Well, I must say taking Salesforce Certification would help you get rid of all the confusion and show you the correct road to follow the dream of becoming a Salesforce professional. The properties of Salesforce make it the best Customer Relationship Management Solution in the world.

From a software developer to project managers and marketing and sales professionals – everyone is using the Salesforce platform. Hence, the demand of Salesforce employees for various roles is increasing day by day. Therefore, people are switching their careers to this most lucrative technology. This transition is easy if you are a Salesforce certified professional.

In this blog, I’ll take you through all the Salesforce Certifications that are available under various categories. In addition to this, you will also understand how these certifications are important in the modern technology world. Also, a certified candidate may have more Salesforce job opportunities and can convert them easily to get the job in hand.

With the help of these certifications, you will be able to improve and enhance your skillset on the CRM platform. Also, you can then better differentiate which courses are correct for you and how you can use your expertise, or in other words, this guide will help you choose the right career path.

Let’s start all the certifications in detail and understand how these certifications check candidate ability for a particular job role.

Salesforce Certification Program 

Salesforce certification is not categorized in a step by step hierarchy like associate, senior associate, Assistant Manager, Manager, and so on. On the contrary, there are defined roles that are common among Salesforce professionals: Administrators, Developers, Marketers, App builders, Consultants, Pardot Experts, Architects, Implementation Specialists.

Salesforce Certification Exams

Nearly all the Salesforce certification exam contains 60 questions, and all of them are multiple-choice. The duration of an exam is expected between 90 to 120 minutes.

To take Salesforce certification for the roles of developer, app builder, administrator, marketer, Pardot expert, consultant, and CPQ specialist is pretty affordable. The fee for the first attempt exam is $200, and when you retake the exam, you need to pay only $100 .

People who want to get Architect certified that falls under the section of Architect Specialists have to pay $400 in the first attempt while retaking the exam takes $200.

The Pinnacle Architect Certification is comparatively high, and its Review Board Exam cost is $6000, but in case of retake exam, you need to pay $3000.

Training is no compulsion to take the exam rather; you can go ahead directly. But, ideally taking the exam after proper training is considered a good practice.

Candidates can take an exam at a preferred test center or home or office in a disciplinary way under invigilation. Either way, Webassessor is used to do the sign-up process to start the exam.

Salesforce Architect Certification

Three types of Salesforce Architect Specialization check your skillset and knowledge along with your expertise and understanding of the Salesforce Platform.

• Salesforce Architecture Designer – The certification in this category checks for expertise in a particular specialization. It is known as the building block when you start a career as a Salesforce Architect.
• Salesforce Application Architect And System Architect – The certification in this category check skills of people having domain expertise.
• Salesforce Technical Architect (CTA)– Pinnacle certification that checks the ability to design and develop technical solutions across the platform and who have experience in all domains. 

Just look closely, and you will see that Architect certifications make a pyramid. To become Pinnacle Architect Certified, first, you need to get certified in the other two. After clearing the first two exams, you are eligible to sit for the Salesforce Technical Architect Exam. In the Review Board exam for CTA, you will be given a hypothetical scenario wherein all the customer requirements will be mentioned, and you will be asked to provide a relevant architect solution that can address all customer issues. There will be steps of tasks; candidates need to follow each step one by one as jumping or skipping the step will create confusion.

Salesforce Administrator Certification

There are two types of Salesforce Administrator certification, and with both credentials, a Salesforce consultant will be responsible for understanding the customer requirements, customizing the Salesforce platform as per user need, and make the platform most usable for him.

• Salesforce Certified Administrator – To get this certification, a candidate must have the ability of high-level customization of Salesforce platform as well as an understanding of user challenges, his existing business model, and requirements. The exam contains 60 multiple-choice questions to be done in 90 minutes.
• Salesforce Certified Advanced Administrator – To qualify this exam, a candidate must be skilled at extraordinary administration, and he or she must have a clear understanding of how to create an advanced dashboard and report. Also, having a good knowledge of the Salesforce platform, sales and service cloud is required for this job role skills.  

Salesforce Developer Certification

Salesforce Developer Certification checks whether or not a candidate has the expertise, experience, and efficiency in developing software applications for the Salesforce platform. There are majorly three types of Salesforce Developer Credentials:

• Salesforce Platform Developer 1 – To qualify this exam, a candidate must be skilled at designing and developing data models, business logic, UI, security applications using Apex language and Visualforce. In addition to this, knowledge of Software development cycle and the development environment would be a plus.
• Salesforce Platform Developer 2 – To get certified for this, a candidate must have extraordinary programming skills to create complex business logic, UI, and security application for the Salesforce platform. Also, People interested in this role must have a clear understanding of using Apex language and Visualforce.
• Salesforce B2C Developer – To get this credential, professionals must have a good experience with full-stack development. This certification is good for those who are interested in setting up a development environment and developing e-commerce solutions. Professionals of this job role are responsible for working with website content, interacting with applications, and optimizing the performance of a website. 

Conclusion 

None of us can deny the fact that everything is available online in the modern digital world. And, one can easily go online and learn any topic they are interested in. But, when it comes to start or make a career, the right guidance is required. Between the extensive data, you may get confused what to choose and what not to become a salesforce professional. I hope the above understanding of the importance of a Salesforce certification would help you understand and enhance your skills. With this, you can also understand what role is good for you on the Salesforce platform.