Career transitions are not always easy, especially in today’s accelerated digital economy. But you can transform your career and upgrade your salary with a tool you most likely already have: MOTIVATION. For those looking to join the Salesforce Ecosystem, Pathstream wants to empower you to learn the skills needed to transition to a career as a Salesforce Administrator or reskill at your current company. Even if you don’t have the experience, don’t worry. We can walk you through a few creative tips to build your career as a Salesforce Administrator.

5 Ways tips to help you become a Salesforce Admin

1. Check out job descriptions.

Even if you’re not actively searching for a new company, combing through job descriptions is a helpful way to see what you can do to become a more valuable professional in the Salesforce field. Knowing this information can help you negotiate raises and title changes, steer your educational goals, and ultimately give you more confidence when you’re ready to change jobs.

How to do it: Read five (5) job descriptions for your ideal next role. Take notes on the skills required and let that information guide your next goal, inspire you to update wording on your resume, or give you an idea of how to talk about your achievements with your boss.

2. Make those transferable skills stand out.

Are you intimidated by the number of technical skills listed in Salesforce job postings? There’s more to your professional skill set than what you’ve learned on the job. Remember, soft skills are equally important. You can always learn more technical skills by accessing resources freely available online. Taking a moment to think about some of your life experiences and how you can utilize those in the professional world is a valuable technique to build confidence and effortlessly advocate for yourself the next time you’re networking, checking in with your boss, or interviewing for a new role. Even if you have not held a formal Salesforce role, you may have had responsibilities in a past position or even used CRM. Think creatively about how you can repackage your past work history to make it relevant to an entry-level Salesforce Administrator position.

How to do it: Sit down and list some systems you’ve created, skills you’ve developed, or challenges you’ve overcome outside of work. Skilled Salesforce Administrators are curious about how their end-users or internal employees work. Why? Because they need to customize the platform to support those needs efficiently. Maybe your company implemented new technology that you used in a previous job. You volunteered to meet with each department head to learn how they will use the technology and wrote up a Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) to provide instructions to them.

3. Learn Salesforce skills.

How do you develop those in-demand Salesforce skills? First, we recommend you determine what skills you need by reading “Top Salesforce Administrator Skills You Need in 2022. ” Then set yourself apart by building a foundation in the Salesforce platform by signing up for the Salesforce Administrator Career Certificate Program. The program includes interactive projects, personalized feedback, and career support and is led by an instructor.

Protip: When searching for a Salesforce Administrator Career Certificate program, select one created in partnership with Salesforce Trailhead. Otherwise, you may waste your hard-earned money on an illegitimate or ineffective training course.

4. Build a portfolio on Salesforce Trailhead.

The best way to market your skills and showcase your achievements is online. LinkedIn is one platform where you can showcase your certificates, but consider creating a Salesforce portfolio via Trailhead.

Why? A Salesforce portfolio helps you:

• Tell your story: Paula spent a decade as a restaurant manager in customer service. She learned about Salesforce from her Chipotle customer. They encouraged her to use Trailhead to learn how to use the platform. Today, Paula is a Salesforce Administrator fellow and implementing the skills she learned from Emory’s Salesforce Administrator Career Certificate Program powered by Pathstream. By telling her personal and professional story, she is marketing herself on another platform accessed by recruiters, prospective employers, and Trailblazers.
• Promote your skills and projects: Graphic designers share their portfolios for prospective employers to see their skill level visually. Similarly, sharing your Trailblazer.me.profile and displaying your projects show off your Salesforce skills.
• Highlight your values:  Give recruiters and prospective employers a sense of what’s important to you. This could be valuable if your values align closely with an organization’s mission. For example, Emory x Pathstream graduate Joshua transitioned to a career as a Salesforce Administrator, is passionate about impacting people’s lives, and chose to remain in the non-profit sector.

5. Take advantage of your employer’s education benefits or tuition reimbursement programs.

Did you know that many companies allocate some of their annual budgets to providing educational benefits to employees? If you’re looking to reskill and get promoted at your current company, this benefit could help you pay to learn Salesforce. This benefit isn’t always widely-advertised. It could be a small note in your employee handbook or training materials. Still, it can save you hundreds (sometimes thousands) of dollars on education, certifications, and seminars that you can put on your resume.

How to do it: It’s worth asking your manager or HR team first to see if this is a benefit they offer. Your company might work with a third-party course provider or allow you to pick out a program (like Pathstream) that best suits your goals. After that, it comes down to filling out the necessary forms for your company’s records and starting your course. Check out our blog post on navigating this process to learn more about this topic.

Protip: if you plan on leaving your role in the near future, make sure you understand whether there are constraints on how long you need to stay at your current company after leveraging this benefit.

Start your journey with Pathstream and transition to a career as a Salesforce Administrator.

If your goal is to transition to a career as a Salesforce Administrator, we are here to help. Our innovative program is offered in partnership with top universities and is backed by Salesforce Trailhead. The program can be completed in just six months and will pave the way for you to launch your new career.

When you enroll in our comprehensive Salesforce Administrator Career Certificate Program, you will have access to highly experienced instructors, quality learning materials, and invaluable career guidance. At Pathstream, we equip you with the tools you need to manage a project successfully and help you land your first job.