My former colleague Rob Hawthorne shared his study guide outlining specific areas covered in the exam and some great places to find free resources. The exam has somewhat changed since then so we’ve revamped his original notes and provided new and up-to-date resources to help you get that first Salesforce certification!
Let’s make no bones about it the Salesforce Certified Administrator exam is a tough certification to attain, remembering the Salesforce limits is tough as well as having to stop your thought process running away thinking “I know this can be achieved this way but would it be considered best practice”. There is a fine balance with the Salesforce Certified Administrator exam between knowing too much and knowing to little. This is a certification, however, where corners cannot be cut, you either know it or you don’t.
Disclaimer: This is aimed at being a starting point and a way to find resources but shouldn’t be relied upon solely.
Use your free dev Org
To use an analogy from cycling when a reporter once asked Fausto Coppi (a famous cyclist) what it took to be a great champion, he replied “Ride your bike, ride your bike, ride your bike”. The Salesforce equivalent would be “Use your Dev Org, use your Dev Org, use your Dev Org”. It is paramount that you sign up for a free Dev Org (and use it) in order to expand your Salesforce knowledge, try out new functionality, find different ways of reaching a solution and most importantly back up your knowledge in a practical way. In a perfect world we would all get the entire experience from our Salesforce based roles but this is very rare. Using the Salesforce Dev Org is fun too, like a big jigsaw puzzle.
Great resources for passing Salesforce certified administrator
- www.CertifiedOnDemand.com – John Coppedge has done a fantastic job, easily worth a $40 investment and my #1 resource for passing the Salesforce Certified Administrator exam
- Focus on Force – this outline gives details of where you should focus your efforts and study
- Trailhead – the fun way to learn Salesforce
- Force Platform Fundamentals
- Follow Admin Evangelist Mike Gerholdt on Twitter and read his website www.buttonclickadmin.com
- Salesforce.study or Salesforce.help for practise exam papers
- Dreamforce 2016 ‘Hands-on-Training’
Specific areas to pass the Salesforce certified administrator
- Standard Objects and Data Model
- Organisation Wide Defaults (OWD)
- Record Types
- Salesforce Limits
- Role Hierarchy
- Security
- Roles and Profiles
- Lead assignment rules
- Reporting & Dashboards
- Chatter
Standard Objects and Data Model
- Object Reference for Salesforce and Force.com (online)
- Object Reference for Salesforce and Force.com (Salesforce PDF)
- Salesforce Data Model – Entity Relationship Diagrams (ERDs) (Salesforce)
- Standard Apps, Objects and Tabs (Certified on Demand)
Organisation Wide Defaults (OWD)
- Who Sees What: Organization-Wide Defaults (Salesforce)
- Setting up Security Part 1 – OWDs, Sharing Rules and the Role Hierarchy – (Shell Black)
- How to configure OWDs (Shell Black)
- Security model (CoD)
- The Definitive Guide to Salesforce Security (Bluewolf)
Record Types
- Record Types Overview (Salesforce Help)
- Record Types (CoD)
- Tips and Hints for Record Types (Salesforce)
- Deep Diving into Salesforce Record Types (Arkus)
- Record Type in Salesforce.com (Johan Yu) Salesforce Limits
- General Salesforce Limits (Salesforce Help)
- Salesforce Limits Quick Reference Guide (Salesforce)
- Salesforce Features and Edition Limits (Salesforce Help)
Role Hierarchy
- Who Sees What: Record Access via the Role Hierarchy – (Salesforce)
- Control Access Using Hierarchies (Salesforce Help)
- Who Sees What: Record Access via the Role Hierarchy (Salesforce)
- Overview of Roles (Salesforce Help)
- Controlling Access Using Hierarchies (Salesforce Help)
- Setting up Security Part 1 (Shell Black)
Security
- Who Sees What Series (Salesforce)
- Definitive Guide to Salesforce Security (Bluewolf)
Roles and Profiles
- Overview of Roles (Salesforce Help)
- Roles – (CoD)
- User Profies Overview (Salesforce Help)
- Profiles (CoD)
- Standard Profiles (Salesforce Help)
Lead Assignment Rules
- Setting Up Assignment Rules (Salesforce Help)
- Lead Assignment Rules (CoD)
- Lead Assignment Rules (Shell Black)
Reporting & Dashboards
- Reports and Dashboards for Dummies (Dreamforce – Hands-on Training) – VIDEO
- Hands-on Training: Get Started with Sales Reports and Dashboards (Dreamforce – Hands-on Training) – VIDEO
Chatter
- Chatter (CoD)
Ply your trade at 4C
If you’re considering taking Salesforce qualifications, there’s a good chance you already have many of the skills we look for when recruiting for roles here at 4C. Why not take a look at our current openings and see if your next step could be joining us!
