As we all know, Salesforce is one of the fastest-growing software companies. It’s the largest private employer in San Francisco with about 8,000 employees in the Bay Area and 35,000 overall worldwide. It’s reached around $13 billion in revenue and projects that number to double within four years.
With that growth in mind, we’ve explored some of the important considerations for those seeking Salesforce certifications and what you need to know about obtaining them.
Salesforce Certification Cost
There is a price to getting certified. The costs for a Salesforce certification range from $200 all the way up to $6,000. The $6,000 tag is only for one certification: Salesforce Certified Technical Architect.
Other certifications are either $200 or $400. A retake exam for those who fail is offered at half-price. However, there is one free certification — Salesforce Accredited Sales Professional.
That free course is designed for “pre-approved” Salesforce partner sales, pre-sales and business development professionals who are “engaged in marketing and selling Salesforce solutions.” Exam-takers must demonstrate Salesforce Advantage knowledge “through a stand-and-deliver white-boarding presentation prior to passing a multiple-choice exam.”
Salesforce Certification Training
Salesforce offers plenty of training courses to learn more about its platform. Some of those courses will cost you. Others will offer free courses. The formal, in-person instructor-led classes are “intensive” and usually the most expensive training programs. There are also online, instructor-led classes that are cheaper, researchers found.
Some of the free resources cited for training include:
• Cheat Sheets – Guide to Salesforce feature, function or process.
• Developer Workbooks – Details on the Salesforce1 platform via tutorials.
• Salesforce Youtube – Video tutorials for those who learn better visually.
Top Salesforce Certifications
Salesforce classifies its certifications and credentials via a few key roles:
• Salesforce Administrator
• Salesforce Architect
• Salesforce Developer
• Salesforce Marketer
• Salesforce Consultant
Each of those roles have their own sub-credentials. For instance, a Salesforce Marketer certification includes:
• Marketing Cloud Email Specialist
• Marketing Cloud Consultant
• Pardot Specialist
• Pardot Consultant
For each of these sub-certifications, Salesforce walks you through paths to sign up for a certification course. It will tell you what you should demonstrate in order to achieve certification.
For instance, with the marketing cloud email specialist certification, Salesforce requires “knowledge, skills, and experience using Marketing Cloud for message design, subscriber and data management, inbox delivery and external integrations.” It offers resources for training, an avenue to its Trailblazer Community, classes and workshops and the ability to register for its courses.
For a confidential conversation about your Salesforce career, and to hear about our latest roles, get in touch with our specialist Salesforce consultants today!
