Is it August Already?

I am still studying for this exam. My focus has been on completing a Udemy.com class on the certification exam (certificate of completion below).

I have also been doing some side consulting in my former profession (materials engineering). It takes up some time, but I can use the money.

The next step is to work through the Certified On Demand study materials and one day take the exam. 

I'll probably intersperse some Trailhead modules in as well. I miss doing them; they can be addictive...

 

Where Does the Time Go?

It has been a busy summer so far and I have not had a chance to update the blog in a while. The highlight was completing Preparing for Your Salesforce.com Administrator Certification (CRT-101). It clarified what I needed to study for and how. In particular, it’s a problem-solving exam and not a memorization test.

 

As an undergraduate engineer, most of my exams were problem-solving and not memorization. We were given a scenario and had to use the engineering principles we learned to provide an answer. As a practicing engineer, most of what I did was solving problems so my education and professional experience prepared me for this exam. I expect that it also prepared me for a career as a Salesforce Administrator.

 

My Doctoral Qualification Exam was similar in nature to the certification exam; multiple questions from a wide range of topics. When I studied for that exam I made a set of notes, from my notes that allowed me to solve almost any problem I was presented with (17 out of 20 in fact). I created a similar set of notes (click here) for the Salesforce Certification Exam based on the study guide (click here). 

 

I had made my Doctoral Exam notes available to my colleagues, with the caveat that these were my notes and if they wanted to succeed, they should create their own. It was the process of creating the notes and not necessarily the actual notes themselves what was most useful.

 

The next step is to use these notes to solve a variety of scenarios that might be presented on the exam and refine my notes. There are a few sites with practice exam questions. The intent is not to memorize the answers but to learn to identify what the question is asking and solve the scenario.

 

Wish me luck!

Change of Plans

I have 50 badges so far. I will admit that getting them is fun, but some are more relevant to certification that others.

At some point, I have to stop collecting badges for a while and focus on exam specific studies. To that end I made quick spreadsheet using the Saleforce Study Guide which ranks the topics as a function of questions on the exam.

While it’s all good to know, there are somethings from an exam stand point that are more valuable. Here’s the ranking and plan for my future studying. The highlighted topics add up to 40 questions or 67% (passing score is 65%)...

Main Topic	Weighting	Approx # of Questions
Standard and Custom Objects	18%	11
Security and Access	15%	9
Reports and Dashboards	13%	8
Data Management	11%	7
User Setup	9%	5
Sales Cloud Applications	9%	5
Workflow Automation	7%	4
Service Cloud Applications	6%	4
Activity Management	3%	2
Content and Folder Management	2%	1
Desktop and Mobile Administration	2%	1
AppExchange	2%	1
Organizaton Setup	1%	1
Global User Interface	1%	1
Chatter	1%	1

Trailhead Projects!

I did these early on and forgot about them...There are not a lot of other Administrator project left, but I think the Superbadges will take their place. They are more challenging than the projects...

8 Trails (46 Badges)

I have completed  8 of the 19 trails for Administrators; 46 badges in total. Trailhead just added Superbadges and more trails. The Superbadges are for projects that test your Salesforce knowledge and skills.

Once I complete the Administrator trails, I'll hit the Superbadges. I'll add those to my Linked In Profile; I have deleted the regular badges and now direct people to this page.

42 Badges

It's getting harder to fit all the badges in the picture. In studying for the certification exam, it appears that some topics may be tested with only one question. The general strategy is to focus on the main topics. This is a good approach but it has the potential to leave some easy questions on the table.

I'm finding that the Trailhead modules are a good (and fun) way to study for those sections. In the end I need to get at least 65% of the questions right; the test does not really care what section they come from...

Getting Closer to Done (for now)

Currently there are 88 Trailhead badges that I can earn. Of those, 63 are associated with being an Administrator. I have 36 (and they are all on my Linked In profile) so far. As part of getting my certification and eventually a job I plan to complete at least the 63. Once I have the certification, I’ll likely delete the badges from my profile. 

Trailhead is a great way to keep up to date on Salesforce so I’ll likely always collect badges, though I may stop sharing them on Linked In.