the Salesforce professionals play important roles in different fields
- There are better job opportunities for certified Salesforce professionals, and they are offered more salary as compared to non-certified Salesforce professionals
- The Salesforce certifications add a new credential to your resume and thus add value to your career
Following trends will depict the importance of Salesforce certifications well –
- Glassdoor reveals that currently there are over 4,000 jobs for Salesforce professionals.
- Technical jobs include administrators, consultants, engineers, developers, analysts, cloud experts, technical support, and more.
- A number of Salesforce positions are available for project managers, program directors and vice presidents.
- Salesforce has been developing at a prompt speed. It is expected that the Salesforce will grow by more than 25% in next five years.
The salary offered to the Certified Salesforce Professionals is also a factor that makes one go for Salesforce Certifications. The Salesforce professionals are one of the highest paid professionals in the industry. Let’s find out how much salary Salesforce professionals are offered in various domains.
Average Salary of Salesforce Professionals
As discussed above, there are eight credentials to build the career as a Salesforce professional in different domains. You can register and schedule Salesforce certifications exams online. We need to mention here that there is a huge demand for certified Salesforce professionals as Administrators, App Builders, Developers, and Architects. So, here we are going to discuss the Salesforce certifications that fall into these categories:
1. Salesforce Administrator Certifications
Salesforce Administration Certifications validate your Salesforce knowledge to understanding the business requirements and customizing the Salesforce platform. This certification helps Salesforce professionals to get most out of the Salesforce. The administrator credential consists of two levels that validate your skills and help you to remain aware of the newest Salesforce releases.
(A) Salesforce Certified Administrator Certification
This certification is for those who have just started their career as Salesforce Administrator or consultant. The candidate should have some basic knowledge of Salesforce features for this certification.
The skills one should have to pass this certification –
- Extensive knowledge of Salesforce applications
- Configuration and maintenance of Service Cloud and Sales Cloud applications
- Management of Salesforce CRM with excellent presentation skills
- Working knowledge of basic functionalities like managing users, development, and customization
Exam Information
Prerequisite – None
Exam Pattern – Multiple Choice, Multiple Answer Questions
No. of questions – 60 (with 5 unscored questions)
Exam Duration – 90 minutes
Passing Score – 65%
Exam Fee – US$ 200
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(B) Salesforce Certified Advanced Administrator Certification
Salesforce Certified Advanced Administrator certification, is for those who have a considerable experience as Salesforce Administrator. This certification requires the candidate to be expertise in implementing all the advanced Salesforce features.
The skills one should have to pass this certification –
- Familiar to design scalable and robust Salesforce applications for the clients
- Optimization and extension of advanced Salesforce applications
- Designing advanced dashboards, reports, and business process automation
Exam Information
Prerequisite – Salesforce Certified Administrator Certification
Exam Pattern – Multiple Choice, Multiple Answer Questions
No. of questions – 60 (with 5 unscored questions)
Exam Duration – 90 minutes
Passing Score – 65%
Exam Fee – USD 200
2. Salesforce Certified App Builder
The Salesforce Certified Platform App Builder certification is for those who have significant working knowledge of building, designing, and implementing Salesforce applications. The candidate should be capable of customizing applications on Force.com platform.
The skills one should have to pass this certification –
- Designing user interface, data models, business logic, and security
- Expertise in designing dashboards and reports
- Customization of applications for mobile use
- Deployment of custom applications
Exam Information
Prerequisite – None
Exam Pattern – Multiple Choice, Multiple Answer Questions
No. of questions – 60 (with 5 unscored questions)
Exam Duration – 90 minutes
Passing Score – 63%
Exam Fee – US$ 200
3. Salesforce Certified Developer
The Salesforce Certified Developer Certification is for those who have extensive skills and experience in developing Salesforce applications. This certification validates the knowledge of candidates in utilizing Commerce Cloud Digital for the development of e-commerce solutions. The candidate should be able to develop customized Salesforce applications in a declarative manner on the Force.com platform.
(A) Salesforce Certified Platform Developer I
The Salesforce Certified Platform Developer I certification is for those who are skilled and experienced in building customized applications in a declarative way. This certification validates the expertise of candidate to develop applications on the Force.com platform through Salesforce. Although it’s not mandatory, the candidate should have half to one year of development experience with at least 6 months of experience on Force.com platform.
The skills one should have to pass this certification –
- Expertise in development of custom applications on Force.com platform
- Basic knowledge of Apex and Visualforce
- Good understanding of development lifecycle
- Designing of user interface, data model, and business logic for applications
Exam Information
Prerequisite – None
Exam Pattern – Multiple Choice, Multiple Answer Questions
No. of questions – 60 (with 5 unscored questions)
Exam Duration – 105 minutes
Passing Score – 68%
Exam Fee – US$ 200
(B) Salesforce Certified Platform Developer II
The Salesforce Certified Platform Developer II certification is for those who have expertise in advanced programmatic skills. The candidate should have the experience to work on the Force.com platform along with good knowledge of data modeling.
To become Salesforce Certified Platform Developer II, one need to give programming assignment and then essay exam after passing the multiple-choice certification exam. Although it’s not mandatory, it is recommended to have 2-4 years of development experience. Also, the candidate should have at least one year of experience of working on the Force.com platform.
The skills one should have to pass this certification –
- Master of Apex and Visualforce
- Designing, developing, testing, and deployment of robust and reusable programmatic applications
- Good knowledge of REST, SOAP, Heroku, APIs, and developing Lightning Components
Exam Information
Prerequisite – Salesforce Certified Platform Developer I
Exam Pattern – Multiple Choice, Multiple Answer Questions
No. of questions – 60 (with 5 unscored questions)
Exam Duration – 120 minutes
Passing Score – 63%
Exam Fee – US$ 200
4. Salesforce Architect Certifications
The Salesforce Architect Certifications validate the candidate’s skills in different specializations along with extensive expertise in Salesforce. There are three tiers of Salesforce Certified Architect Credential.
- Salesforce Certified Architecture Designer – It validates expertise and knowledge in particular specializations.
- Salesforce Certified Application Architect and System Architecture Certifications – validates expertise in a domain area.
- Salesforce Certified Technical Architect Certifications – validates the skills of designing and developing advanced technical solutions on Salesforce platform.
(A) Salesforce Certified Application Architect
Salesforce Certified Application Architect Certification is for those having a keen understanding of Salesforce functionality. The candidate should also have the capability to construct a hierarchy according to job role and sharing mechanisms with Salesforce.
The required prerequisites specializations for this certification are –
- Salesforce Certified Data Architecture and Management Designer
- Salesforce Certified Sharing & Visibility Designer
- Salesforce Certified Platform Developer I
- Salesforce Certified Platform App Builder
Exam Information
Exam Pattern – Hypothetical Scenario-based
Exam Duration – 4 hours
Passing Score – No passing score, either pass or fail on the basis of justified architecture solution
Exam Fee – US$ 6000
(B) Salesforce Certified System Architect
Salesforce Certified System Architect Certification is for those who are skilled and proficient in system testing. The candidate should also be skilled in the integration and governance of organizational infrastructure’s external systems as per Salesforce.
The required prerequisite domain specializations for this certification are –
- Certified Development Lifecycle and Deployment Designer
- Certified Identity and Access Management Designer
- Certified Integration Architecture Designer
- Certified Platform Developer I
Exam Information
Exam Pattern – Hypothetical Scenario-based
Exam Duration – 4 hours
Passing Score – No passing score, either pass or fail on the basis of justified architecture solution
Exam Fee – US$ 6000
(C) Salesforce Certified Technical Architect (CTA)
Salesforce Certified Technical Architect Certification is for those who have significant experience in working with Salesforce. The candidate should have excellent presentation skills, extensive technical knowledge in Salesforce, with the capability of developing Salesforce solutions.
This Salesforce certification enables a candidate to understand client’s requirements. Also, prepares him for designing and development of the secure, robust, high-performance Salesforce technical solutions.
The required prerequisites for this certification are –
- Salesforce Certified Application Architect
- Salesforce Certified System Architect
Exam Information
Exam Pattern – Hypothetical Scenario-based
Exam Duration – 4 hours
Passing Score – No passing score; either pass or fail on the basis of justified architecture solution
Exam Fee – US$ 6000
5) Salesforce Marketing Cloud Email Specialist
The Salesforce Marketing Cloud Email Specialist credential is intended for those who want to demonstrate knowledge, skills, and experience in best practicesof email marketing in the specified areas: content creation, data management, delivery, subscriber management and analytics within Cloud Email application of Marketing.
- Candidate should have hands-on experience with Cloud Email application of Marketing
- Candidates need to demonstrate their knowledge and skills using Marketing Cloud for message design, management of subscriber and data , inbox delivery, and external integrations.
Exam Information
Exam Pattern – Multiple-choice questions
Exam Duration –90 Minutes
Passing Score – 67%
Exam Fee – US$ 200 plus taxes
The Salesforce certifications are high-level certifications and require a strong knowledge of concepts and regular preparation. Some books can help you in getting prepared for the Salesforce certification exams. You can also follow advise and tips of industry experts to pass the Salesforce certification exams on the first attempt. It is recommended to get well-prepared for these certifications through online training and practice tests. If you are a keen self-learner, you can also prepare for these certification exams through self-study.
If you are planning to become a Certified Salesforce Administrator, prepare through our recently launched online training material. Our study material will help you to pass the certification exam on the first attempt. We also provide a free demo video, you can watch it now. The study material at Whizlabs is created by highly experienced, Salesforce industry experts that help you to pass the certification exam in a single attempt. So, if you have any question or query regarding Salesforce certifications, just post a comment below. And our Salesforce experts will reply to resolve your query.
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If you’ve any query/suggestion regarding Salesforce Certification, please participate in Whizlabs discussion forum.
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