The world of Salesforce expands exponentially year over year, and this growing demand requires an increased supply of skilled Salesforce professionals. A certification in basic Salesforce administration is a common first step for burgeoning Salesforce professionals, but what comes next?
Here are the four best certifications for Salesforce administrators to pursue next brought to you by the Salesforce servicing and staffing professionals at Peergenics.
The global Salesforce boom
The frontrunning global customer relationship management platform, Salesforce was once again the number one CRM in 2022. Don’t expect this winning streak to end soon. A study from the IDC projected that Salesforce and its ecosystem of partners will create 9.3 million new jobs and generate a whopping $1.6 trillion in revenue by 2026. The United States alone is projected to generate $531 billion, or about one-third of the total global revenue. The moral here is if you’re already in Salesforce, keep going; if you’re not, this is the perfect time to enter the field.
Diversify your specificities
Skill diversity is where Salesforce flexes its muscles; with over 40 various certs from functional to technical, Salesforce professionals always have the opportunity to learn. Many even obtain cross-functional certs to better understand a product they sell or the markets they develop for.
Peergenics Technical Support Delivery Director, Randi Thompson explains that “what you choose to pursue is more nuanced than you may think and depends on a variety of factors.”
If you’re thinking about taking a route into consulting, the Sales Cloud, Service Cloud, and Community Cloud Consultant exams may fit best. On the other hand, a developer would find the PD1, PD2, Heroku, or Integration exams helpful. An up-and-coming admin may find a plethora of newer certs like UX Designer, Strategy Designer, or Business Analyst exams beneficial to their progression.
Even these proposed exam and employee pairings can mix and mingle depending on industry and specialty. In Thompson’s words, “what your next exam should be depends on quite a few variables and one size does not fit all,” so have an open mind and see where it takes your Salesforce career.
Here are a few to start with.
1. Platform App Builder
The Platform App Builder cert builds on basic admin skills by equipping students with more advanced capabilities like implementing custom apps and using declarative custom capabilities. The platform app builder cert works with clinks not code which gives students a glimpse into the development side without getting too granular.
2. Sales and Service Cloud Consultant
Two popular consulting-centered certs are those of the Sales and Service Cloud Consultant certs. According to the Mason Frank Career Guide, 74 percent of all Salesforce professionals work with the Sales Cloud and 64 percent work with the Service Cloud respectively representing the two most-worked-with Salesforce tools. These certs commonly elevate consultants looking to elevate their knowledge and use of Sales and Service Clouds in a customer-facing environment but can be utilized elsewhere.
3. Platform Developer 1 and JavaScript Developer 1
These certs enable those looking to develop apps and work outside the stock cloud computing environments. While the previously mentioned platform app builder cert gives functional professionals a glimpse at development, it has a much more direct and practical correlation with these Platform and JavaScript Developer certs.
Specifically, the Platform Developer 1 cert focuses on learning modules on the Salesforce Lightning Platform’s programmatic proficiencies to deploy user interfaces and business logistics. JavaScript Developer 1 on the other hand focuses on developing legacy front and back-end JavaScript applications.
4. Configure, Price, Quote (CPQ) Specialist
In high demand for both sprint and long-term projects, CPQ specialists deal with the complex configure, price, and quote business software application built for sales teams to provide accurate pricing across product options.
Salesforce CPQ comes in as the fifth most in-demand product on the Mason Frank Career Guide for clients and customers in 2022 behind sales, service, marketing, and experience cloud products. Salesforce professionals should seriously consider obtaining a CPQ specialist certification because of its popularity among customers and rarity among Salesforce professionals.
Partner with Peergenics to meet all your Salesforce needs
Salesforce gurus at Peergenics have the skills and experience to maximize the capabilities of your Salesforce products and staff. Peergenics is a proud Ridge Partner (Silver Status) of Salesforce and continually provides its clients with the best new offerings on the market. Connect with Peergenics today to streamline your Salesforce operations!