I was recently reached out to by an individual asking for advice on entering the world of Salesforce. This is not the first person to ask, so I created this blog for anyone who might find it helpful -

What is Salesforce?

Salesforce is a product/platform that companies use to run their businesses. Salesforce is known for being the leading CRM (Customer Relationship Management) software, however, Salesforce offers many packages and add-ons that provide functionality well beyond a typical CRM. It is highly customizable and allows businesses to tailor it to their specific needs. Because it is highly customizable, companies usually have full-time employees or hire consultants to configure and maintain their Salesforce org. In this blog, we will talk about jobs for 3rd party companies that use Salesforce, not jobs at the company Salesforce.

Salesforce Admin vs Developer?

Each company defines Salesforce jobs differently. We will keep this simple and look at development-related jobs which I’m asked about the most. Typically, there are 2 roles when looking at entry-level Salesforce development jobs: Developers and Admins. Both work together to set up, maintain, and improve a company’s Salesforce org.

Admins

Salesforce contains many ways to customize a Salesforce org. Many of these customizations are done through a web browser while within the “Setup” section of a company’s Salesforce org. A Salesforce admin is responsible for using these tools to configure, maintain, and improve a Salesforce org. This includes things such as -

• Creating user accounts for employees.
• Setting up custom objects/fields to store specific data.
• Managing permissions/access for who can see what.
• Creating reports and dashboards so Salesforce users can better understand their data.
• Building automation using Salesforce’s declarative coding tool, flow.
• And much more!

Developers

Developers use Salesforce’s coding frameworks to build custom functionality that isn’t possible with out-of-the-box Salesforce tools or flows. Some companies have developers who only write code, while others have developers who do a mix of both “admin” work and coding. Note that some companies define a “developer” differently. Most (but not all) job descriptions for “Salesforce Developer” assume you have coding experience. The Salesforce developer’s role includes the following -

• Creating custom server-side code using Salesforce’s Apex programming language (extremely similar to Java).
• Creating custom web pages/components using one of Salesforce web frameworks - LWC (Lightning Web Components), Aura, and Visual Force.

Know What You’re Getting Into

Many times, Salesforce intrigues people due to the high average salaries and the possibility of remote work. These are two great benefits, but there is a lot more to consider. Salesforce is an insanely large ecosystem that takes a lot of time and hands-on experience to learn. It will take a lot of learning and hard work to land the sought-after high-paying remote job.

I Want to Learn. Where do I Start?

Luckily, Salesforce has one of the best free learning platforms a business software can offer: Trailhead. Trailhead is a learning platform provided by Salesforce and the community. There, you can create a free Salesforce org and try it out in a matter of minutes. Trailhead offers “trails”, or guided learning paths that consist of quizzes and hands-on challenges where you perform something within a sandbox where Salesforce validates you did it correctly. Salesforce’s barrier to entry is low, but the skill ceiling is extremely high.

Conclusion

Salesforce is a massive ecosystem but with a low barrier to entry, anyone can start learning. If Salesforce intrigues you, jump on trailhead and start learning!