Salesforce Certifications ... Are We Getting Them Right in 2023??

Salesforce Certifications are always a hot topic of conversation. Trailblazers of all knowledge and experience levels have an opinion on the certifications that are on offer to the Salesforce ecosystem. I myself am 5x Certified, and over the last 2 and a bit years I have sat a Salesforce Certification on 11 different occasions (with 5 more scheduled across this coming year) and I have a pass rate of 45% in all. So at the time of writing, you can imagine I've got some views on the whole Salesforce Certification process overall, including the exam taking process.

In this post I'm going to raise the question of are we getting certifications right? People will have varying opinions on this subject, and I don't necessarily have the right answer ... just an opinion, my opinion. I'm sure you have yours as well.

For those reading this post, the aim of this post isn't to convince you of the value of certifications (that can be done in another post). But just know, I have sat on both sides of the fence. I spent 5 years in the ecosystem before getting my first certification, and now that I work in the consulting space, certifications are very much pushed and valued in the space I am working. My view on certifications is that they are assumed evidence of knowledge, by that I mean that if you hold a certification that it is reasonable to assume that you have the knowledge and relevant skills in that realm to back up you having the cert. Granted, this isn't always the case (I'll talk a little bit about that in this post), but still it remains true that if you hold a cert that an employer should be able to reasonably assume that you have the appropriate level of knowledge and skill in the area you are certified in. That being said, I also believe that you don't have to be certified to be an a Salesforce professional of exceptional knowledge and skill. I know of many a Salesforce professional who isn't certified and is extremely skilled in their area.

With that preamble out of the way, let's talk certifications and raise the question of are we getting them right in 2023? If not, how do we fix them going forward?

Are We Getting Certifications Right in 2023?

OK, so I'm going to start with potentially a slightly controversial opinion, that view being that I don't think we are getting Salesforce Certifications right in 2023. Now, I don't want this to be taken the wrong, I do think certs are very valuable. But, the issue I have with certs is that it can be very easy to cheat and pass them if you know what you're doing (hello, dumps ... btw, please don't use them), and in my experience most of the certs I have sat cover topics that just aren't really all that relevant in the Nonprofit space where I have spent all of my Salesforce career either working in or supporting clients in (hello Advanced Territory Management). On top of this, I feel that the model of examination (multiple choice questions) is not the right model for a technical suite of clouds and products like Salesforce.

Before I get too deep into the weeds of what I think is the right model, I do want to say that I do think that the way the current model works is correct. Let me unpack that a little bit though. When I say that I think the way the current model works is correct, what I mean by that is that I think the way the multiple choice question exams are built correctly for multiple choice question based exams. If you've never sat a Salesforce Certification, what happens is you generally get 65 questions, 60 of the being marked, and you are offered questions where you can select either one or multiple options with a correct mark being offered based on if you make the right selections. The questions are written in such a way to not make the answer obvious, meaning that in order to pass an exam most people have to put in a good amount of study. So I would stand by my statement of saying that the exams are built correctly based on the current model that is used.

That being said, I honestly don't think that multiple choice exams for a technical product is the right model. The reason for that is because the kind of exam that is used lends itself to examinees who retain written information well. Over the last few years, I have seen a number of examples of people passing certifications and not having the skills that the cert assumes you should have, purely because they were able to read and retain the information they revised extremely well. Now, there isn't anything necessarily wrong with that, passing a certification is part of our professional development, and in the Salesforce space there will always be room for further growth and development. But it does mean that you will see examples of people who have say the Admin certification who don't know how to carry out simple tasks such as how to create a user (yes, that is a real life example I have seen). There are also examples I have seen in the recent past of people with very little hands-on experience compared to the number of certs they have. So the current model isn't really the best barometer for assessing skills and knowledge in the Salesforce space. These factors I have mentioned are among the most commonly cited from the side of the fence who think that the current model of certification acquisition is flawed. So to wrap up this section, my view is that certs are important and very valuable, but the current model is fairly flawed.

So, What is the Correct Model Then?

Naturally, the follow-up to the question of are we getting the certification model right is what should the correct model be? Before I dive-in to offer my take on this, let me first say this ... I am not an employee of Salesforce and I understand that the current model is quite possibly a big money generator for the company.

To showcase this point, did you know that if you were to sit every single currently available mainline Salesforce Certification and pass it on the first attempt, it cost you around $14,000 (not including tax), I calculated this in my preparation for this post and got to a total of $13,975 for us in the UK that equates to ￡11202.08 at the current exchange rate (again not factoring in taxes), that figure equates to roughly 1.4% of $1million ... and those calculations are just for one person, if 100 people did exactly the same thing you would cross the $1million dollar threshold. Granted this figure is based on paying full costs for the exams and doesn't factor in things like certification vouchers which offer quite reasonable discounts. So the current exam model for Salesforce probably brings in a decent amount of money.

But, back to my point. If the multiple-choice exam question style exams isn't the right model ... then what is? I will share my view here, and then I'll unpack it a little bit. I'd very much love to hear your thoughts on this and get your take on all of this. In all honesty, I'm not saying that this will happen (I don't have the inside track on this at all), this is merely my take based on my experience/observation.

The Correct Examination Model in My View is ...

A practical hands-on assessment!!! That is what the correct model in my view is. Sounds pretty simple right? Maybe, maybe not. I need to unpack this a little bit don't I? But yes, I think the examinations need to be a practical hands-on style assessment where you sign up to take the certification, you get a special type of Salesforce Developer Org, you carry out a variety of tasks to showcase your skill and knowledge and you then submit your work to be reviewed by a credentialed Salesforce evaluator. The submission is then graded based on set criteria and you are awarded a pass or a fail based on how well you performed against said criteria. So essentially, the exam becomes the creation of a portfolio type of test that is submitted, reviewed and graded. But the exam is a practical hands-on assessment, this will allow Salesforce professionals to showcase their knowledge in a hands-on manner and will act as a much more substantial barometer of skill.

So the correct examination model is relatively simple on it's face I think. But I don't want to stop there, I want to prop this up with sharing my take on how the exams should be tailored based on the role and specialisms of the exam taker. Over the last few years it has become increasingly clear that Trailblazers need to specialise. Salesforce as a suite of products is simply too big to be a generalist anymore. It is much harder to know everything about Salesforce ... in fact I would argue that it is impossible to do so. This results in exam takers needing to read up on things they will possibly never touch in their careers in order to pass the exam that they are taking. So this model of exam taking could easily be tailored to suit the evolving landscape of the Salesforce ecosystem, making the overall experience of getting certified much more dynamic and beneficial overall.

Let's get into that side of the coin right now by talking about curriculum compiling.

Use Superbadges to Unlock the Certification Assessment

So my thoughts on how we get to the unlock the Certification Assessment is to use Superbadges to unlock the relevant assessment. Using Superbadges to unlock the assessment will see the completion of Superbadges skyrocket, but it could also give us the ability to create a model of unlocking the assessment that will allow for specialisms and industries to be part of the equation going forward.

My thinking on this currently is that each assessment would have a set number of Superbadges you need to pass to unlock the assessment, and a set collection of Superbadges that you can select to complete to reach that figure required to unlock the assessment. Within the Superbadges available there should be some that are mandatory and the remaining number should be ones that the exam taker can select from a curated list of Superbadges that are relevant to the exam they are taking and meet the expectations of their industry and specialism. This model will allow for an Admin Assessment to be focused on say the Nonprofit Industry (for those in the Nonprofit space, you will no doubt understand how different that can be from the commercial space). The assessments could then be generated via scripts on a dynamic level to encompass the takers industry and specialisms. This would again result in being able to provide people with the same certification (e.g. Admin) and ensuring that the exam is fully relevant to their role and industry. Depending on the exam and the level of skill involved in passing would dictate the number and collection of Superbadges that are needed to unlock the exam they are studying for. But what about costs? Would this new model result in Salesforce losing money? Not necessarily, let me talk to that.

Ensuring This New Model Still Earns Revenue for Salesforce

Before I wrap up, lets look at the financial side of the examination structure under this new model. Part of me would be very happy if Salesforce Certifications were free, however, Certifications being free could very well lead to their devaluing and I don't know about you, but there is something deeply satisfying in spending a few hundred pound (approximately) on study materials and the exam itself and then going on to pass it. The fact that we have to pay for exams do in some ways make them feel more earned when we pass them in my honest opinion. But, the reality is that Salesforce will most likely want to still make money from exams if they were to implement this new model of Certification Assessments. So, where does that money ultimate come from with this new model that I am suggesting?

Simple ... when a certification is unlocked we pay to do the assessment and to have it reviewed. That is where the money comes into play here in my view. The $200 (plus tax) it costs to sit an exam like Admin is still earned (as would be the $100 for resits), the cost of an assessment would be calculated based on if you have attempted it before or not and then you would check out in some way using Trailhead and once you had paid for the exam you would be given access to your special Dev Org, you'd then be able to log in to a special tool like the Lockdown Browser that is currently used, you'd be given a taker code, you'd enter that to log in to your Dev Org and you'd then be given the dynamically generated brief based on the Superbadges you completed and then take the assessment. Under this proposed model the assessments could still be invigilated to ensure no cheating occurs, the tool used for the assessment could screen capture your assessment and the recording could then be assessed by an evaluator and graded to calculate the final result. This method of taking the assessment could ensure that Salesforce still earn revenue from assessment attempts, and give the assessment taker a mode bespoke experience based on their role and industry.

Before I Wrap Up ... What About Those Who Sell Study Aids?

One final thing to consider before I wrap up and pass it over to you. There are plenty of groups out there who provide study materials and resources for the Salesforce Certifications such as Focus on Force, Salesforce Ben and Get Force Certified. How would this new model affect them going forward? Well, naturally there may be a need to change how those outlets work a little bit. In many ways these outlets could still use the same model they are using now, but it would come with the obvious caveat that the updated model of assessment is not going to be multiple choice exam questions. They could also maybe consider writing their own example briefs where the expectation would be that you follow the brief and submit answers to questions in their platforms and you then get calculated results based on the answers that you give. Basically what I am saying here is that I think these outlets that provide study materials and example questions could still do pretty much the same thing as they currently do, albeit with some minor changes to the way they write their questions and their study materials.

Outlets like Focus on Force have been so helpful to the Trailblazer Community in their efforts to get certified, so if this new model I am suggesting was to come into play and begin to be used, we'd totally want to see these outlets still be able to provide the fantastic and much appreciated service that they continue to do.

Now Over to You ... What Do You Think?

Well, I'm done. Now I want to pass this talking point over to you. What do you think of this idea? Is it too outlandish? Or does it sound like it's on the right track? I'd love to hear your thoughts on the subject overall. Would this be a model that would help you to get Salesforce Certified? Part of me thinks this model could have some serious legs to it, it's easily a model that could grow over time and maybe even see the certifications for Slack and Mulesoft particularly become a part of this framework. I'd love to hear your thoughts on this topic and maybe slightly wacky idea. If you have ways to improve my wacky idea as well, I'd love to hear that as well. So let's start up a conversation about this topic in the comments. I'd love to hear from you as I think this a very important topic overall.