The Frustrated Salesforce Professional's Guide to Advancing Your Career

Contrary to popular belief, it takes a whole lot more than just earning badges on Trailhead and passing Salesforce certification exams to be successful in the workplace.

Are you feeling stuck in your career?

Are you a Salesforce professional who has followed all the advice - earned badges on Trailhead, obtained multiple certifications - but still can't seem to find a job?

You're not alone.

Many people find themselves in this frustrating situation.

In this article, we'll discuss some strategies that you can use to get your career moving in the right direction.

Understand what you want

The first step is to understand what you want.

What type of career gets you excited? What industry, geographic location, and type of people do you envision in your perfect working environment?

If you're not sure, that's okay.

Think about your hobbies and passions. What makes you happy?

You can also look at your career so far and identify what's been working well and what hasn't.

Once you have a good understanding of what you want, you can start to develop a plan to get there.

Do you want to move into a management position? Do you want to change industries?

Do you want to learn new technologies?

Answering these questions will help you focus your job search and make it more likely that you'll find a position that's a good fit for you.

Invest time in learning and growing

Contrary to popular belief, it takes a whole lot more than just earning badges on Trailhead and passing Salesforce certification exams to be successful in the workplace.

For practically any job, you also need to develop skills in:

• problem-solving
• project management
• business communication
• leadership
• change management
• business requirements gathering
• public speaking

If some of those topics make you cringe, that's okay. The important thing is that you're aware of the skills that you need to work on and are willing to invest time in learning and growing.

One of the best ways to do this is to join or attend events for your local Salesforce user group.

These groups are a great way to network with other professionals, learn new tips and tricks, and stay up-to-date on the latest Salesforce releases.

Get involved with the Salesforce community

The Salesforce community is one of the most welcoming and supportive communities that you'll find.

No matter what your career goals are, there's a place for you in the community.

One way to get involved is to start blogging about topics that interest you.

Not only will this help you gain exposure to a wider audience, but it will also help you hone your writing skills.

Another great way to get involved is to volunteer for or lead a local Salesforce user group. You can volunteer to speak on a variety of topics that you think other Salesforce professionals might be interested in.

This is a great way to give back to the community and develop leadership skills.

Here are some resources to help you connect with others in the Salesforce community:

• Find a Salesforce User Group, and join their meetups.
• Join the Brainiate Community Slack Workspace, where you can bounce ideas off other Trailblazers
• Attend Brainiate Show Live, to learn about trends in the Salesforce ecosystem.

Take on new challenges

One of the best ways to learn and grow is to take on new challenges.

If you're feeling stuck in your career, it might be because you're not being challenged enough.

One way to remedy this is to look for opportunities to take on new assignments at work.

You can also look for side projects outside of work that will push you to develop new skills.

For example, you can build out your own FREE Developer Org, to solve common business use cases - like taking in orders, handling customer service complaints, tracking deliveries, to get some hands-on experience with what you've learned on Trailhead, even if your current employer has no interest on those features.

Whatever you do, make sure that you're challenging yourself and pushing yourself out of your comfort zone.

Build your personal brand

Your personal brand is what sets you apart from other professionals in your field.

It's the combination of your skills, experiences, and values that make you unique.

If you're not sure what your personal brand is, start by asking yourself these questions:

• What are my strengths?
• What do I enjoy doing?
• What experiences have I had that have shaped who I am today?

Answering these questions will help you start to develop a clearer picture of your personal brand.

Once you have a better understanding of your personal brand, you can start to build it by creating content, speaking at events, and networking with others.

If you're not sure where to start, check out my course: Personal Branding for Salesforce Admins.

Be patient - advancement doesn't happen overnight

If you're feeling frustrated because you feel like your career isn't advancing, it's important to be patient.

Many individuals (and companies) like to abbreviate the specifics of their success stories, demonstrating a "road to riches" tale that is either exaggerated or very unusual, but they don't discuss the "lucky breaks" that someone received in order to reach some objective faster than anticipated.

This is like seeing commercials for quick weight loss gimmicks that seem appealing but rarely tell the whole story.

Career advancement doesn't happen overnight - it takes time, hard work, and dedication.

So keep plugging away, and don't forget to celebrate your successes along the way.

Want to Learn More?

Are you a Salesforce professional who's feeling stuck in your career? Are you looking for ways to advance your skills and knowledge? If so, this upcoming live show is for you!

On April 26, I'll be sharing the secrets you need to know to get unstuck and take your Salesforce career to the next level. I'll share how I've grown my knowledge and built a successful presence for myself in the Salesforce ecosystem.

This is your chance to learn from someone who's been there and done that. So whether you're just getting started in your Salesforce career or you've been at it for a while, this show is a must-watch.

So join me and let's get started on improving your career journey.