Salesforce training and certifications are arguably the most accessible in the industry – anyone can set up a Trailhead account and start learning. You can fund your certifications independently, or you may find your employer is willing to fund or subsidise your Salesforce development.
Salesforce have shown they are committed to welcoming new talent into the ecosystem, with programmes such as their virtual internship, and their Futureforce website. Now they’ve gone one step further, by offering anyone with 0-6 months Salesforce experience the chance to get certified – cue the Salesforce Certified Associate Credential.
Let’s take a closer look…
What is the Salesforce Associate Certification?
It offers a great introduction to the Salesforce Customer 360 platform. This new certification helps bridge the gap between having no Salesforce experience and gaining the common first Salesforce certifications, such as the Salesforce Administrator credential. The certification will help validate your knowledge in a number of areas:
- Understanding the purpose of a CRM platform within a business, and how it connects departments and data
- Understanding how Customer 360 can offer solutions to business problems
- Key terms
- Foundational knowledge in platform functionality, including requirements gathering, reporting, security, sharing, customisation, and data management.
Who is it for?
Anyone with 0-6 months Salesforce experience, who wants to hone their foundation level skills in the Salesforce platform, and demonstrate their competence in these. If you have a basic knowledge of the points mentioned above, this will be beneficial, but you don’t need any technical expertise.
How do you prepare for the exam?
Working through the trail mix is a good start, and a great way to start learning Salesforce. You’ll encounter modules and tasks that will give you an insight into the Salesforce platform, ecosystem and community. You’ll start looking into the different facets of Salesforce, such as Lightning, Scrum and Kanban workflows, data modelling, objects, reports & dashboards, and more.
There’s also a dedicated Module for Salesforce Associate Certification prep, which will test your knowledge before committing to taking the exam.
What do I need to know before I take the exam?
In terms of knowledge, you’ll need to go through the steps mentioned above in preparation, but you should also clue up on some important information.
The exam consists of 40 multiple-choice/multiple-select questions, and you’ll have 70 minutes to complete it. You can pass with a score of 62% and above, and the registration fee is $75 (or equivalent in your home currency).
You can take your exam onsite at a testing centre, or choose to take the exam online remotely, but you will be monitored by a proctor through a web cam. You can find out more about scheduling your exam here.
What’s in the exam?
The exam will cover 4 topics: Salesforce Ecosystem (32%), Navigation (28%), Data Model (25%) and Reports & Dashboards (15%). You’ll be given different scenarios and tasks, usually describing or identifying key Salesforce offerings and functionalities. You can find out about this in more depth in the exam guide.
How do I maintain my Salesforce Associate Certification?
The good news is, you don’t need to. With subsequent certifications you gain, you will usually need to maintain these, with a minimum of one maintenance module per year, released in either Winter, Spring or Summer. However, for the Associate certification, you won’t be required to complete any further modules down the line to keep your credential. Salesforce advise that you keep building your knowledge after completing the exam, and have announced they will release further details in Summer 2023.
So, are you ready to start your Salesforce journey? Get in touch with one of our Salesforce Recruitment Specialists for some expert advice on Salesforce career paths and how to build your skill set, and see what opportunities are available to you.
