It was only a few months ago that the Salesforce AI Associate certification was retired, which sparked a fair bit of conversation across the ecosystem. Not because the certification wasn’t useful, but because it got overtaken quite quickly. And that’s really the point – things are moving fast right now, especially in AI, and it’s forcing people to rethink what actually matters when it comes to building a career in Salesforce.
Entry-level certifications are right in the middle of that conversation. If you spend a few minutes reading through the reactions to the retirement, you’ll see there’s a pretty clear divide. Some people see them as little more than a marketing tool – a way for Salesforce to generate revenue quickly and simply. Others still see them as essential, especially for getting your foot in the door.
Then there’s the reality that most people in the ecosystem are dealing with. Entry-level certs are often expected, but usually not enough on their own. Experience is in high demand, but increasingly hard to get without already being in the ecosystem. That change of pace means what you learn today might not carry the same weight tomorrow.
So rather than taking a hard stance, we spoke to people across the ecosystem – from hiring managers to cert monsters – to understand how certifications are actually being viewed in 2026.
Are Salesforce Certifications Losing Their Shine?
If you only looked at online discussion in the ecosystem right now, you’d think entry-level certs (or maybe even certs in general) were on their way out. That might be a bit dramatic, but the skepticism isn’t coming from nowhere. There are very real shifts happening in the market that are making people question how much certifications are actually worth, especially at the entry level.
One of the clearest themes is that experience wins – and it may not even be close. As Salesforce Recruitment Leader Tom Harding put it: “Clients are looking for experience over everything else.” He mentioned that certifications don’t really change that equation, and in general, the market is making things even tougher for anyone trying to break in.
“There are more people out there than roles,” he explained. “So clients can pick up experienced people who are out of work for the same price as juniors.”
If this is to be true, it certainly creates a difficult dynamic. Entry-level candidates might not just be competing with one another, but also competing with people who’ve already done the job.
On top of that, companies are increasingly leaning toward either experienced hires or lower-cost offshore and nearshore resources. As Tom summed it up: “Getting into the Salesforce market as a junior right now is very, very tough.”
At the same time, the role of entry-level certifications themselves has shifted. They may have helped candidates stand out in the past, but now they’re often just expected. In many cases, not having one can hold you back. But at the same time, having one doesn’t really push you forward. That’s led to what a lot of people are calling “certification inflation” – where the real differentiation has moved up to more advanced certs and specialist areas.
Then, if you layer on the growing perception that certs are more about Salesforce than the individual – e.g., the “money grab” claim – it’s easy to understand why some might start questioning the long-term value.
What Salesforce Certifications Actually Do Well
For all the criticism, however, it’s hard to ignore the fact that entry-level certs still play a very real role in the ecosystem. They just don’t do what some people expect them to do.
A big part of that comes down to what certs are actually designed for. Salesforce is a huge platform, and for someone coming in fresh, it can be overwhelming. Where do you start? What should you learn? What actually matters? That’s where certifications come in – to, at the very least, provide some structure on your Salesforce journey.
As SF Ben Technical Content Writer Tim Combridge put it, certs act as a great, guided pathway. “Salesforce is extremely broad,” Tim explained. “So focusing in on certain areas, I found to be a really, really good way of focusing your study efforts and learning paths.”
Instead of trying to piece everything together yourself, certs give you that defined scope, clear topics, and a framework to work through. In a platform like Salesforce, that direction is so valuable, especially early on.
They also lower the barrier to entry in a way that often gets overlooked. The associate-level certs, in particular, are clearly designed for people who aren’t already in the ecosystem.
Tim highlighted this directly, saying: “They’re targeted to people who aren’t necessarily working in the space yet… someone who is interested in Salesforce, wants to enter into the ecosystem… but can’t justify the cost of failing a higher-level exam.”
Alongside that, Tim mentioned the importance of the process itself, rather than the badge that comes after – the entire end-to-end process of understanding what a cert is, how to study, where to study, and then providing that knowledge.
Studying for a certification forces you to engage with the platform in a structured way. It introduces you to concepts you might not come across otherwise, builds confidence, and gives you a baseline that you can actually build on.
There’s also a practical career angle here, especially for people already working in Salesforce. Certifications can give you a level of control that you don’t always get in your day-to-day role.
As 22x certified Salesforce Architect Timo Kovala explained: “If you want to steer your role into a new direction, getting certified in the right apps is a great way to re-position yourself.”
Timo mentions that they also still very much matter in hiring, too, just not always in the way people think.
As Timo pointed out: “If a person doesn’t have the required certs, they aren’t even eligible to apply.”
And in more structured environments, that becomes even more rigid. “You won’t get the selection points if you cannot check that box.”
So while certifications might not be the thing that gets you hired, they’re often the thing that gets you through the first filter. They’re less about standing out and more about staying in the running.
And that’s really where everything starts to come together. Certifications aren’t a shortcut to experience, and they’re not a guarantee of anything. But they are a tool – a way to learn, to structure your thinking, and to position yourself in a very competitive market.
Final Thoughts
Certifications were never meant to replace experience, and they still don’t. What’s changed is how they’re used. Entry-level certs open doors, not full-fledged careers.
The real value now comes from how you build on them. In a faster-moving ecosystem, certifications still matter – just as part of a much bigger picture.
