Salesforce is a very hot in-demand technology. Salesforce professionals are highly sought after globally and command premium salaries. It is easy to learn technology and offers multiple career growth options.
1.0 Why should you up-skill and make yourself Future Ready
The future of jobs in 2022 will be determined by the inevitable impact created by the interplay of three primary forces – globalization, demographic changes and the adoption of Industry 4.0 future technologies. The impact of these three primary forces is expected to be disruptive on sectors such as IT-BPM and BFSI and relatively lower on core manufacturing sectors such as apparel and leather. In addition, Covid-19 has created a new disruption that will force almost all organizations to adopt digital technologies and digitize all their process. It is still early days to understand the full impact of Covid-19. However, one thing is clear that it will accelerate the digital transformation of organizations.
These primary forces will have a significant impact on jobs through a combination of new jobs that will be created, a section of jobs that will require significantly new skill sets, and a set of jobs that may cease to exist.
It is estimated that by 2022, growth in emerging professions is set to increase their share of employment from 16% to 27% (11% growth) whereas the employment share of declining roles is set to decrease from currently 31% to 21% (10% decline). About half of today’s core jobs—making up the bulk of employment across industries—will remain stable in the period up to 2022. While these estimates and the assumptions behind them should be treated with caution, they are useful in highlighting the changes that are taking place in the new world of work. The major changes can be represented in two parallel and interconnected fronts in terms of workforce transformations:
- large-scale decline in some roles as tasks within these roles become automated or redundant
- large-scale growth in new products and services—and associated new tasks and jobs— generated by the adoption of new technologies and other socio- economic developments such as the rise of middle classes in emerging economies and demographic shifts.
These changes will create new emerging in-demand roles. Among the range of established roles that are set to experience increasing demand in the period up to 2022 are:
- Cloud Application Developers
- AI and Machine Learning Specialists
- Big Data Specialists
- Robotic Process Automation Experts
- Information Security Analysts
- Internet of Things experts
- User Experience and Human-Machine Interaction Designers
- Robotics engineers
- Blockchain Specialists
It is expected that by 2022, the skills required to perform most jobs will have shifted significantly. The proportion of core skills required to perform a job that will remain the same—is expected to be about 58%, meaning an average shift of 42% in required workforce skills by the year 2022.
2.0 What is Salesforce
Salesforce is world’s #1 Customer Relationship Management (CRM) software. The CRM solution brings companies and customers together. It is an integrated platform that gives all departments — including Marketing, Sales, Commerce and Service a single, shared view of every customer. Salesforce offers multiple Software as a Service (SaaS) and platform as a service (PaaS) products and a complementary suite of enterprise applications. Its focus on customer service, marketing automation, and analytics; together with a seamless environment for application development and improvement, has made it the ultimate go-to platform for product development around customer needs.
2.1 What does Salesforce offer
Salesforce began as a CRM system and has over the years diversified to offer more capabilities. Salesforce helps an organization in the following ways:
- Attract more buyers using personalized marketing
- Win more customers by getting to know their needs and concerns
- Deliver the amazing shopping experiences your customers expect
- Respond faster to customer support issues on any channel
- Automate time-consuming tasks by building custom apps
Salesforce brings together customers and companies. It automates sales processes and cuts down the admin work. Companies use Salesforce to:
- Leverage Customer, Sales and Market data
- Create more engaging marketing content and channels
- Sell more and faster
- Support better customer experience
- Bring innovation with technology use
- Enable the building of apps within the system for every business role very quickly
2.2 360-degree Customer View
The various channels of customer interaction are integrated seamlessly with the business teams on a single CRM platform in the cloud. Departments can have a complete view of the customer at any point and from any location. This empowers a company to take data-driven decisions in real-time. The software is scalable, can be customized, and integrates with third-party applications for a range of customer-centric services. With built-in analytics, dashboards, and reports; and a flexible pay model, Salesforce has emerged as a popular platform for businesses of all sizes. Salesforce is helping companies reap the benefits of automated workflows and processes. It also helps to achieve better customer service, customer relationship and brand building, customer retention, and higher returns on marketing investment.
3.0 Why Learn Salesforce
Salesforce is the world’s number #1 CRM platform. It is expected to generate 3.3M jobs globally in the Salesforce eco-system by the year 2022.
Salesforce professionals are doing exceptionally well professionally. They are in huge demand globally and command premium salaries. It is also a fairly easy to learn technology. A good thing about Salesforce roles is that they don’t require an IT degree to build a career with the system. Many technology professionals who have experience working with legacy CRM tools like Siebel or MS Dynamics will find that adding a Salesforce skill will enhance their salary as they can then work on more modern Salesforce systems. This is one reason, a lot of working professionals who are stuck in their career are learning Salesforce to switch their careers.
In addition, it is also helping Salesforce trained fresh graduates get jobs. In the current job market scenario, it helps them differentiate themselves from others and get into companies that are looking to deploy trained graduates. Salesforce as
a technology will continue to dominate the market for the foreseeable future. It makes immense sense to learn Salesforce if you are a fresh graduate looking for a job or a working professional looking to re-invent your career.
Reasons to Learn Salesforce
3.1 Huge demand
Salesforce eco-system is expected to generate 3.3M jobs by the year 2022 globally. In India alone, there are 4500+ jobs for Salesforce developer on the Naukri job portal. The demand for Salesforce professionals is increasing at a phenomenal rate.
3.2 Multiple Career Options
A career in Salesforce provides tremendous growth opportunities. One can start as an administrator to move to Advanced Administrator or Business Analyst role or start as a Developer and progress to Architect positions. Salesforce offers the following career opportunities:
Salesforce Administrator
Salesforce Administrators handle all basic administrative functions including user account maintenance, reports and dashboards, workflows and other routine tasks. They do complete regular internal system audits and prepare for upgrades. They also manage Salesforce.com data feeds and other integrations.
Salesforce Developer
Salesforce developers analyze company processes and develop CRM workflows and custom solutions for specific business needs. Salesforce developers work in a variety of industries, designing and developing business workflows and translating requirements into system solutions.
Salesforce Technical Architect
Salesforce Technical Architects possesses broad knowledge across multiple development platforms and draw on their skills and experience to assess customer requirements and architecture in order to design secure and high
Performance technical solutions that maximize the potential of the Salesforce platform.
Salesforce Business Analyst
A Salesforce Business Analyst works with clients and end users to gather, understand, and define business requirements. Develop user stories and to-be process flows to support the design and development of Salesforce solutions for the clients. The Business Analyst collaborates with developers to test and verify that the solutions will meet the business requirements.
Salesforce Marketing Manager
Marketing managers understand the art and science behind creating targeted marketing campaigns that connect with customers. Marketers bring big ideas to the table that drive impressive results. They rely on customer data and marketing automation tools to seamlessly engage with audiences across all channels.
Salesforce Sales Manager
Sales professionals are excellent communicators and relationship builders, and they enjoy helping others succeed. They’re good at juggling multiple priorities and managing their time to work on multiple deals simultaneously. They enjoy the thrill of winning an important account and have the persistence and attention to detail to overcome obstacles in reaching their goals.
Salesforce Consultant
Responsibilities of Salesforce Consultant include, Managing the Client Relationship – Interacting with the client, understanding their business process and managing their requirements on the CRM platform is the responsibility that a Salesforce Consultant is expected to accomplish in order to make the business succeed.
3.3 High Salaries
Salesforce professionals command among the highest salaries in the market. Typical Salesforce salaries in the international market are given below.
3.4 Opportunity to work in big companies
All the big companies have Salesforce as a major service practice. The top ten companies with strong Salesforce practice include Accenture, Deloitte, IBM, PwC, Wipro, Cognizant Technologies, Capgemini, NTT Data and Tech Mahindra. These companies have huge Salesforce practice and employ thousands of Salesforce Developers, Administrators, Architects etc. They are also hiring Salesforce professionals on a large scale. A Salesforce trained professional gets the opportunity to work in these large companies.
3.5 Global Demand
Salesforce is a global company. Salesforce trained professionals are in global demand. They get opportunities to work in different parts of the world including USA, Europe, Australia, Singapore etc.
3.6 World’ #1 CRM and growing
Salesforce is the undisputed leader in cloud-based CRM. It is highly in demand and growing at a rapid rate. Many companies are switching from traditional CRM to cloud-based CRM. Salesforce being the market leader becomes their first choice. While the traditional CRM is losing market-share, Salesforce market share is increasing consistently.
3.7 Digital World
The world is increasingly going digital. Every company is increasing its digital footprint to stay relevant in the market. Companies that do not embrace digital technologies will get left behind. Digital technologies enable companies to reach the global market and showcase their goods and services. Marketing, Sales and Service with digital technologies enable companies to reach out to customers, understand them and delight them. There will be more and more demand for companies to embrace cloud-based platforms like Salesforce.
3.8 Easy to Learn
Salesforce is a fairly easy to learn technology. A good thing about Salesforce roles is that they don’t require an IT degree to build a career with the system.
4.0 What are the Basic Pre-requisites for Learning Salesforce?
Salesforce job roles can vary from admin, developers, business analysts, to product owners.
4.1 Administrator Track
Salesforce Administrator does not need coding knowledge. There are no pre- requites to learn to become a Salesforce Administrator. One can also progress to become a Business Analyst. There are once again no pre-requisites to become a Business Analyst. In this role one needs good knowledge of Salesforce product and its functionality as well as good communication and client interaction skills.
4.2 Developer Track
As development gets done in Apex, it requires some essential programming experience or familiarity with Java, CSS, JavaScript, REST, SOAP, and HTML 5. Those with programming background will find it easier to transition to the Salesforce developer role, while someone new to programming may have a steeper learning curve.
4.3 Who Should Take the Salesforce Courses?
A career in Salesforce will help almost anyone who wants to stay relevant and not become obsolete in the current market scenario. It will help professionals re- invent their careers by leveraging the opportunities presented by future technologies.
- Fresh graduate looking for a placement and better career prospects
- Professional stuck in obsolete technologies looking to re-invent their careers.
- Developer keen on designing apps in the vibrant Salesforce ecosystem
- Salesforce consultant or project manager who want to explore stronger career possibilities.
There is a wide choice of Salesforce certifications that you need to pass. You can cherry-pick one or more to get that coveted job role.
“The best way to kick-start a career path in future technologies is to learn Salesforce. Take a certification and shore up your career prospects and salary within the Salesforce ecosystem.“
5.0 Salesforce Certification
Salesforce certification is the best way to prove your skills and fast track your career on one of the hottest CRM platforms today. This section will help you understand the various Salesforce certifications so that you can choose the right career path for yourself. Salesforce is one of the fastest-growing, most in-demand skill-sets today. From software developers to solution architects, to project managers and marketing and sales professionals, Salesforce skills pay off for a wide array of roles. If you are looking to land a new job, earn a raise or switch your career to lucrative cloud technology, Salesforce certification is a great career move.
5.1 Benefits of Salesforce certification
- Salesforce certifications are a great way to improve your marketability in the tight job market.
- If you are a fresh graduate out of college looking for a job, then certification in Salesforce sets you apart from other graduates and opens new doors for you. You become an ideal choice for companies looking for Salesforce professionals.
- If you are an experienced professional stuck in legacy or non-growing technology, then a switch to a career in Salesforce takes you on a fast growth trajectory.
- If you are a Salesforce professional, then certification in advance topics will help you move up in your career It will give you professional growth and will also monetarily be very lucrative.
5.2 Salesforce Certification Path
Salesforce offers a variety of certifications targeted at a range of job functions, including:
- Administrators
- App builders
- Developers
- Architects
- Consultants
- Marketers
- Specialists
5.3 Salesforce certifications
Salesforce offers certifications for the Admin and Developer tracks. One can start on the Admin track and advance to build a career as Advanced Administrator, or a Sales, Service Cloud specialist. One can also start on the Developer track. The path here is:
- Platform App Builder
- Platform Developer I
- Platform Developer II
- Architect
Admin and Developer Track
Salesforce Administrator Certifications
Salesforce offers two levels of administrator certifications. Both focus on administrative functions, including defining user requirements, customizing the Salesforce platform, and helping users to get the most out of the solutions.
Salesforce Certified Administrator
Candidates should have extensive knowledge of Salesforce customization and configuration and be skilled at managing users and getting the most out of the platform’s capabilities. The exam consists of 60 multiple-choice questions in 90 minutes. To pass, you need to know how to:
- Manage users, data, and security
- Maintain and customize Sales Cloud and Service Cloud applications
- Build reports, dashboards, and workflows.
- Prerequisites: None
Salesforce Certified Advanced Administrator
Candidates should have experience using the advanced administration capabilities in Salesforce and be highly proficient in designing advanced reports, dashboards and automation processes. The exam consists of 60 multiple-choice questions in 90 minutes. To pass the exam, you need to know how to:
- Leverage the advanced administration capabilities of Salesforce
- Optimize and extend Sales Cloud and Service Cloud applications
- Design advanced reports, dashboards, and business process automation.
- Prerequisites: Salesforce Certified Administrator
Salesforce Certified Platform Application Builder
There is only one certification on offer for professionals who design, build and implement custom applications on the Salesforce platform. This certification requires a more programming and engineering-minded skill-set than the Certified Administrator track. It requires the ability to design, build and implement custom applications on the Force.com platform. This skillset involves extensive knowledge of the declarative development and customization functions available on the platform. The exam consists of 60 multiple-choice questions in 90 minutes. To pass the exam, you need to know how to:
- Design the data model, user interface, business logic and security for custom applications
- Customize applications for mobile use
- Design reports and dashboards and deploy custom applications.
- Prerequisites: None
Salesforce Developer Certifications
Salesforce developer credentials are for professionals with knowledge, skills and experience in building custom declarative and programmatic applications on the Force.com platform. There are three types of developer certifications: Platform Developer I, Platform Developer II and Salesforce Certified B2C Commerce developer aimed at developing e-commerce solutions
Salesforce Certified Platform Developer I
To pass this exam, candidates must know how to:
- Design the data model, user interface, business logic, and security for custom applications
- Develop custom applications using Apex and Visualforce
- Familiarity with the development lifecycle and have knowledge of the available environments. The exam consists of 60 multiple-choice questions in 105 minutes.
- Prerequisites: None
Salesforce Certified Platform Developer II
Candidates must be experts in the advanced programmatic capabilities of the Force.com platform and data modelling so they can develop complex business logic and interfaces on the platform. The certification process has three components: a multiple-choice exam, a programming assignment and an essay exam. To pass the exam, candidates must be able to:
- Design, develop, test and deploy easily maintainable, robust and reusable programmatic solutions.
- Follow Apex design patterns and object-oriented programming best practices.
- Use Apex and Visualforce to create application components based on a set of preconfigured business requirements. in 30 days.
- Prerequisites: Salesforce Certified Platform Developer I certification
Salesforce Certified B2C Commerce Developer
Candidates should be experienced full-stack developers for Salesforce B2C Commerce. It is geared toward those who develop e-commerce solutions and are adept at:
- Setting up the development environment
- Working with the Digital data model
- Working with site content, using Salesforce Business Manager to perform site configuration tasks
- Using scripts to extend site business logic
- Interacting with external applications
- Optimizing site performance and troubleshooting
- Prerequisites: None
Salesforce Certified Architect
Architects who have earned a specific set of certifications from the Designer, Developer and App Builder tracks can then pursue a Domain Architect certification as either Application Architects or System Architects. Salesforce Certified Technical Architects, the top tier, combine both Domain and System Architecture tracks, demonstrating knowledge, skills, and capabilities across all available domains.
Salesforce Certified Application Architect
This certification requires a deep understanding of native Salesforce features and functionality, as well as the ability to model a role hierarchy, data model, and appropriate sharing mechanisms. To earn this credential, architects must complete four certifications, each of which has its own associated exam and fee. Prerequisites: Salesforce Certified Data Architecture and Management Designer, Salesforce Certified Sharing and Visibility Designer, Salesforce Certified Platform Developer I, Salesforce Certified Platform App Builder
Salesforce Certified System Architect
The certification emphasizes system testing, governance and integration with external systems within an organization’s infrastructure. To earn this credential, architects must complete four certifications, each of which has its own associated exam and fee.
Prerequisites: Certified Development Lifecycle and Deployment Designer, Certified Identity and Access Management Designer, Certified Integration Architecture Designer and Certified Platform Developer I
Salesforce Certified Technical Architect
This “elite” architect certification requires a significant investment of time, energy and money. To achieve it, candidates need extensive experience, technical breadth and depth, presentation skills and the ability to synthesize Salesforce solutions that span the entire platform. Candidates must possess broad knowledge across multiple development platforms and have achieved certification in all specialized domains. The certification draws on candidates’ ability to assess customer requirements and architecture in order to design secure, high-performance technical solutions.
To pass this exam, candidates must design a recommended architecture solution based on a fictional client with hypothetical customer requirements. You will be asked to explain and justify why and how you built your solution.
Prerequisites: Salesforce Certified Application Architect and Salesforce Certified System Architect
6.0 Frequently Asked Questions
Is Salesforce a good career?
Yes, Salesforce is a good choice for a career. Salesforce is world’s #1 CRM and offers best career opportunities in the fore-seeable future. Salesforce is the market leader and has positioned itself well to take advantage of the future growth of the industry
What coding language does Salesforce use?
The Salesforce application and the Force. com platforms are predominantly written in Java, and some specific areas are written in other languages.
I am not a programmer. What are my career options?
If you are not a programmer and do not want to get into programming, then the best option for you is to get into the Administrator track. This does not require any programming skills. You can move up in your career as Advanced Administrator or as a Business Analyst.
What is the difference between Platform App Builder and Platform Developer? Platform App Builder allows you to build applications using Declarative approach. This does not require any programming. However, for complex applications, you need the programmatic approach. In this case you will need programming to build the applications.
Do I need to learn Platform App Builder in the Developer track?
Yes. As a Platform Developer, you need to understand both the Declarative and Programmatic approach.
I do not have programming background. Can I take the Developer track? Yes, you can take up Developer track. You can learn programming. It will take some extra time and effort but it is completely doable.