My Journey to Becoming a Salesforce Functional Consultant
Let's get started by emphasising that there is no ultimate way to becoming a Salesforce functional consultant, but this was my journey and is my road.
Zero motivation to go to work?
Back in the Netherlands, less than half a year ago, I would probably say yes to that question. I would discuss this with friends at home and I noticed that many people were experiencing a similar feeling. Except for one person, my partner. (You might see this one coming…yes indeed, he is a Salesforce Developer.) I was sincerely jealous of his passion for his work and decided that is was time for a change.
Salesforce Journey: New goals
Moving to Australia felt like the perfect opportunity to switch gears and try something new. I promised myself to set new goals and so I did: do something I like. That’s not so easy, is it! I started looking into different career paths until I ended up checking out Salesforce opportunities. The idea of being part of a team helping customers build custom solutions to make their jobs easier, more efficient and perhaps even more fun, sounded like music to my ears. So from there my Salesforce journey began.
Salesforce Journey: Trailblazer
What is the best way to get started with Salesforce? That is by familiarising yourself with the platform by becoming a member of the Trailhead community. Still don’t know where to start? I didn’t at least, but then I found the ‘Prepare for Your Salesforce Administrator Credential’ Trailmix. I recommend doing that first and slowly but surely you will find your way around.
Salesforce Journey: Book the exam
You can collect as many badges as possible, but without actually scheduling the exam, you need a whole lot of discipline to keep on studying. For me that was the trick, book the exam, and your goal is set.
Salesforce Journey: Experience and Visibility
Obviously just by setting new goals, trailblazing, and planning the exam, you are not going to become a Salesforce Consultant overnight. You need experience, heaps of experience. I was lucky enough to get certified on the same day as the Salesforce World Tour, so I combined the two. Connected with a lot of people in the field, listened to their stories, and absorbed as much knowledge as I could. Having recently joined ProQuest Consulting, I’m learning more and more each day and am lucky to be involved in a lot of great projects.
Now, a few months later, I understand how much you can benefit from enjoying your work. I recommend this feeling to everyone out there.
To conclude I would like to share some tips for the Admin exam:
- Become an active member of the Trailhead Community - visit as many events as possible. I really like the Trailhead Tuesday events in Sydney.
- Follow the Complete Salesforce Administrator Certification Course of Mike Wheeler.
- Make up your own organisation and start configuring in your own Salesforce org.
- Take the official Salesforce Admin practice exam - it is available on Webassessor.
