Key Advice for Getting an Entry-Level Salesforce Job in 2025

Getting into Salesforce can be an exciting first career for freshly qualified people or an interesting way to make use of transferable skills for those a little further on in their career. But whoever you are, getting that first role can also be a bit daunting, especially with such a fiercely competitive job market at the moment.

Here, we run through some tips for entry-level professionals to help them stand out from the crowd – and put that Salesforce Admin certification to good use.  

Get Some Quick Wins and Sell Yourself

We spoke to CEO of Supermums, Heather Black, about what entry-level Salesforce Admins could do to land their first roles. 

She told Salesforce Ben: “Firstly, it’s how they sell themselves on their resume. We’re doing quite a lot of work on making sure that they are selling their transferable skills well, [as well as] their background and experience.”

Heather said that Supermums see a lot of resumes where it is apparent that the person has not been supported while writing it, and understand “why they’re not necessarily winning a job” because of it. 

She said that people simply are not selling themselves properly, adding: “I think it is really about getting support with your resume, getting somebody to help you pull out your transferable skills and your industry experience.”

Heather also said that getting your app builder and advanced admin qualifications are both “relatively quick wins”, and her group, Supermums, offers free courses on data protection and DevOps.

“Get those quick wins on your resume because that’s going to put you head and shoulders above somebody else,” she said. “If you’re just going in with an admin cert, there’s always going to be people above you, whereas you could have five certs, additional courses and certs on your resume, with another week’s worth of work. 

“It’s that quick to get those additional certs if you want to.” 

Be Specific and Don’t Rely on LinkedIn

Something that could also help the entry-level admin is being very clear about the specifics of what kind of job and industry they want, Heather said. 

“People are like, ‘I’ll apply for anything and get anything,’ [but] you need to show your passion and expertise for things, and with that, access the ‘hidden job market’ effectively. 

“I’ve always won my jobs by going to companies that specialize in an industry that I know well or specialize in, or [if] I like the values of the company and they’re a great brand.”

Writing a cover letter to the key people in the company – not just through the recruiting teams – can help show that you’re keen for the role and making extra effort, rather than just going through the traditional mass application process on LinkedIn. 

Heather said: “What I’ve found, having spoken to Supermums, is if [the applicants] haven’t had that guidance, they’re just applying for these jobs on LinkedIn and not getting anywhere.

“You need to contact the key people who are in those teams and departments and reach out. Use the network and alumni networks to open up those doors and opportunities.

“Talk to people who will be working in that company, reach out to them directly via LinkedIn, send them an email if you can find that email address and actively build those relationships – this is the way that people get job opportunities these days.”

Heather said that in her experience, when people say they cannot land a job, it’s typically down to one of four factors:

1. Their resume is not strong enough.
2. They only have one certification.
3. They’re only applying for jobs on LinkedIn.
4. They’re not selling themselves properly.

She added: “When they’re not doing any of that and haven’t updated their LinkedIn profile, they’re not going to get jobs. 

“When we’ve worked with them, they’ve got an interview and a job in the next two weeks when we’ve worked on all of that stuff. That’s what we’re finding.”

Don’t Say You’re New (in the First Line)!

When asked about “red flags” on resumes and phrases people should never use, Heather said that you should never write something to the effect of, “I’m a newly qualified admin looking for my first Salesforce job”. 

She added: “Don’t put that in the bio! You want to be saying, ‘I’ve got 10 years’ experience in customer service and relationship building’, whatever their niche is.” 

Instead, talk about your transferable skills, the kinds of companies you have worked for, and, ultimately, be confident and sell yourself. 

Heather said: “People say, ‘I can’t get a job’… It’s very obvious where the weak points are. 

“Obviously, it’s a competitive job market, but that’s why all these things are important. It’s always been competitive. Let’s face it, there’s always going to be more than one person going for a job, but it’s how you access that.”

You Don’t Have to Do It Alone

Salesforce CTA and MVP Melissa Shepard spoke to Salesforce Ben with more of a focus on the developer/architect roles, but much of her advice also applies to the admin world, too.

She said: “It’s kind of hard to get jobs without experience. The gap I see is a lot of people are like, ‘How do I get experience without getting a job?’” 

Melissa added that there are programs in the Salesforce ecosystem that place newer people with nonprofits to get them experience and also provide mentorship so they can “learn on the job” and get proper guidance. 

She said: “I would say get into a program like that, find a mentor, and try to find some real hands-on experience. When people are newer and trying to get these admin roles, that experience is going to help them more than the certifications, and they have to have both.

“You have to show that you’re certified in what you’re doing. That admin cert isn’t easy, but trying to find that experience is really crucial.”

More Resume Dos and Don’ts

Melissa said that, from the position of a hiring manager, what would stand out on someone’s resume to her would be relevant skills that align with the specific job the candidate was applying for. 

She told Salesforce Ben: “If they’re really good at Revenue Cloud but we’re looking for someone with Field Service, or vice versa, I’m not going to talk to that person. We’re looking for the relevant skill set, not just super general.”

It’s also important for candidates to be able to explain their experience well and not simply put it into a list, Melissa says. 

“Looking for a mid-level amount of experience and just good explanations that are relevant to the role being hired for.”

She also echoed Heather’s comments about the importance of specificity, saying that even for a role like CTA, it has become common for employers to want very industry or cloud-specific architects or developers. 

Melissa said: “Health Cloud, Commerce Cloud or Marketing Cloud – it’s not just being a generalist that will get you by anymore, but really having these specific skill sets.”

Consider Your Approach to AI

When it comes to AI, entry-level Salesforce professionals, in particular, might be wondering what exactly their approach should be.

On the one hand, they want to be the most productive and competent person they can be for the role they are applying for, using whatever tools might be available to achieve that. But on the other hand, there may be some hesitancy to overly rely on AI tools, which, after all, might be one of the reasons they are finding it so hard to get work in the first place. 

Melissa said that, in her experience, large tech companies are trying to get their employees to “use AI for everything”. 

She added: “I don’t use it for everything, but I use it to help get things done quicker, better, and more robustly than if I was just to do it on my own. So, I would say that if someone says they saw a benefit for it to help you be more efficient and more effective, I think that’s great.

“I don’t want it to take over my entire job, sit there and not think or do anything. But use the tools in a way that supports you, just be more effective, [and] get your job done better and quicker. If someone told me that, I would say ‘Great, so you understand how to use the tools?’”

Melissa said that at TDX, she saw how AI is “in everything” to do with Salesforce and “if you’re not jumping in, you’re going to probably get left behind” because every tool out there will involve it somehow. 

“It can replace some low-level tasks so that maybe you’re focusing on being more strategic and… doing the higher level things and not getting stuck in the lower level things [which] it can help you take care of.”

It’s Tough Out There, Even for Senior People

Melissa, who has been using Salesforce since 2006 and is one of the top ecosystem voices, says even she has experienced some of the fierce competition in the sector firsthand. 

She said: “I just spoke to a company about trying to do some omni-channel stuff for them. I have a lot of Service Cloud experience, but I haven’t done it in the past few years. I was a little rusty at being able to talk about it and being able to talk about the projects where I’ve worked on it. 

“I think I got eliminated because I just wasn’t able to talk about it very recently, [although] I’m a CTO with 38 certifications. I built some of the stuff that’s part of Service Cloud. I have a ton of experience, but because it just isn’t super relevant for me in the past few years, I think that they didn’t like that. 

“That’s how particular companies can be now. They can just put aside 19 years of Salesforce [experience], tons of service cloud [experience], CTA, 38 certifications, just because they weren’t able to talk [about] having done it in the last couple years, and I think that’s crazy.”

Final Thoughts 

Heather and Melissa both provided terrific insight into the entry-level job market, but we also reached out to some newer Salesforce professionals to understand their firsthand experience. 

One, who wished to remain anonymous, told Salesforce Ben: “I passed my Salesforce Admin back in November 2024 and I have since been applying for jobs and upskilling myself by creating experience projects to showcase to potential employers, as well as even enrolling myself in Talent Stacker… [and] still no luck.

“I am being hopeful, but it seems many entry-level jobs still demand two years’ experience. I have reached out to Salesforce-aligned recruiters, but none have seemed to respond – [they] did the cold calling approach. They will just take my resume and nothing else.”

There’s no doubt that it’s hard out there for newer ecosystem members and, as Melissa pointed out, even the most experienced Salesforce professionals. 

But there are always steps you can take to increase your chances, even as roles become even more competitive.

What’s your experience with the entry-level job market? Email tips@salesforceben.com.