My Perspective on Salesforce Certifications

As always, it's a hot debate.

One thing for sure, certifications leave some kind of impression.

What comes to your mind when you see someone's profile with:

• 25 certifications
• 1 certification
• Architect certifications
• Developer certifications
• Consultant certifications

Each one will send some type of message. These messages could be:

• This dude knows what they are doing
• Oh wow, an architect
• He/she must be an expert
• He/she must have paid so much to get all of those certs
• He/she must be a cheater!!! No way he could have that many certs in that short time

That is the idea; certifications mean something, send some message, leave some impression. It is then on us to send the right message at the right time to the right people.

Objectives

My personal objectives to getting certifications and pursuing even more certifications

Dedication Message

Salesforce certifications are generally difficult, some of them are EXTREMELY difficult, like Salesforce Nonprofit Cloud Consultant.

Yes, I will argue that even associate certifications are also difficult. Remember, each certification has its own target audience, each cert is meant for a certain level of knowledge and experience. You can't pass any cert unless you do some prep work, have some knowledge/experience.

Those in the Salesforce ecosystem know and realize it takes time, effort, knowledge, experience, will, and time to get those certifications. What message does it send when they see you got them? DEDICATION

It might as well cost money unless you got fancy vouchers!

Meet Job Requirements

We can argue whether a certification proves experience or not, but if there is a job out there that is requiring a certain certification, you won't even get to talk to the decision maker or hiring manager if you don't have that cert on file. You won't even have the chance to showcase your experience if they immediately disqualify you for lack of that one cert.

Some people will take it for granted that having Salesforce Nonprofit Cloud Consultant certification means this person knows Nonprofit Cloud very well.

Some people will want to validate that by asking you questions.

Some people will ask to see your portfolio, learn about your Nonprofit cloud projects and ask you to demonstrate.

The idea is that having the certification helps pass that first hurdle, THE REQUIREMENT, and gives you that chance to have a conversation through which it is on you to demonstrate your skills.

Confidence

This is just more for me, studying for a certification, passing, and sharing with the ecosystem boosts my confidence.

If I could get this certification, I could get that other one. I failed this cert twice and passed on the third time, I got this. 11 certifications added to each project kick-off with customer (believe me, it is better than having one certification on the entire slide :) ) Gives me an additional statement to say in introductions to recruiters and other Salesforce professionals xD

Assurance

An employer or a customer or anyone you would offer a service to will always start with

Do you know what you are doing? How can I trust you? Prove it!

They won't say this out loud, that is for sure, but it is happening in their head. There are a few things that would help them transition from "I don't trust you" to "I am certain you can take care of this":

• List of Projects/Customers you worked with / Years of experience
• Positive Reviews and Recommendations
• Case Studies
• Online presence
• You guessed it, certifications

Each one adds a layer of assurance.

Conclusion

Certifications are important!