The Salesforce admin certificate is the fastest way to start with Salesforce. You can jump into an administrator or consultant role and start working with customers immediately with the proper credentials.

As the Salesforce admin certificate path is built on a foundation of experience and knowledge, there’s no set order in which you should pursue your certificate. However, some certificates are more closely aligned than others. For example, suppose you’re pursuing the Platform App Builder certificate. In that case, getting a Certified Administrator (Admin) certification first makes sense to understand better how to develop on the platform.

If you’re an experienced administrator looking for a new challenge, consider getting your Salesforce Developer I or II certification first. This will introduce the full breadth of what Salesforce can do and provide a jumpstart into learning Apex programming.

How long does it take to become a certified Salesforce Admin?

The average time to become certified as an admin is about six months, but that doesn’t mean you should expect to spend that much time studying for the exam. It depends on how much time you have to study and how dedicated you are to passing the test on your first try.

Depending on your experience level and whether you are studying independently or with a training provider, certifications can take a variety of time frames. For example, if you’ve never used Salesforce before, you can earn the Salesforce Certified Administrator (ADM-201) certification in just two days. If you already have some familiarity with the platform — for example, if you’re a developer or a user — it will take only one day to earn ADM-201.

Salesforce Certified Platform App Builder (ADM-301) is designed for experienced users who want to take their knowledge of the platform to the next level. You’ll need at least two days of study time to complete this exam.

Certifications for Salesforce Admins

The salesforce admin certification path is divided into three levels: Salesforce Certified Administrator (Admin), Salesforce Certified Advanced Administrator (Advanced Admin), and Salesforce Certified System Administrator (System Admin).

Salesforce Certified Administrator

The first step to becoming a Salesforce Administrator is to pass the Salesforce Certified Administrator (ADM-201) exam. The exam is also known as Salesforce Platform App Builder Certification Exam. It gives you an overview of the entire Salesforce platform and helps you understand how it works.

After passing the ADM-201 exam, you can move on to one of two tracks: advanced administrator or developer. The Advanced Administrator track is the most popular because it allows you to learn how to manage your company’s data through custom objects and processes.

The second option is to take the Developer track. This track will teach you how to build apps on top of Salesforce and create reports that can be published on your website or mobile app.

The Salesforce Certified Administrator certification is ideal for those looking to start a career in cloud computing and those who have some experience with the platform but aren’t yet ready for more advanced certification. Before taking this exam, you should have at least 12 months of experience as an administrator in any industry with a focus on CRM applications.

The requirements for taking the Salesforce Certified Administrator exam are:

• A bachelor’s degree or equivalent work experience (about two years) in IT
• Passed the Salesforce Developer Certification Exam
• At least six months of experience with Salesforce administration or three years of related experience in another environment such as Microsoft SharePoint
• Pass the Admin Essentials and System Administrator exams before taking the Administrator exam
• Log in to Salesforce from an internet browser at least once every three months to maintain your certification status

Salesforce Certified Advanced Administrator

The Salesforce Certified Advanced Administrator certification requires at least two years of experience in a Salesforce implementation. You can take the exam after you pass the Salesforce Certified Administrator exam.

The Salesforce Certified Advanced Administrator certification is designed to test the skills required to run an enterprise-level implementation of the platform. Candidates must have at least two years of Salesforce implementation experience and knowledge of best customization and configuration practices.

Exam content includes:

• Administering business processes
• Customizing metadata and fields
• Building reports, dashboards, and apps with Data Visualization tools
• Integrating with other systems using Salesforce Connector Architecture, including external data sources such as Service Cloud, Marketing Cloud, and Chatter
• Administering org structure and record types
• Managing users and profiles
• Managing security roles, permission sets, and permission sets for profiles

Achieving the ADM-301 certification validates your skills to lead a team of Salesforce administrators and developers. The ADM-301 exam tests your knowledge of the following skills:

• Advanced configuration and administration of Salesforce environments.
• Manage security and privacy across Salesforce instances.
• Develop custom reports using data sources and APIs.
• Create custom apps using Lightning components, including Lightning Design System (LDS) components.

What is the career path after Salesforce Admin Certification?

Salesforce is one of the most popular cloud computing platforms, with over 20,000 customers worldwide. Small businesses use it for large enterprises and across industries such as financial services, retail, healthcare and life sciences, manufacturing, media and entertainment, travel, and transportation.

The career path after Salesforce admin certifications is not just linear, but it is dynamic and flexible. You can expand your skill set by building on the knowledge you gain from the certificate or choose to move on to another certification.

The best way to understand what’s next for your career is to look at the various paths available. While there are many different roles and responsibilities that you can pursue, common skills are also required for each position.

The following are some of the most common roles in the Salesforce ecosystem:

Salesforce Administrator

The Salesforce Administrator oversees an organization’s overall health and security by setting up permissions, managing user access, monitoring usage patterns, and anticipating future needs. These professionals typically have experience working in a technical environment and have strong analytical skills. They also know how to troubleshoot issues when problems arise.

Salesforce Consultant

A consultant helps clients implement Salesforce solutions by designing customized business processes based on their unique needs. They also provide ongoing support once their clients go live with the new software. Consultants must communicate effectively with clients, understand their challenges and offer solutions to overcome them while keeping costs down.

Salesforce Developer

A Salesforce Developer provides technological solutions to businesses looking to integrate their data with Salesforce’s offerings. These professionals may work with other platforms like Microsoft Azure or AWS (Amazon Web Services). Since there are many different ways to customize Salesforce according to an organization’s business needs, Developers must be able to build custom programs for clients so that they can get maximum value from their software investment.

Salesforce Certified Platform App Builder

The Salesforce Certified Platform App Builder is a professional who can build, test and deploy custom applications on the Force.com platform. They are experts in developing Apex code, triggers, and Visualforce pages. They also have experience with the following:

• Salesforce Lightning Components
• Salesforce Mobile SDK
• Salesforce DX
• Salesforce Data Management Cloud (DMC)
• Apex Controllers and Triggers

When working with Apex Controllers and Triggers, the Platform App Builder will know how to create custom controllers that interact with Force.com objects and how to use Apex Triggers to handle events that occur within those objects. The Platform App Builder is also familiar with using Apex Triggers for security purposes, such as enforcing record-level access controls or data integrity rules.

Salesforce Certified Development Lifecycle and Deployment Designer

Salesforce Certified Development Lifecycle and Deployment Designers can create and maintain code, do continuous integration, monitor code quality, perform informal reviews, release code into production environments, and manage deployments from source control systems.

Salesforce Certified Identity and Access Management Designer.

The Salesforce Certified Identity and Access Management Designer certification is designed for individuals with experience designing, configuring, implementing, and maintaining the security of an organization’s Salesforce Identity and Access Management (IM).

The candidate will need to demonstrate their knowledge of the following skills:

• Administering user access controls, including fine-grained access controls, role hierarchy, field-level security, and custom objects
• Managing users with various roles and responsibilities using assignment rules, mass updates, and bulk deletes
• Creating custom fields on standard objects to map to external systems such as HR or financial systems
• Implementing tools like Salesforce Single Sign-On (SSO), SAML 2.0, or Federated Authentication Services (FAS)

Key takeaways

As a salesforce admin, you can learn more about the platform to make your job easier and increase your chances of getting a promotion or higher pay.

Many companies require their employees to be certified in order for them to work with their software programs, such as Salesforce. These certifications are important because they ensure that an employee knows how to use the system correctly so they can provide quality service to customers who are using their products or services. This ensures customer satisfaction, hence more leads.

But what if you don’t have time to go back to school? What if you don’t want to spend the money on tuition? Well, there’s good news! You don’t have to go back to school or spend thousands of dollars on tuition to become a certified salesforce admin. You can simply take the course on Pathstream and get prepared for the certification exam quickly and easily.