Certifications what works for passing the exams

© Global Tech & Resources, Inc. Extending Your Salesforce.com Talent™ www.gtr.net

Salesforce.com Certifications: What Works for Passing the Exams

2/11/14


1. Introduction2. What is your experience with Salesforce exams?

○ Which have you taken, how many times, pass?■ What did you learn from that experience?

○ Why are you taking them?3. What have Velu and Charlie learned about exams?4. Q&A

Agenda


1. Introduction


•Speaker Introductions▪ Velu Palani

● Certified Salesforce.com Administrator & Certified Sales Cloud Consultant

● 13 years of Salesforce.com experience▪ Charlie Havens

● Certified Salesforce.com Administrator & Certified Salesforce.com Developer and Certified Salesforce.com Advanced Administrator

● 5 Years of Salesforce.com experience

•Participant Introductions

•How do you prepare for and pass the cert exams?▪ What has been your experience? ▪ What have we learned?

•Take-aways and what is your next step?


2. What has been your experience?● Which exams have you taken and how did it go?

● What preparation did you do and how did that work?

● Why are you wanting to get certified?


3. What have Charlie and Velu learned about passing exams?


•Getting a certification takes time and commitment.o $200 to take it once. $200 to retake it!

■ After self study, 55% of people with 6 months experience pass the admin exam.

o Once gotten, after first year, it needs to be renewed 3 times per year. $100 per year.

•Know why you are making that investment!

Know Why You Are Pursuing the Certification?


•Getting a certification doesn’t guarantee you a Job!

•Getting a certification doesn’t guarantee a better job.

•Getting a certification brings more potential interviews.

•The certification may let you apply for a better position.■ But then they want to know your experience!



•If you don’t have Saleforce experience is it worthwhile?

•Bring your past experience to Salesforce.o Human Resources + Salesforceo Programming with Java, .Net and etc + Salesforceo Pharm experience + Salesforceo Project Management + Salesforceo Business Analysis + Salesforce

•



•Employers are looking for subject matter experts, who understand how to apply Salesforce to their setting.

•Employers are looking real life experience other than Salesforceo Marketingo Programmingo Saleso Etc.



Additional Types of Jobs Availableo Mobile/Cloud Application Developers/Integrators

▪ Traditional IT software development jobs will be eliminated

o Consulting (above field)

o More inside sales than field jobs

o Marketers not Sales People

o Leaders and Game Changers Vs C-level or VP titles

o Allstate, Caterpillar, BioLabs, GE, Toyota– and many others,

use outside of sales and marketing and need industry experts.


Are Jobs available...

● Within Cloud jobs, PaaS positions are the fastest growing sector with an increase of 41%/year- predicted.

● Bureau of Labor Statistics review of IT ups and downs over last couple of years; but since 2010 headed up with Cloud computing being a particularly bright spot.

● Cloud jobs growing 6x faster than all other IT jobs combined!

http://cloudtimes.org/2013/08/23/451-research-no-other-cloud-sector-is-growing-as-fast-as-paas/




http://www.bls.gov/opub/btn/volume-2/careers-in-growing-field-of-information-technology-services.htm

http://vmware-erdos.com/post/74842829489/skyrocketing-cloud-careers





● Salesforce maintains its leadership within the PaaS CRM world

● Salesforce continues rapid growth, 37% revenue growth last

quarter.

● Anecdotally, the Salesforce workforce diversity is impressive.

● At Dreamforce, 7 out of 8 keynote speakers were women

Impressive Statistics

http://www.streetinsider.com/ec_earnings.php?q=CRM




● At Dreamforce, 7 out of 8 keynote speakers were women

● In the Spring ‘14 Release 8 hour live presentation, the majority of

the presenters were people whose first language was not American

English.

Impressive Statistics


•There is a case for certification with Salesforce…

•But, do you have a case for training yourself?


http://gtr.net/case-for-salesforce-certification-training/


● Use the study guides

● Force.com Developer Edition

● Form a study group in or outside of a formal training class

● Find a mentor

● Study Salesforce materials

How to Study.


● Create your own study questions

● Take a class from Salesforce or a professional organization

● Set a date for taking the exam

● Set that day aside and prepare for that day

How to Study.


● Salesforce.com Certified Adminstrator Study Guide

● Salesforce.com Certified Force.com Developer Study Guide

Use the Salesforce Certification Study Guides

http://certification.salesforce.com/administrators


http://certification.salesforce.com/developers

http://certification.salesforce.com/developers


● Salesforce.com Certified Adminstrator Study Guide

● Create your own study guide from their study guide.

● You will need Salesforce Help: https://help.salesforce.com/

● Begin with the Getting Started Series




https://help.salesforce.com/


● You will need a practice org: Get a Free Developer Edition

● Practice what you learn

● Create your own test questions.


https://events.developerforce.com/signup?d=70130000000EjHb


● Form a study group and hold each other accountable

● Divide up the study guide and take turns presenting sections

● Find a mentor to quiz you about your study habits and to check

that you cover the full realm of the certification.

● GTR’s LinkedIn Group, So You Think You Know Salesforce!™,

provides daily questions.

Get Help From Others

http://www.linkedin.com/groups?gid=6534055


.

● GTR’s Play-the-Game provides exam prep questions; and when

a game is completed, gives you a summary of how you did by

study guide category for a given certification.

● Take a class where you network with others, create networking

relationships, form brief mentoring relationships with instructors,

create study groups, hold each other accountable; And, learn

the material in orderly focused manner.

Get Help From Others

http://gtr.net/play-the-game/


● Set the exam day and work toward it.● Don’t wait too long, after having taken a class, else you will

forget what you just learned and need to relearn it. ● If you fail, set another date within two weeks, again, before you

have forget what you learned by taking the exam.● If you fail, you learned! Use what you learned.

Set an Exam Day and Set-it-aside!

Persist! Know that many of us took exam more than once.


● Get rest the night before, stretch, and eat a meal. Set the time of day, so that you won’t be rushed. Walk in to the testing center 15 - 20 early.

● I like to do it after lunch● Eat lunch nearby, so that I can walk over, if my car

collapsed.● Spend the morning reviewing, not studying.

Set an Exam Day and Set-it-aside!

Persist! Know that many of us took exam more than once.


For anyone viewing this slide set and preparing for the beginning admin or developer certifications, Velu or Charlie will provide you an half hour of phone time to talk about studying for the exam. Our objective is to help you to get certified.

Charlie - [email protected] - [email protected]

Best Wishes!

Questions and Answers

mailto:[email protected]

mailto:[email protected]

Certifications what works for passing the exams

Technology

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