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Certifications are a big thing in the Salesforce ecosystem. You may already be aware of some of the 40 different certifications available to Salesforce professionals, including Administrator, Platform Developer 1 and 2 and Nonprofit Cloud Consultant, among many others. Over the last two years, Salesforce has sought to bring in some entry level certifications for those who are interested in getting started with AI or Salesforce in general. In this post, we begin a two-part series taking a look at these certs through a Nonprofit-centric lens hoping to answer the question, are these certifications worth taking in the Nonprofit space?
In part one we will be looking at the Salesforce Associate exam, that is primarily targeted at anyone who is interested in getting into the Salesforce ecosystem. It can be used as a launch pad into the Administrator or Developer career paths.
To start, let’s provide a brief overview of what is included in this certification.
About the Certification
If you are considering taking the Salesforce Associate exam, there are some key things to know:
- The exam contains 40 multiple choice questions.
- You will have 70 minutes to complete it.
- The passing score is 62%.
- The exam costs $75 to take and any resits needed are free.
- The exam can be taken online or in-person at a local testing centre.
- There are no pre-requisites to take the exam.
- The exam is made up of four weighted sections.
- Salesforce Ecosystem – 32%
- Navigation – 28%
- Data Model – 25%
- Reports & Dashboards – 15%
More detailed information is available via the certification’s exam guide on Trailhead. In addition, one of our Salesforce Consultants, Mark Jones, has also written a more general blog about the exam.
Is the Exam Worth it for Nonprofit Professionals?
The main question that we want to answer today is whether the Salesforce Associate exam is worth taking as a Nonprofit professional. To an extent, that is going to depend on where you are on your Salesforce journey:
As Nonprofit professionals who use Salesforce, taking this exam could be very beneficial. The exam covers key concepts such as understanding the core data model that Salesforce implements and how it compares to programs such as Excel. It also helps you to understand where you can go if (and when) you get a little bit stuck. Generally, this exam can really help fill in some of the gaps you might have when it comes to an overall grounding in Salesforce. While this certification won’t give you the same level of knowledge as that of a Salesforce Administrator, Developer or Consultant, it will give you a good basic understanding of what the Salesforce platform is, what it does, and where to find resources to learn more about it. On top of this, it provides a very good introductory overview to reports and dashboards, which is something that every Nonprofit will want to leverage to understand and demonstrate the impact that they are having.
In terms of cost-benefit, the exam is $75 (compared to $200 or $400 for the more advanced certifications), which at the time of writing equates to about £60. So, for £60 and some investment in study time you can come out with a good basic understanding of Salesforce, and knowledge that any Nonprofit professional can benefit from.
In terms of job roles, this exam is worth taking if you are responsible for aspects of administrating a Salesforce Org in your organisation. It would also be worth considering if you are a senior manager or executive level staff member, with responsibility for how Salesforce is used. This is because you will gain knowledge on the capabilities of Salesforce and whether your expectations from it are reasonable.
To summarise: We believe that this exam is at the very least worth considering as you decide your ongoing learning objectives relating to Salesforce. It will give you a good grounding in the basics of the platform, which can easily be built upon by completing other courses and certifications along with working through Trailhead badges.
To wrap up, below are some helpful resources to help you learn more about the certification and even some practice questions available through Salesforce Ben.
