Benefits of Professional Certifications for Any Role

Why Salesforce credentials matter

The demand for digital skills is expected to rise by more than 50 percent by 2025, meaning the future of work will require upskilling and taking on different or entirely new roles. Preparing for the future of work is one of the defining business problems of our time. As jobs evolve, so will the skills needed to perform them.

As the Salesforce economy grows, the International Data Corporation (IDC) predicts more than 9 million new jobs by 2026. These figures show that most business growth isn’t only at Salesforce–it’s in the Salesforce ecosystem, a global network of individuals building successful careers, communities, and companies. And to future-proof your career within this growing ecosystem, earning Salesforce credentials is essential.

Earning a credential takes hard work and discipline. So if you’ve got one, you’re kind of a big deal.

Benefit 1: Gain recognition

A credential is an announcement to the world you have some serious Salesforce skills and you know how to use them. Earning a credential also demonstrates your commitment to professional development. Everyone, from colleagues to customers (and, yes, employers!), will sit up and take notice. All your credentials and badges earned will automatically show up on your reinvented resume, your Trailblazer Profile, and can be added to your LinkedIn profile.

A credential can open up the range of positions or projects available to you. Whether you’re looking for increased responsibility within your current role, a promotion at your organization, or an entirely new job, a certification will set you apart from the pack.

And when it comes down to a customer trying to choose between two organizations or an employer choosing between two candidates, picking the credentialed expert is a no-brainer.

If you work for a partner organization, your credential matters. Credentials help you become a trusted subject matter expert (SME) in your Salesforce practice and will help you advance your career. Credentials add value to your organization to stand out in the marketplace. Keep reading to learn how your individual credentials impact your organization’s success.

Benefit 2: Work smarter, not harder

With all the knowledge you’ve gained from earning your Salesforce credential, you’ll be able to jump into new projects faster, solve problems on the fly, and quickly execute smart, effective business solutions. In fact, Salesforce-certified professionals with additional training showed 68% more efficiency, leading to faster time to value.

The IDC also shows Salesforce Certified Developers are 90% more productive at building code, while Salesforce Certified Administrators are 15% faster at troubleshooting user account issues. 

Your entire team will benefit because you’ll have the knowledge and confidence to help others overcome their challenges. You can also tap into the knowledge of millions of other Trailblazers in the Trailblazer Community. 

Benefit 3: Drive success at your organization

Skilled employees drive success. According to the IDC study, certified employees are often given more responsibilities than their uncertified peers, making them 5.5x more influential in their role and 90% more productive. And the skills and knowledge they have from being certified make them 35% more impactful in their role, making them better able to identify and develop solutions for their organization.

You have an opportunity to drive impact by making the most of Salesforce Customer 360, ultimately helping to maximize your organization’s return on investment. Credentials equip you with the skills and knowledge to customize Salesforce to achieve your organization’s day-to-day goals. Even more so, Salesforce requires annual certification maintenance to highlight the newest product features and functionality and help you innovate faster. As a result, earning credentials makes you an integral part of delivering a seamless customer experience.

If you work for a partner organization, your individual credentials count toward your Navigator status in the Trailblazer Score. Your expertise will be reflected in the Partner Finder and your AppExchange listing, so you can showcase it to new customers. “Credentialed individuals” is a top filter among users of the Partner Finder tool, so your credential also helps your partner organization climb the ranks in search results.

Discover opportunities to grow your skills

Salesforce has a wide range of credential offerings to prove your knowledge and skills.

Certifications

Prove range and depth of role-based experience with a professional certification, designed for individuals with a broad range of experience, knowledge, skills, and abilities in a specific Salesforce role. Validate foundational knowledge with an entry-point associate certification, designed for individuals looking to start their certification journey.

Accredited Professional credentials

Expand your product and industry knowledge with Accredited Professional credentials in Partner Learning Camp (PLC), the primary learning destination for Salesforce partners. Deepen your expertise with advanced core cloud credentials to help grow and demonstrate your skills, knowledge, and ability to deliver customer success.  

For Salesforce employees and partners only.

Superbadges and Super Sets

Superbadges are product-based credentials that provide hands-on experience in solving real-world business challenges. What differentiates them from other content on Trailhead is that you complete them in a Salesforce org without detailed instructions. A Super Set is a group of product-based superbadges that align to a Salesforce role, like Administrator or Developer.

The power of earning different credentials and how they can work together

By earning any Salesforce credential,  you’re expanding your skills and taking a giant step in the right direction for your career. If you’re seeking to deepen your product knowledge and advance your skills, you should consider how different types of credentials work together.

Let’s take a look at Salesforce Certifications and Accredited Professional credentials for Service Cloud Field Service. Partners need both Salesforce Certifications and Accredited Professional credentials to demonstrate use-case-specific expertise to their customers. 

For example, Salesforce Certifications offer the chance to validate your knowledge and experience as a Salesforce Consultant, specifically a Field Service Consultant. But, we know customers have complex business challenges and rely on partners to deeply know all Salesforce products–cue the Accredited Professional. By continuing your learning journey in Partner Learning Camp, you can earn the Advanced Field Service Accredited Professional credential, which is designed for consultants who have on-the-job experience designing and implementing Field Service but want to go further. Accredited Professional gives partners use-case expertise to implement effectively and accelerate time to value for customers.