Looking for your first (or next) Salesforce role? If you’ve been following the news surrounding the Salesforce economy, you’ve probably been convinced about the future of Salesforce and are willing to take the leap.
Admittedly though, it can be daunting to look for your next job…
Coming from a Sales Development background with a degree in Biology, here are three questions that I tend to ask myself the most whenever I’m searching for a new job:
- Do I qualify for the role?
- Is my skill set sufficient to be successful?
- What will I actually be doing?
If you are in the same boat, this article will help outline the real-world challenges that I uncovered in my journey to launching my Salesforce career, as well as what can be done to supplement your chance of embarking on the Salesforce journey. It’s not the perfect blueprint, but hopefully it will help!
Prepare Your Salesforce Profile
From my experience, I find the first step of the job hunt process to be the most challenging, as you need to be convincing on paper – yes, you are judged by your cover.
1. Get your Salesforce Admin Certification
Certifications matter. It’s the easiest way to articulate that you have at least minimal knowledge and enthusiasm about the Salesforce Ecosystem to perform the job. Keep in mind that you are one of a hundred other applicants, and it can easily act as a filter on a recruiter’s report of candidates.
Unfortunately, I learned that passing a certification doesn’t build enough confidence nor does it prepare you for the real world that’s prone to many Flows and Reporting requests. To address this, you need to put yourself out there to practice what you studied for.
2. Volunteer (if you lack experience)
If you currently work for a company that uses Salesforce, reach out and ask for opportunities to gain exposure. Better yet, look for an organization that really needs you through websites like VolunteerMatch. You’ll also get a chance to meet with other Salesforce professionals and build your network!
One caveat is that it’s not easy to concurrently commit to work and volunteer along with personal needs. To avoid burning out, agree to a number of hours that you know you can commit. Remember it’s the experience that matters.
3. Prepare your LinkedIn
Lastly, but most importantly, prepare your LinkedIn. From my experience as an SDR, I learned about the importance of personal branding and how you need to make yourself amenable to the community. Advice on preparing your LinkedIn is easily available on the web, but below is a list that I personally find to look at when I’m interested in a person:
- Profile picture – a professional headshot builds credibility
- Relevant experience – and don’t be lazy with descriptions!
- Certifications and education
After fulfilling all of the above, I find the best way to stand out on LinkedIn is to share content. It could be about a professional experience or about a certification that you recently acquired, and the sky’s the limit.
Recruiters quite often reach out whenever I post content, so be creative and don’t shy away from sharing with the community!
Where To Look for a Salesforce Job
You probably already know about channels like LinkedIn, Glassdoor, and Indeed. These are great places to start, but I’ll share a few more that you may not have tried yet.
1. RevGenius
There’s a ton of communities out there that support each other when it comes to career growth. RevGenius is one of the biggest and most active communities for Salesforce professionals. I have been a member for the past couple of years, so I know you’ll find it easy to ask technical questions as well as career advice from well-experienced Salesforce professionals.
Here are some tips to get started:
- Join their Slack group and the #job-postings channel to be alerted for Salesforce roles
- Browse the history of tips and tricks in their #job-seeker-resources channel
- Lastly but most importantly, network and ask questions!
Employers often post on RevGenius, and I personally have experience getting interviews from sending DMs on the RevGenius Slack channel.
2. Salesforce Ben Job Board
The Salesforce Ben Job Board hosts both managers and recruiters, showing a wide range of jobs that are available in the ecosystem. You can search for the kind of jobs you want, as well as receive personalized job matches based on your profile.
Plus, as it is affiliated with the Salesforce Ben blog, applying through the SFB Job Board is a way to show that you are interested in the latest news about the Salesforce ecosystem and are willing to do the research when the time comes.
3. Friends, Family, and Previous Colleagues
It doesn’t matter if you haven’t spoken to the person since high school; make sure to take full advantage of your network and reach out to friends whose company is hiring for the role you want. My recommendation is to schedule a time over Zoom instead of a DM and make the conversation as friendly as possible.
On a similar note, I recommend doing the research on LinkedIn and reaching out to the direct managers of open roles. When done right, it’s a way to express your enthusiasm and stand out in the preliminary stages of the application process, showing curiosity and expressing genuine interest!
Owning the Interview Process
So you’ve made it to the interviews, now how do you get to the job offer? From my experience, the evaluation that happens in the interview process generally categorizes under either:
- Culture fit
- Team fit
- Technical skills
1. Culture Fit
Understanding the culture before heading into the interview is one of the first things I do. There are usually questions that you can prepare good answers to by researching on the company’s website and looking over Glassdoor reviews. Typical questions look like this:
- Our culture values are X, Y, and Z. Can you give me an example of a time where you demonstrated these values?
- Are you more comfortable working remotely, or in the office?
- Why do you want to work for us?
If you haven’t already, this is also the time to learn if you would enjoy the culture of that company if hired, as each one is different.
Because I personally find this to be so crucial, I typically go a step further, and find an employee on LinkedIn to ask about the culture. Someone who is active on LinkedIn is the best bet for you to reach out to.
2. Team Fit
Although this can sound similar to Culture Fit, these questions typically fall under whether you can get along with your future team. Typical questions to prepare for include:
- Describe how you would handle a conflict with one of your teammates?
- What do you expect from your manager?
- How do you work in a team?
3. Technical Skills
Salesforce is a technical skill with a huge spectrum of knowledge and strengths. Therefore it’s important to read the job description carefully, and be prepared to address your skills accordingly. If you see requirements that you don’t qualify for, then be honest and talk about them.
After the interview
If you haven’t been sending follow up emails after the interview, it may be where you are going wrong! Hiring managers are busy people and it’s easy to forget about you. To help them remember, talk about what you discussed and why the opportunity excites you!
I also recommend being creative. If you aren’t hearing back after your first phone interview, try something different to get their attention. When done right, this is a great way to break through the noise.
Here are some tips:
- Find the hiring manager on LinkedIn and send an In-Mail.
- Reach out to future (potential) colleagues to ask questions about the role and the hiring process they went through.
- Send a Vidyard to show your excitement (and yes, I’ve done this before).
Red Flags to Watch Out For
Not all Salesforce jobs are going to be flowers and cupcakes. It’s a tough job and there are things to watch out for. Here’s a list of red flags that I jotted down as I went through the interview process:
- Small team (relative to the company size): Determine if the team size is big enough. Salesforce is huge and you don’t want to get into a role which expects you to perform multiple jobs. Are they hiring to ramp up the team, or to put out the fire that’s been left unattended? You need to understand if you and your new team will be supported with enough resources to perform the requests of the business. If not, be prepared to wear multiple hats!
- Low salary: Always make sure you are paid well. Salesforce Pros deliver a ton of value for the company, and you’ll have an endless backlog of requests. If a company is not willing to respect the workload behind automating its entire business operations, it’ll be reflected on your pay cheque. They will also consider Salesforce Admins equivalent to cross-departmental assistants as opposed to leaders in business operations, which couldn’t be more wrong.
- Lack of projects: Everyone needs to have fun! So ask about the projects you’ll be working on. If this is your first Salesforce job, ensure that you will be put into projects that you would be excited for.
Summary
One of my favorite aspects of the Salesforce ecosystem is how supportive the community is. Nine out of ten people that I reached out to were willing to share their experience with me and offer tips! Don’t be scared and reach out if you need help launching your career in Salesforce.
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