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QAForce Got Talent

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My Path to Salesforce Certification

A year ago, I was working in the financial industry, the industry that I have been in of all of my working career. I had barely heard of Salesforce, let alone considered a change in my career and leaving a comfort zone behind but that’s exactly what I did. At the time it felt risky, say if it didn’t work out? But, I took the chance that had presented itself and committed to it.

One of the first things that took me by surprise was how easy to navigate and how modern Salesforce was, it actually has some thought behind the design, the process in how the User actually uses it – and wait, no IBM AS400 Black and Green screen!! (The staple diet in the Finance world!).

Ok, so new system, I needed to roll my sleeves up and start learning this thing! Salesforce to a novice is huge, there was so much to learn and try to understand how everything was strung together.

Trailhead – Wow! Gone are the days of starting a new role, being shown your desk and then having a 800 page User Guide dropped in your lap, while the rest of your new colleagues figure out what the hell to actually do with you and all hope not to draw the short straw which involves you actually having to sit on their shoulder and try not to fall asleep while being show a black and green screen, and then another black and green screen and so on.

The effort that has gone into Trailhead is immense, fantastic content, questions to test your knowledge and the hands-on projects really help you get up to speed. Obviously obtaining badges, points and ranks create a healthy bit of competition amongst your fellow colleagues which keeps you motivated to learn more.

I spent any spare time I had ramping up my knowledge by using Trailhead – with setting a target of unlocking the Superbadges (and completing them!) and obtaining a Trailblazer Rank of Ranger (100 Badges and 50,000 points) by the end of 2017. Cutting it close on 29th December I finally achieved this goal.

Next on the list would be my first ever Salesforce Certification – the Salesforce Admin Certificate.

Lucky for me the Salesforce Admin Trailmix become available and although I had completed the majority of the modules already, I went back and re-done a few of them. I also come across a course on Udemy which I thought would help me – I find that I am a person who struggles with self-learning and prefers a classroom environment or at least something visual, so a video course seemed like the perfect option. After some investigation, I settled on Mike Wheelers course.

Little by little, I watched the video course, using the sample questions and feeling rather positive about the whole experience – like most people trying to commit to studying in the evening after a full day at work and once the kids have gone to bed requries a lot of motivation – some days I had it, some days I didn’t.

For a long time I just didn’t feel confident enough to book the exam, but in the end I took a chance and booked it knowing that I would have no choice but to really commit if I wanted to pass. I also took as many mock exams and run through countless Quizlet Flash Cards as I could at any opportunity.

I was also lucky enough to have access to the Partner Training materials where I watched the Administrative Essentials for New Admins in Lightning Experience (ADX-201) course which really helped – I didn’t initially watch these but when I did the really help me to obtain some greater depth into Salesforce and definitely covered a few areas that appeared on the exam.

Then the day finally came, did I feel confident?, not really, was I nervous?, most definitely. I had  cleared an area at home, made sure that my family would be out of the way for the day and made sure to set up the web cam early to avoid any last minute issues. I was over the moon when I pressed the submit button (waited what seemed like an eternity) and saw the word ‘Congratulation’ displayed when I quickly skimmed the screen I was faced with!

I am already considering what the certification I should look at next!

Certified Admin Exam Top Tips

  1. Read the Exam Guide and note down the weighting of the sections.
  2. Complete the Admin Certification Trailmix to get hands-on experience.
  3. Allow yourself scheduled time each night/week to study. Study. Study. Study!
  4. Watch the Administrative Essentials for New Admins in Lightning Experience (ADX-201) if you are lucky enough to have Partner Training access (if not Udemy has several courses at the fraction of the price).
  5. Take as many mock exams, or run through as many Quizlet flashcards and aim for 80-90 % before considering taking the exam.
  6. If you are struggling to commit and need a push, why not book the exam! Give yourself 3-4 weeks to allow for studying.

Certified Admin Exam Resources