Becoming a Salesforce Administrator: Lessons Learned

The Salesforce Administrator Certification is a great option for any business person looking to learn new skills and bring extra value to their organization. The certification can also be great for “accidental administrators”—people who already dabble in Salesforce without formal training. 

This latter scenario was me, about a year ago. I was new to my job, assigned some Salesforce tasks, and overwhelmed by how daunting the platform seemed. That’s when I started the journey toward earning the Salesforce Administrator credential.

Now, as a certified Salesforce Administrator, I can look back on my preparation process and share lessons learned in hopes of supporting anyone considering the same journey.

Be Realistic About Your Study Plan

One of the first things I Googled when planning for the Salesforce Administrator Certification was “how long to study for the Salesforce Administrator Certification exam.” I’m sure nearly everyone planning for this exam has tried to find an easy answer to that question, and I’m sure we’ve all ended up in the same place, with no answer! I don’t think there is an answer to that question, learning doesn’t happen one way. Everyone studies and retains information differently. 

My conclusion, after attempting to execute an unrealistic study plan for the Salesforce Admin exam, is as follows. 

My initial study plan 

I chose to use the Salesforce-provided Trailhead for the bulk of my exam prep, which suggests you budget over 70 hours to complete. I added five more hours onto that for comfort and ended up with 75 projected hours of studying. I figured I could study one hour a day, five days a week, for 15 weeks, to total about 3.5 months preparing for the exam. 

The reality

It took nearly double the time I planned. On paper, my original plan was great and made sense. But in reality, life ebbs and flows at its own pace and some weeks I was able to study 10 hours, while other weeks I wasn’t able to study at all. I had to adapt and work with the timing that my workload and life allowed, and thankfully I had the support and flexibility from my manager to do so! 

Don’t Rush

If my experience teaches you anything, I hope it’s to not rush the process. This is an exam that you can schedule yourself. You can choose the timing that works for you and your work/life balance. 

If you’re halfway through the studying process and realize you feel confident, book that exam and ace it! On the flip side, if you’re getting close to your projected exam time and you don’t feel too great with the material, push it another few weeks. Salesforce allows the flexibility of choosing your exam date, so use that to your advantage. Create an adaptable timeline that works for you and don’t rush the process. 

Ask If Your Company Will Sponsor Your Studying and Certification 

I was fortunate enough to use work hours for studying and have the certification exam cost covered by my employer. This was huge for both my professional development and for my appreciation and respect of my company. 

Knowing that the company cared about my development enough to financially support it was great motivation to succeed. If you’re interested in earning your certification, I 100% encourage you to have a conversation with your boss and see if that’s something you can pitch! 

Now that I have the admin certification, I am part of my company’s Salesforce Task Force—a group of five who represent different departments and their Salesforce needs. Having a marketing team member in this group helps us to be efficient, streamlined, and utilize Salesforce to its full potential.

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