Time saving way of preparing Salesforce certifications with value addition to projects

 

Motivation behind this

Many a times, I receive requests from many trailblazers on which certification to go next. After passing 30 certifications spanning across different domains, I thought of bringing this path with time saving options which will not only to prepare in lesser time but actually it will help in adding value to projects.

The path has been created not just looking into the pre-requisite to complete certain certification but actually the gathered knowledge will add value in project execution.

Effective Certification Path

Legends used

All green boxes will help to become System Architect for project executions.
All orange boxes will help to become project oriented Application Architect.

Respective blue boxes are good for B2C and B2B Solution Architect.

Solid arrow is most preferable to go next.
Dashed arrow is optional.

Justifications behind this path

• Salesforce knowledge starts with preparing Admin certification which is the base certification for anyone. Aspirants can choose Developer role to become Architect or Admin to become Consultant and down the line to Domain or Solution Architect.

• After gaining knowledge on Administration, aspirant can choose either PDI or App Builder

• JavaScript Developer I certification plays crucial role on Lightning development so this needs to completed first before going to PDII or OmniStudio Developer or B2C Commerce Developer.

• After completing PDII, it will be better to go for Integration Architect as 25% of the course content is similar.

• Though Admin is pre-requisite for Sales Cloud, Service Cloud or Experience Cloud, but before that App Builder certification with hands-on experience is necessary before attempting those certifications.

• Aspirant can prioritize Sales or Service Cloud based on project requirements but Sales Cloud gives bigger horizon on CRM perspective is become mandatory even if aspirant is taking Architect path.

• Knowledge of Experience Cloud is vital now-a-days, it should help not only on Sharing Architect exam but also Identify & Access Architect.

• A person can be better architect in a project, if he completes UX Designer during his/her journey.

• CPQ Specialist and Field Service should help on B2B Solution Architect.

• For marketers, Marketing Cloud Admin should be first certification to gain knowledge and work on projects instead of MC Email Specialist certification. 

Conclusion

Hope it will help our community members to reach their own destination. Again, this path will vary based on own target and it is not universal to be followed but it is indicative one.

For all certifications, refer http://certification.salesforce.com/

Further Reading

FY23 CSA-TEE Technical Learning Journeys

Reference for other certifications

List of my blog posts on Salesforce Certifications