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I've been introduced into SalesForce. Highly debating becoming certified. Is it worth it?

Being in a career search, I'm all over the place! I'm in IT right now, not quiet sure which direction I want to head in... #computer-engineering #salesforce

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Saman’s Answer

SalesForce is one of the biggest SaaS platforms out there, it would definitely be useful to be certified in it if you're in IT as most companies probably need the support. There is definitely no downside to getting the certification if you have the time and resources to make it possible.
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Jessica’s Answer

I would encourage you to get Salesforce certified. It is a highly desirable skill and would open more opportunities for you if you were certified. Certifications always help- especially in products or skills that are currently popular or trending.

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Terry’s Answer

Easy answer is yes, like everyone else is saying. But what I'd add is to start your learning and certification process via Trailhead (part of Salesforce) and then use your network even before getting your Admin Certification to try and get your foot in the door.

It's a long process; it's painful at times, but it is WELL worth it. There are many many resources out there to help you learn the platform including the ability for you to get your own FREE Developer Account to play around with, so just do it already. You got this!!!

Terry recommends the following next steps:

Get a Trailhead account (FREE)
Get a Dev Acct (FREE)
Learn, learn, learn
Network
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Nishant Singh’s Answer

YES, it is 100% worth getting certified when you are working on the Salesforce Platform.

I would also like to add that it is also not required to have too many certifications and you start in a race of getting into 20X certifications. I myself have 13X Certifications but all of that is gained over 8 years of my experience as I learned something new, I gave the exam relevant to it and secured the certification.

You should do certifications to reflect upon your knowledge and showcase your learnings because out there is a competitive market and certifications are an easy way to differentiate and prove that you should be given a chance to Interview and showcase that you know all that you have mentioned in your resume.

In the end, what matters most is your knowledge and skills to solve problems.

Lastly, for everyone, the only certification which I feel is must have and you should learn and get is "Salesforce Certified Administrator" because this one will give you knowledge of the platform in and out.

I help new Trailblazers prepare for admin certification and if you are looking for some resources follow my guide which will take you on various paths on Trailhead (Salesforces' free learning platform) and my YouTube videos for deep dive explanations.

Nishant Singh recommends the following next steps:

Admin Preparation Guide - http://bit.ly/sfadminblog
YouTube - http://bit.ly/adminvideos
Trailhead - https://trailhead.salesforce.com
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Wendy’s Answer

I've worked in the Salesforce ecosystem for over 13 years and can attest to the value of holding one or more certifications. However, I'd strongly suggest you give the Salesforce platform a try before you dedicate yourself to full certification study. Visit Salesforce's FREE learning site Trailhead.salesforce.com. Take a few intro courses such as the "Get to Know Salesforce" trail of modules. There are multiple avenues for folks working in Salesforce such as developer (Apex code), administrator (click configuration), architect (a more senior role for designing system), data (integrating Salesforce with external systems like Oracle), analytics (reporting from Salesforce and/or multiple sources of data), marketing (digital commerce websites and internal company marketing campaigns),and industry-specific (non-profit, education, finance, manufacturing, etc.). A full certification can take months of study; if you go that route, ask again and I can add in some excellent study resources. Good luck in your career search!
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Bryan’s Answer

Great idea. A lot of good can come from Certification under certain conditions. My suggestion is to take a quick look at some of the local jobs in your area that say that they are looking for sales for certification. Compare those against some of the jobs with similar job titles that don’t and see if there is a clear difference in salary. I also want to point out that there are some nonprofit organizations that will help to subsidize the cost of certification training. You may want to reach out to your local big brothers big sisters or other youth development organizations associated with your school if applicable to see if they know of any local funding for that purpose. I’m certification under certain conditions. My suggestion is to take a quick look at some of the local jobs in your area that say that they are looking for sales for certification. Compare those against some of the jobs with similar job titles that don’t and see if there is a clear difference in salary. I also want to point out that there are some nonprofit organizations that will help to subsidize the cost of certification training. You may want to reach out to your local big Brothers big sisters or other youth development organizations associated with your school if applicable to see if they know of any local funding for that purpose.

Bryan recommends the following next steps:

Call local nonprofit organizations to ask about who might have funding available to support students trying to get Salesforce certified.
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Dan’s Answer

I would recommend you become SalesForce certified, as close to every organization within a company touches SalesForce. Being certified will not only enable you to automate/ accelerate daily tasks, it is a great resume builder / differentiator when applying to jobs.

Dan recommends the following next steps:

Reach out to someone in your network who is SFDC certified to see if they agree.
Research potential jobs / careers online and see if they require SFDC certification
Ask a recruiter how helpful it is
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Qingyang’s Answer

Simple answer is yes
Thank you comment icon Although this answers the question, this isn't the most helpful response. Could you please explain your thinking behind your answer? Why is it worth it? Gurpreet Lally, Admin
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Melida’s Answer

I would definitely get the certification! It is always best to be able to have several skills to rely on and will definitely not only make you valuable to the company you choose to work for, but, it will also give you the leverage to open more doors for yourself. Remember that the more confident you are, the better asset you are. Good luck on your future endeavor, and remember that we never have enough multi-skilled employees. This will definitely open more doors for you...Best of Luck!

Melida Alaniz
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Melissa’s Answer

I agree with many of the others, this is a widely used platform that is easy to use, provides great data, and can be used globally. If you are able to become certified, this would certainly be a marketable skill.
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laine’s Answer

Having a Salesforce Certification will definitely look great on your resume, but I would say that you will want to have some hands-on experience either using or configuring the platform to complement your Salesforce certifications. Many employers look for a mix of both experience and certifications. It is certainly a fun path to go down!
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Vikas’s Answer

It's advisable to be a Salesforce certified. Salesforce Admins are in great demand and the demand is expected grow in near future as I see it. There's wide variety of choices that you can choose from, so go for it!
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Craig’s Answer

Depends, if you have a good knowledge of it and can get employer to pay for certification all the better
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Daniel’s Answer

Short answer is Yes! Companies look for certifications and experience.

If you're new in the space and have no experience, one way to stand out is to get a certificate like the Salesforce Admin cert.

Other ways to stand out and is a good way to gain experience is to volunteer

Best of luck!
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Catherine’s Answer

Agree with the other answers. Definitely recommend the Salesforce certification. It will take some time to go through the material and prepare but the course material does cover some really great CRM (Customer Relationship Management) basics that are essential in today's world. Good luck!
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Ali’s Answer

If you are in the industry and or applying for a job where the certification is relevant, it is worth it. However, if you want to acquire the core skills needed without having to put down any money for the certification, check out Salesforce free training portal 'Trailhead'. You'll learn all the things you need to become a Salesforce expert just from that.

Ali recommends the following next steps:

Check out trailhead.salesforce.com
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Neeraj’s Answer

If you’re interested in a career in this fast-growing field, the place to start is a Salesforce certification in one of the two main areas: Administrator or Developer. A Salesforce Administrator’s tasks include helping users to develop reports and reset passwords, maintaining data quality, adding fields, running backups, and many other admin tasks that are crucial to the smooth and seamless performance of the software. Salesforce Developer designs, codes, tests, implements and maintains Salesforce applications.
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Drew’s Answer

I agree with Jessica. Salesforce certification can be an extremely valuable skill as you enter the job market. It's the most ubiquitous CRM platform there is nowadays and people that know it well are in short supply. I see more and more people building their entire careers around Salesforce and the opportunities are not just limited to administration - consulting and development are huge right now!
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Adam’s Answer

Do it! It's a great company, and it keeps on growing. Many employers are looking for skills in Salesforce.

If you decide to concentrate on a certain area, I recommend getting really good at reporting and dashboards.
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Georgina’s Answer

Salesforce certification is an excellent career move! Salesforce provides significant training resources to assist you in obtaining certification. The Trailhead platform is a free option for training. The Salesforce community is extremely supportive. You should find local Salesforce user groups which typically meet at least once a month and are often visited by senior Salesforce personnel. Salesforce is a terrific platform and is only continuing to grow.
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Eduardo’s Answer

From a sales management perspective, Salesforce is a very sophisticated and powerful CRM tool. If you do some market research you`ll find out they hold the biggest market share between CRM platforms so this means a lot in terms of leveraging you professionally. I got a certification in "Salesforce for Sales managers" and I do recommend that.


If I can leave a suggestion for you, I strongly recommend you read this blog, it helped me a lot:

https://www.adminhero.com/beginners-guide-to-salesforce-certification/


That will give you a good starting point to investigate more about Trailblazers community, recommended types of certifications x your professional ambitions etc.


Very happy to help,


Wish you success in your professional journey.
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Karen’s Answer

Hi Kristina! I started the certification program at Salesforce, so I love your question and all the great responses you've gotten! I echo so many of the responses - Salesforce is a very widely used platform, which means there are lots of different potential career paths, and certification is a great way to gain a really solid foundation to build on. Not only can you look at opportunities working on or managing Salesforce within a company, certification can also make you an appealing candidate with many of the technology and consulting partners in the Salesforce ecosystem.

I also want to highlight the advice of others who recommend starting your learning on Trailhead.salesforce.com, which is free and completely accessible. There are learning paths designed specifically to help you learn what's covered in the various certifications.

In case you haven't seen it yet, there's also a great resource that outlines what a career path may look like for an administrator (also available for other roles), including some great stats, skills needed, and open positions. Reviewing the job postings can help you determine if these are the types of roles you are interested in, and if so - go get certified!
https://trailhead.salesforce.com/career-path/admin

When pursuing your certification, hands on experience is really helpful, giving you an opportunity to apply what you're learning to real business scenarios. Volunteering with nonprofits is a great way for you to gain some hands on experience while helping an organization that likely really needs it!

Karen recommends the following next steps:

Learn about potential career paths for Salesforce certified professionals.
Check out the Superbadges on Trailhead.
Start your learning and hands on practice.
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Dean’s Answer

I mirror other responses that you should obtain badges and superbadges on trailhead.salesforce.com (it is free :)). If you love data - one superbadge in particular A LOT of people are looking for is "Lightning Experience Reports & Dashboards Specialist". Many companies are moving from Salesforce Classic to Lightning and need to rebuild all of their reports. Once you have finished badges that have interested you I would recommend signing up at https://www.taprootplus.org/ to see if any non-profits could use your help to get even more hands-on experience.
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Rob’s Answer

Salesforce is the world's largest CRM (customer relationship management) software company and has expanded its software portfolio significantly over the past several years. The company is still growing and there is continued demand for Salesforce administrators, developers, configurators, etc.. Certification is a worthwhile endeavor and all learning can be done online. Salesforce Administrator is one of the most popular certifications. My advice is to try taking a course or two to see if you like it. If the coursework is interesting and you find yourself enjoying what you're learning, signs are you've made a good decision. Good luck!
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Heba’s Answer

Yes! Salesforce Certification is definitely worth it, especially if you will be new to the Salesforce ecosystem.
I am a software developer by trade and was really intrigued by the Salesforce platform so I started with learning on Trailhead and getting my first certification which allowed me to enter the Salesforce ecosystem and find the roles that interested me from there.
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Aparna’s Answer

Definitely, I suggest obtaining a certification! Possessing a certification can increase your chances of being considered for job interviews.
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Aparna’s Answer

Yes, I would recommend you get certification!! If have have certification they will count your Application for Interviews.
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Rajeev’s Answer

Absolutely rewarding! Acquiring a certification will empower you with a firm grasp of fundamental concepts. It's an excellent starting point.
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Jaydeep’s Answer

Hey Kristina, I am sure it is overwhelming to choose a path, especially in IT where there are diverse paths. I too once was in the same boat.. over a decade working through developer and architect roles on technologies like Java, .NET, Python, etc on various cloud technologies like AWS, Azure and more, I too had to do some soul searching before I chose Salesforce as the path I wanted to walk on. And I am not disappointed at all.

Salesforce is ever growing and one of the most innovative companies. There are a lot of job wings that you can go for. I would say reflect on your interests and strengths. If you enjoy problem-solving and tech challenges, you might be a good fit for engineering team. If you enjoy working with CRM systems and enjoy the sales aspect, explore opportunities in Solutions or PreSales. Take time to explore different resources on the web. Its ok to take some time and be diligent about it.

I am going to list some resources below for you to get started.

Reach out to me on LinkedIn and I am happy to help with some offline conversations.

Jaydeep recommends the following next steps:

Create an account on Trailhead → Salesforce's gamified learning platform, do exercises, learn on curated trails.
Read this - Ultimate Guide to Getting a Salesforce Job in 2022 | Salesforce Ben - https://www.salesforceben.com/ultimate-guide-to-getting-a-salesforce-job/
Read this - What Does Salesforce Do? - https://www.salesforce.com/blog/what-does-salesforce-do/h-what-is-salesforce-used-for
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Jarrod’s Answer

Salesforce has a great amount of learning resources that give you hands-on experience in the tool itself for free. The trailheads/badges that are tailored to your specific learning outcomes are fantastic and getting credentialed is a really good way to get into an admin role, and/or a Salesforce consulting position. All it takes is investing the time to complete the trailheads/badges - no fees until tests for certification etc.
Few people in Marketing & Sales functions have both Marketing & Sales skills AND technical Salesforce build experience/skills so if you can combine these two things you'll be differentiated.
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Alisa’s Answer

100% worth it. Salesforce is a highly sought after skill across several highly impactful industries. Understanding Salesforce will be incredibly helpful in securing a technical role but adding the certification to your resume will ensure that yours go to the top of the pile. I would actually recommend you continue to add onto those certifications as there are hundreds to get.
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Thomas’s Answer

I would get SalesForce certified. It diversifies your resume and is useful in most sales positions. However, if you're considering it, I would speak to the leadership in your current role, and see if you can't negotiate getting them to pay for it, since it will positively impact their business.
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Alex’s Answer

I would definitely get certified in Salesforce! It is the most popular CRM platform in the world and an administrator certification will be applicable at MANY companies
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Carly’s Answer

Definitely worth it! This skill would set you apart while applying for jobs, and will also give you an advantage while on-boarding to your new role. It is a powerful tool when used correctly, and having prior knowledge would be extremely helpful. You might even be able to teach your new colleagues a thing or two if they haven't been certified themselves!
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Gourav’s Answer

Hello I was also introduced to Salesforce at the start of my career, and I also used to question the same way, but being honestly Salesforce is a great industry to work in, it is growing expansively and is producing more and more jobs, a study shows it will produce 4.2M jobs till 2024 worldwide. Salesforce keeps you updated by providing many ways, such as trailhead, communities, certifications, and most importantly is the culture of Salesforce Salesforce Ohana. Doing Certification showcase your skills in the market as well as provides you the complete skills and knowledge of the certification with the preparation.
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