I just wrote this in a private DM but I’ll post it here as well - 2 keys to what I believe makes someone successful in a Salesforce career.

1. No one will pay you for loyalty - jump as often as you can to make more and do more (make sure it’s both at the new job).

Story time: I was certified Jan 2018 and got my first job in March 2018. Convinced a friend to get certified and got him a job with me in May 2018.

I have jumped what 6 times? He stayed with the company we BOTH started at. He makes 67k bonus. Same quantity of experience (4 years) but I have pushed myself to have a much wider and more desirable quality of experience.

1. Fake it ‘till you make it - that new role or project may require a tool you haven’t used before or have more responsibility than you have had. So what? Push! Try! Learn! Believe in yourself and your Google-Fu, use the community discord, call your Salesforce AE (if you already work in SF), build cool shit!

Guess what, if you fail that’s ok! I got let go after having 6mo job experience in my first role (not a failure but looks like it to future employers maybe?). Within 3 weeks I had 4 offers.

Finally if all else fails, surround yourself with other SF nerds. This community if phenomenal for supporting each other, the discord has been a life saver and source of many laughs over the last 4 years… Join the Discord!

I started as an admin at 65k bonus ~ 6mo. Tenur before the company went through a layoff and I was cut along with 100 other employees including the SF team.

Then was an Admin 100k salary and hired and managed a Jr. Admin and Jr. Developer. Was there for 9 months and then they hired someone above me in a position I was promised so I moved to consulting.

Salesforce Consultant - 120k ish I’m not sure if that was with bonus or like base. Was there for 18 months ish spent a lot of time on the bench towards the end so made a change.

Salesforce architect for a startup - 145k implemented CPQ and helped build out sales cloud. Ultimately management differences made my boss leave and then I followed shortly after.

Back to consulting @ 155k. Solutions architect did that for 6 months before I became to stressed and wanted to slow down (I own and manage 2 personal businesses and moonlight as well).

Now I am with my current company Solutions Architect 175k bonus. Hiring a Jr here shortly and then probably 1-2 more by the end of 2023.

It was a very hard test, like starting over and learning something totally new with a little Salesforce thrown in. Definitely powerful and fun to work with!

I would then just look to cap out at like a Sr. Admin or Dev. Anything more and you begin training/managing people. BA work might be good, or transition into Data Science! Salesforce doesn’t have to be your destination, it can also be a springboard into more technical careers

100%, if you want to ditch the quota beast start making moves. Those can look like (least fun option) make a change in role. This looks like GRINDING job applications and taking lower pay (most likely) to start, in my opinion the job is better and the pay gets better quickly!

Or

Start bugging your current Salesforce team to take on tasks, but then to show you behind the scenes of your current org, ask to shadow, and try to transition there. Pay May still get cut!

I personally got tired of quotes, not being valued if I missed a target or heck even the day after I brought in a contract. Now I feel way more valuable and the work is 1000% more rewarding.

I’m happy to jump on a call or message directly if you’d like to chat further!

100%

It’s not all rainbows, I’ve had to work 100 hour weeks to make a deadline. I’ve had projects flop, pissed off stakeholders, been fired, etc. Those are all the same things at every job!

The hardest part of this career is getting the first role. Most employers look for experience over anything so the first job is a grind! I just had a mentee take 5 months to land his first role but he pushed through and made it!

Once you have experience recruiters breakdown your door (get on LinkedIn if you aren’t already).

I personally prefer to hire Jr’s as a way to give back, plus they don’t have bad habits I have to teach them out of. I’m definitely in the minority though.

Edit: also I have kids, in fact mine interrupted a client meeting today by sweeping in my background lol.

I find Salesforce tests challenging in general. I work really well real world but for whatever reason I struggle on the tests.

Remembering the order of discounting and what each tier gets factored when was hard, I still forget which is a price rule and which is a product and when to use them. It’s the same with all of Salesforce though, if you feel you understand it be prepared to be very very wrong lol.

I agree with your path, get admin 201 and then study for CPQ. From your comment it sounds like you use a home grown CPQ and that could or could not be super different from Salesforce’s CPQ product. Happy to chat further :)

CPQ is a product from Salesforce (used to be Steelbrick). If you have ever gone to like ford or really any car manufacturers website and built a car to see what the options are, that’s what CPQ is. It’s a custom quote builder that follows rules we set for what option are and are not available.

Yes anyone can learn it, I felt like I was studying for admin 201 all over again because it is a deep subject and when I tested was the 2nd hardest not CTA test from SF.

Sure thing! I’ll DM you my discord info and send you the job posting when it’s up

My company is based in Seattle, I’m north of Dallas, Tx

Does location really matter anymore? If you’re still going into the office you’re doing it wrong lol

Before Salesforce as a career I was in Sales. I was always a top performer but I hated every minute of it. I always felt replaceable and insignificant in those roles.

Specifically I worked for Comcast, Dish, a Telecom Expense Management company, I launched an edibles company (was their only sales person from day 1 to 1.3m in revenue), I repaired cell phones and tvs, heck I even did a season at a Spirit Halloween store.

You got this!

I help people get certified and their first role. If you ever want to make that move I can point you in the right directions, help with questions, and review your resume and LinkedIn / interview prep.

There’s no shortcut here though it’s a lot of self driven work and learning.

100 hour weeks are Very Very VERY rare. Like once a year

I work for a company based in Seattle

Permanent role with a private company although I spent like 2-2.5 years consulting.

Admin: I did trailhead for admin beginner intermediate and advanced.

When I did CPQ: there was like no training, minimal trailhead, etc. so I studied what I could and took the test -> failed, then studied what I remembered from the test and the areas I was weak in. Took it again and passed!

So admin and CPQ?

Absolutely - happy to help. Shoot me a DM with more details on your situation / decisions and I’m happy to give you my $0.02

CPQ is still super hot and I think it’s worth investing time in. Definitely gets you bigger salaries.

Keep after it man! Once you solve it, own it! Shout it from the roof tops.

They are labeled really well. I typically ask questions or answer things in general but they have like CPQ channel, dev channel, all the clouds, etc

Try to find a project adjacent to CPQ. I had to moonlight to work on my first CPQ org

I’m just north of Dallas, company is based in Seattle

Play by play meaning job history or?