💃 Breaking Into Salesforce, Multiple Choice Edition 🕺

Good morning, Salesforce Nerds! Are you actually not a Salesforce Nerd, and are here because you have heard the Salesforce ecosystem is the place to be? You have no experience or exposure to Salesforce, but you have heard all the amazing stories - it has a relatively low barrier of entry, it pays well, and this whole SaaS thing provides amazing work-from-anywhere flexibility? So how do you get into this place without any previous experience?

Agenda for today includes

• Breaking Into the Salesforce, Multiple Choice Edition

• Daily Principle

• All the Memes

Breaking Into Salesforce, Multiple Choice Edition!

Scenario: I do not have experience or exposure to Salesforce, but I want to become a Salesforce Professional. I have heard it pays well and there is a low barrier to entry. My choices are...

Choice A: The Grinder

Learn business analyst skills - defining business process with descriptions and workflows, gathering business requirements, and performing current state, desired state and gap analyses. Learn sales processes like lead nurturing and closed sales-won/loss. Then, learn Salesforce through Trailheads, join Salesforce communities like the Trailblazer forum and Discord. All of this is done in my spare time, while I continue my non-Salesforce day job, ie primary source if income.

Pros

• No loss of income.

• You will learn good habits (you'll be so busy, discipline and habits will be required to succeed).

• This will be a period of your life that you will look back on and be proud of.

Cons

• Minimal "free" time.

• Will feel like a grind.

• Will need to be proactive about managing burnout.

Choice B: The Risk Taker

Quit my job, study for the Salesforce Admin cert full throttle, pass the test, and apply for Salesforce jobs.

Pros

• Potentially the shortest path.

• Allows for max time to focus on Salesforce, since that is basically your job.

• You can start an Instagram account solely to brag about how the risk paid off for you, and how it can pay off for your audience too - just hit like, comment, and follow!

Cons

• Quitting your job with nothing lined up is never a great idea.

• Need to have a backup plan in case you do not pass the test and/or get a new job before your savings runs out.

• Unlike Choice A, you may not develop core skills like business analysis, making you a less desirable candidate.

Choice C: The Misguided

Job search for roles where I will be exposed to Salesforce as a user (ie sales job) or support (IT helpdesk, business analyst, etc). Trailheads in your spare time while you are working Salesforce-exposed jobs with an eye on becoming an Admin.

Pros

• Get immediate exposure to the other sides of Salesforce - sales or support.

• Still have income.

• Can be a foundational stepping stone for your Salesforce career if you treat it as such - stay curious, learning, and focused on becoming a Salesforce professional.

Cons

• Kinda one foot in, one foot out. Shit or get off the pot.

• You may not enjoy the Salesforce-exposed role. Being a sales person, if you've never been one, may not be for you. Not worth it just to be a Salesforce user.

• If you lose focus on the path to becoming a Salesforce professional, this along-the-way stop is a waste of time.

Summary

• Option A is the best long term play, and will take the most effort, sacrifice, commitment, and discipline.

• Option B is risky but can pay off well if the stars align - the transition time between jobs is short and you are on your way to becoming a seasoned SF admin quickly. The otherside of the coin is you pass the exam but do not get a job and have no income until you do. Or worse, you don't pass the exam and you still have that gate to pass through

• Option C is kinda one foot in, one foot out. Shit or get off the pot. It might work out, but also may end up in a worse situation with a job you are not experienced in, you don't like, and you're not exposed to Salesforce at a learning level.

While the choices seem obviously right or wrong, there are many people who do not select the path that is best for their situation. When making decisions for a long-term outcome, biases can creep in and lead you astray.

Takeaway

It is NOT easy to break into Salesforce. It sometimes seems like it is an easy road to riches and glory, but dues must be paid, one way or another. For every success story you hear about someone pivoting their career in a few months, there are many many more failures.

Daily Principle

and now....Your Daily Memes