It is a known fact Salesforce combined with marketing tools has helped many organizations increase their revenue and stay ahead of others. Salesforce has evolved into a potent instrument which is used by the organizations to grow their sales and stay ahead of the competition. It offers a valuable platform which helps foster customer relationships and also increases your value in the marketplace. Any firm which uses Salesforce is seen as a highly updated firm with respect to Customer Relationship Management or CRM.

It has been seen that not many people are aware of the fact that the Salesforce is helpful in terms of cloud-orientation of its social networks and its own application. In fact, Revenue Cloud from Salesforce is the best service which is provided by it as it allows businesses to access their data in a highly protected and a safe manner. It also simplifies sharing and convenience. Salesforce, as of today has surpassed CRM and is assisting its customers to have improved material, smooth workflow, mobile software and the required technical assistance which makes it essential for every business which wants to kill the competition and rise to the skies of glory in a limited span of time.

Growing Significance of Salesforce Certifications

The significance of Salesforce has enhanced by each passing day and this is reiterated by its increasing customer base which has now crossed 150,000 companies of all dimensions i.e. small, medium, large scale etc. Most firms are now looking out for Salesforce professionals. Some of the highly recognized names include Facebook, Twitter, Google, HCL, General Electric etc. Thus, there is no doubt that having a Salesforce Certification can land you in one of the top-most companies in the world.

Salesforce like other technologies is not difficult to learn or get experience in. Contrary to the popular belief, it is a skill which can be mastered at your convenience i.e. whenever and wherever you want and get recognized for your efforts across the world. It is one of the most sought-after skills by employers all over the world as it has been used by many companies to make themselves better and successful. It can land you with better job opportunities, better salary and can give an obvious boost to your career.

Key advantages:

The certifications substantiate your knowledge about the Salesforce by adding credibility to it. The standard of the Salesforce training is very high and thus anyone who gets the certification is for granted seen as an expert in the field.

The demand for people who are certified in Salesforce is ever-increasing and thus with these in your kitty, you will be able to attract more good quality jobs.

Businesses are always looking for certified people as they are able to attract more clients. Latter also want to work for firms which have employed people with valid certifications as it lends assurance to them about the quality of work which they can expect.

If you are looking for a change in role in your career, then the certification gives you the apt opportunity to do so.

Salesforce Certifications

Salesforce has a dedicated facility known as the Salesforce University which handles all the certifications and conducts the examinations. There are many credentials offered by Salesforce and you have to find your own one depending on your basic purpose. The certifications are broadly divided into two tracks:

Here is a list of certifications offered by Salesforce under each track along with their relevance.

Administrator Track

The role of a Salesforce Administrator is vital for every organization. Unlike other administrator roles, a Salesforce Administrator has a lot of responsibilities and is required to have a depth understanding of the business and its functionalities. As a Salesforce administrator or an Implementation Expert, you will be required to work as a functional consultant along with the customers of your organization and help in solving their problems. 

Salesforce Certified Administrator: This role is best-suited for freshers who want to start as an administrator. The role demands that you have detailed knowledge about the features of Salesforce. The certification will be proof that:

• You possess good knowledge about the Salesforce application.
• You can configure and even handle the Sales and Service Cloud applications.
• You have great presentation skills and can manage CRM.
• You can take care of basic functionalities.

Salesforce Certified Advanced Administrator: This will follow the first stage of a Salesforce Certified Administrator with an experience of almost 2-5 years in that role. You should be comfortable using all aspects of Salesforce features. This certification will be a testimony to the fact that you have managed a good share of Salesforce Orgs and that can easily handle robust designing of applications for your clients.

Salesforce Sales Cloud Consultant: The foremost requirement for this role is that you need to be a Salesforce Certified Administrator and should have experience in designing various solutions which enhance the Sales Cloud functionality. People who have basic experience of 2-5 years as a senior business analyst are the ones which go for this certification. This certification proves:

• Your expertise in understanding of customer needs.
• You can both design and maintain the Sales Cloud as per the needs of your customers.

Salesforce Service Cloud Consultant: For this certification also, you need to be a Salesforce Certified Administrator and should have experience in designing of solutions making use of Service Cloud. People who have worked in the capacity of a Senior Business Analyst are the ones who go in for this certification. The certification proves that you are an Implementation expert in Service Cloud solutions.

Developer Track 

People who have previous experience in developing applications in various languages like JAVA, PHP, C++, other programming languages are the ones who pick up this track generally. There are many options in Salesforce which will help you advance your career on the same lines. 

Salesforce Certified Platform App Builder: This certification is for a person who has experience in development of custom applications on Force.com Platform. The certification will prove your level of comfort with the declarative part of the Salesforce and also with the lightning experience and the lightning app builder.

Salesforce Certified Platform Developer I: This is applicable to you if you are a developer with an experience ranging from 6 months to 1 year of developing applications on any platform. The certification will be proof that you are proficient in the building of custom applications on Force.com platform and also have an elementary knowledge about Visualforce and Apex.

Salesforce Certified Platform Developer II: As the name suggests, you will have to cross the stage I i.e. you need to be a Salesforce Certified Platform Developer I and have 2-4 years of developer experience with 1-year experience on Force.com. The certification will prove that you have mastered the Apex and Visual force and have a fair idea of SOAP, REST, APIs etc.

Conclusion

Salesforce has evolved as the foremost CRM company in the world and the professionals who are certified in it have great career prospects. It is expected that Salesforce will register a growth of more than 25 % in the next five years. Thus, the significance of Salesforce certifications cannot be undermined and there can be no better time to get one if you want to give a new boost to your career.