Salesforce had a 19.5% share in the market worldwide in 2018 which is more than double the share of its nearest competitor, SAP, with 8.3%. Salesforce is ranked on top of the cloud computing with more than 40% share in the market of the cloud CRM landscape. In the overall customer relationship management (CRM) space, it holds more than a 15% share. In 2015, the value of Salesforce CRM was calculated to be USD 5 billion and is expected to reach USD 20 billion by 2020. The latest thing Salesforce offers is IoT(Internet of Things) functionality, mobility, and SMAC components or Social, Mobile, Analytics and Cloud components.
These interesting figures related to Salesforce are just to bring your attention to this leading CRM tool and investing in getting Salesforce certified is worth your time and effort. In particular, we will talk about the Salesforce Administrator Certification and how you can prepare for it.
What is Salesforce?
A CRM software that is intended to bring customers and companies together is what is called Salesforce. It is an American software company that has its headquarters in San Francisco. It got started as a Software as a Service CRM (Customer Relationship Management) company. It now provides a variety of software solutions and also gives a platform for developers and users in order to develop and distribute custom software.
There are a variety of certifications that are offered by Salesforce at different levels. The different levels are:
There are different certifications under all the above-mentioned levels. These certifications classify and validate your aptitude and knowledge in Salesforce. When you add a certification in Salesforce to your resume, you definitely increase the chances of having a great career.
Salesforce Admin Certification
Salesforce Admin Certification is the most recognized certification among all others. Before finding out how to achieve the admin certification, you need to first decide which certification is right for you. Salesforce offers two levels of admin certifications. Those are:
- Salesforce Certified Administrator
This certification is designed for the candidates at entry-level and not the experts, though they have some experience as an administrator. It is meant for the candidates who look continuously for the ways to in order to assist their companies to get most out of additional features and capabilities.
You are given 90 minutes to solve 60 multiple-choice questions. To pass this exam you need to score 65% at a minimum. You cannot carry any reference to the exam.
- Salesforce Certified Advanced Administrator
This certification is designed for the candidates who have become experts in leveraging advanced salesforce features and functionalities that are intended to solve various business issues.
Salesforce Admin Certification is an exam offered by Salesforce.com and is proctored by Kryterion. You can take this exam either onsite or online. This certification exam consists of 60 multiple choice questions and you are given 105 minutes to solve them. You need to score a minimum of 65% to pass the exam. The fee for registration is USD 200 and for a retake, it is USD 100.
Preparing for the Certification
Now that you know the value of getting certified for Salesforce Administration, let us now see how you should prepare for the exam.
- Know your exam well.
- Before moving towards the preparation of the exam, knowing it well is the foremost thing you need to do. You should have a thorough knowledge of Salesforce customization, the configuration of the platform, user management, and finding out ways so as to leverage its features and capabilities. There is an exam guide that will help you understand the format of the exam, the duration allotted, number of questions and the weightage of different topics.
- Plan your certification exam.
- To keep yourself alert about the exam, plan the date of your exam before starting preparation. This lets you stay motivated and lets you keep moving towards your goal. You need to plan whether you would take the exam online(at the place you wish) or onsite(at the exam center).
- Group study can be helpful.
- In the Trailblazer Community, there is a Salesforce Certification Study Group where you can find and connect to fellow Admins who are on the same path as yours. You can clear your doubts, ask questions, get advice and even plan exam dates accordingly.
- Get practical experience.
- Reading and learning are not enough to pass the exam. You get a clear understanding of any concept when you get hands-on practice. For tough, scenario-based questions, you need hands-on experience. There are Admin Beginner and Admin Intermediate trails on Trailhead. Building an app for your learning is another way of getting hands-on practice.
- Take mock tests.
- It is always advisable to practice anything before taking the final exam. It gives you an idea of the exam pattern and lets you find out what you are up to and what topics you need to concentrate more on. Nothing can prepare you up to the mark than getting hands-on experience on the projects and implementations. The Admin Certification Prep Trail and Admin Certification Trailmix are specifically designed to make you exam-ready.
- Attend 1-day Virtual Prep Webinar.
- There is a free prep webinar where a Salesforce Certified Instructor provides you with some study tips and is there to clarify your doubts. He/She also explains the concepts that you are not clear with.
- Take the exam.
- Finally, the D-day arrives and you need to appear for the exam. Use the time provided wisely and review the answers, once you have solved all the questions. There are three scratch papers where you can do your rough work and mark the questions that you need to review.
- If you make it in your first attempt, Congratulations. And if not, you don’t need to worry and can schedule a retake. You may have got the exam experience and now you can try again with better efforts.
Over to You
It is an investment in your career if you get certified as a Salesforce Administrator, which is surely going to be fruitful in the future. To clear the exam in the first attempt, you would like to study in a hassle-free way. For this purpose, there are a lot of online courses available from the most trusted learning institutes that make you exam-ready with all the contents ready to be studied. They help you learn your own way and guide you throughout the course.