10 Considerations For Transitioning To A Salesforce Career Smoothly
2 min
Salesforce has been ruling the CRM industry for over two decades. The CRM giant is used by companies of all scales operating in all major industries worldwide. Salesforce lets you manage your valuable customer database to provide personalized services to your customers.
Along with businesses willing to build healthy customer relations, Salesforce attracts aspiring IT professionals as well. Thanks to the cloud-based solution’s immense popularity, more and more freshers and experienced professionals are willing to build Salesforce careers. Right from young graduates to industry professionals with years of experience, everyone wants to embrace Salesforce to build an illustrious professional journey.
However, switching to a Salesforce career is not easy. When a sector is highly popular, it attracts a plethora of aspirants, increasing the competition in the market. If you want to transition to a Salesforce career, you must understand that there are thousands of people with the same aspirations. This makes it important to tread slowly while moving to a Salesforce career.
Before looking at the different considerations important for transitioning to a Salesforce career, let us remember why Salesforce jobs are gaining popularity.
What Makes Salesforce Jobs So Lucrative?
Here are a few important reasons why more and more aspirants are flocking towards Salesforce for lucrative job opportunities:
High Pay
Jobs that pay well automatically become lucrative for thousands of aspirants! When the world was hit by a pandemic, Salesforce kept paying salaries to its employees. Moreover, the company was open to hiring new professionals during the COVID crisis. When it comes to remuneration, few companies come close to Salesforce.
CRM platforms are Salesforce are the core of some of the most successful businesses in the world. Considering its popularity and worldwide implementation, its needless to say that Salesforce pays its professionals well. From Technical Architects and System Administrators to Salesforce Developers and Consultants, almost every Salesforce professional earns a handsome salary. If you’re looking for a benchmark, check out the Highest paying Salesforce jobs in 2022.
High Popularity
Over time, Salesforce has become synonymous with CRM. Everyone who knows CRM is aware of Salesforce as a market leader. Such popularity is another major reason why Salesforce jobs are considered more lucrative today. Moreover, working for Salesforce comes with an inherent sense of reputation.
High Relevance
Two years of a global pandemic made people realize the importance of cloud-based CRM solutions. When organizations worldwide were forced to close their doors and resort to operating remotely, people understood how important a platform like Salesforce is.
This made several organizations take to online CRM solutions like Salesforce to streamline their business processes virtually. With Salesforce, all users can work on their projects from anywhere, as long as they have a good internet connection! Working for Salesforce gives you good work flexibility and lets you work with highly relevant technologies.
Supportive Community
If you are confused or scared about transitioning to a Salesforce job, you can rest assured that you will be assisted by a highly supportive community. Salesforce is known to have one of the best and most active communities in the global tech sector. As a Salesforce professional, you can obtain personalized support, recommendations, and help from your peers worldwide.
Important Considerations For Transitioning Into A Salesforce Career Smoothly
Now that we know why Salesforce is attracting a plethora of resumes every year, let us understand how you can make a smooth transition into a Salesforce career. Here are some of the most important considerations to keep in mind to transition into a Salesforce career smoothly:
1. Understand The CRM Solution
Before anything else, understanding Salesforce is important to switch to a Salesforce career. Salesforce is a dynamic CRM solution that stays in sync with ongoing tech trends. If you are fresh out of college and looking for a lucrative career path, you can start as small as watching a YouTube video. I have always believed YouTube to be one of the best teachers in all domains. Understand what the world of CRM (and Salesforce in particular) is all about. Depending on the career path you want to choose, make sure you are well-versed in the career you want to build.
2. Know What You’re Good At
Gone are the days when IT professionals used to work under the pressure of money or to be associated with a reputed company. Do you like the business aspect of Salesforce? Are you interested in coding and developing personalized solutions? Do you prefer providing consultations based on the issues your clients face?
Before you transition to a Salesforce job, I believe you identify the skills and interests that will help you choose the right path. If a Salesforce Developer wants the role of a System Administrator, they will never be able to do justice to the role. Spend some time thinking about your qualities and pick the skills you want to amplify by securing a Salesforce job.
3. Make Trailhead Your Bible
Salesforce Trailhead is the Bible for aspiring Salesforce professionals! The free training platform holds your hand and guides you every step of the way as you prepare for your new Salesforce job. Trailhead hasn’t kept the logo “the fun way to learn” for nothing! I would recommend looking for the modules containing “basics” if you’re still tiptoeing your way into Salesforce.
Depending on the area you want to excel in, Trailhead provides you with comprehensive training resources that help you master the CRM platform and its various products. It lets you access different modules, which are further divided into multiple units. Salesforce Trailhead helps you get trained from scratch, ensuring that you ace the job you land.
4. Join The Salesforce Community
If you are serious about transitioning to a Salesforce job, get on the bandwagon of the Salesforce community. Joining the Salesforce community provides you with seamless assistance and a common meeting ground for like-minded individuals. From the Trailblazer Community (a forum for people who need assistance) to Slack groups, there are multiple groups you can join to become an active Salesforce community member.
5. Get Salesforce Certified
Getting Salesforce certified almost always guarantees a hike in your pay and reputation, irrespective of the scale of the business you work for.
While there is no need for formal education to become a Salesforce professional, getting Salesforce certified is a great stepping stone to transitioning your career. Salesforce certification gives you an official stamp of approval from the CRM giant itself, validating your knowledge and skills.
Salesforce provides you with more than 35 certifications for different products and designations. Depending on the job you are looking for, make sure you clear one or more certification examinations to become your employer’s favorite! Organizations worldwide prefer certified Salesforce professionals over ones with no certification. As discussed earlier, you will be entering a highly competitive space, and having a Salesforce certification will increase your chances of getting hired.
Take some time to learn the different Salesforce certification pathways and you’ll be confident to decide your personal roadmap.
6. Understand Real-world Applications Of Salesforce
Simply gaining theoretical knowledge on Trailhead and reading about Salesforce will not prepare you for a Salesforce job. As a Salesforce Developer, your knowledge of the different Lightning Web Components means nothing if you don’t know how to help your clients with it!
As you transition to a Salesforce job, make sure you understand real-world applications of Salesforce, especially in the area you want to master. If you want to become a Salesforce Administrator, make sure you know how to manage day-to-day Salesforce processes for businesses.
If you want to become a Salesforce Consultant, make sure you understand issues faced by businesses and provide personalized solutions to them. If you want to become a Salesforce Developer, make sure you are aware of the technical issues faced by Salesforce users and know how to troubleshoot them effectively.
7. Know Where The Business And Technical Aspects Meet
Let’s understand this with an example. If a business uses Salesforce to score leads captured using online lead forms, the tools that allow the software to record, store, and score leads form the “technical” half of the activity. On the other hand, the decisions taken by the marketing and sales teams from the “business” half of the activity.
Especially if you want to secure the job of a Salesforce Administrator or Consultant, it is extremely important to understand such links between technical and business aspects of different activities. This will help you understand how the technical aspects of the CRM platform bring businesses one step closer to their goals.
8. Prepare For Your Interviews
As trivial as it may sound, this is an important factor to consider for transitioning smoothly to a Salesforce job. Depending on your experience, qualification, and the position you are applying for, you may need to give multiple interviews before landing your dream job.
While preparing for your interviews, try finding the right balance between theoretical and scenario-based questions. Interviewers will want to know how well you know the impact of Salesforce and its products on different business processes. Moreover, make sure you understand your position’s scope and the nitty-gritty details therein to give a comprehensive interview.
Here are the 20 most common interview questions and answers for Salesforce Admins and for Salesforce developers.
9. Stay In Tune With The Latest Tech Trends
Salesforce keeps re-inventing itself according to ongoing trends. For example, it has recently discontinued Workflow Rules and Process Builder, replacing them with Flow. As you plan on transitioning to a Salesforce job, do so while adhering to the latest tech trends revolving around the CRM solution.
For example, if you are training to become a Salesforce Developer, train yourself to build Salesforce Lightning tools and features instead of limiting yourself to Salesforce Classic. Sticking to the current trends increases your worth as a Salesforce professional.
10. Gain Some Experience Before Taking The Plunge
For a practical career like Salesforce, experience is the key to success. Even if you are Salesforce certified, you need practical experience to hone your skills and secure your dream job as a Salesforce professional.
If you are stuck in the vicious circle of “no job without no experience” and vice versa, you can always volunteer to get much-needed exposure to real-life applications of Salesforce. Go through case studies and understand how Salesforce experts have solved important problems for businesses across the globe. Whatever your career path is, never stop learning!
The Final Word
These were some important stepping stones that would lead you to an illustrious career in Salesforce. Especially if you are a new learner, I would recommend discovering the world of Salesforce on your own, whether it is through YouTube videos, case studies, or blogs like these!
