One of the most asked questions on the Success Community are:
- I am a novice, what is the best way to learn Salesforce?
- Where should I start?
- What resources are available to me?
- What type of career prospects are there in Salesforce?
Since past few months, I have been pondering over these questions and thinking about guiding potential Salesforce evangelist on how to approach their Salesforce Journey effectively and efficiently. I still remember the days when I was in college and wanted to learn .NET. It was difficult, to say the least. Although there were few books available in the market, the sparse material was not sufficient to learn .NET.
Salesforce, however, is different! It offers tons of resources, documentation, white papers etc., to help people get started! Indeed, newbies are overwhelmed by the plethora of information available. So, let us get started on our Journey step-by-step. And, of course, welcome to Salesforce Ohana!
Note: – Only start the Journey if you are willing and able to invest at least six to seven months in preparing for your Salesforce Administrator Certification Exam – Read no further if you expect me to share with you any shortcuts – because there are none!
Roadmap
- Download Salesforce Administrator Study Guide.
- Sign-up for a Developer Org.
- Download Force.com Platform Fundamentals Workbook – Work through it thoroughly!
- Trailhead! Trailhead! Trailhead!
- Join Local User Groups.
- Be active on the Salesforce Answer Community.
- Subscribe to Admin Blogs and Piggyback on Salesforce pros!
If you diligently follow my guidance, you will not only become a Certified Salesforce Administrator; but, chances are, recruiters will be knocking at your door shortly! So, roll up your sleeves and let us hit the road running!
Salesforce Administrator Certification Study Guide:
First and foremost, download the study guide from Salesforce.com website. It contains all the topics required to become a Certified Administrator. Pay very close attention to topics with the highest weighting – like Standard and Custom Objects (18%) and Security and Access (15%).
Force.com Platform Fundamentals Workbook:
Do not even think of appearing for the Certification Exam until you thoroughly go over the Workbook and complete all the instructions mentioned in this article including Trailhead modules and spending time in the Success Community Answer section.
