I just took the new Salesforce Certified Associate Certification Exam. Here’s what I experienced…
Introduction
A few hours ago I was reading Christine Marshall’s post on SalesforceBen about the new Salesforce Certified Associate Credential that just got announced… and just a few minutes ago, I completed the exam. Here are some notes on my experience…
Salesforce Certified Associate Overview
But first, what is the Salesforce Certified Associate Credential? Salesforce explains that the Salesforce Certified Associate Credential is designed for those with up to 6 months of experience and helps to validate skills for newcomers to the Ohana. Their goal was to enable those who are not quite at the Salesforce Certified Administrator level to be able to validate their skills and get placed in new roles to help develop their experience sooner.
This entry-level certification is for those who are invested in creating their future within the Salesforce ecosystem, and aims to test them in four key areas: the Salesforce Ecosystem, navigating key areas of Salesforce and where the tool can be customised/configured, the basics of the Salesforce Data Model, and the basics of Salesforce Analytics (Reports and Dashboards).
The exam consists of only 40 multiple-choice/multi-select questions and has a passing score of 62% (25 correct answers). It also has a lower cost of $75USD (plus local taxes), making it more affordable than the Salesforce Certified Administrator exam.
My Experience
I’ve been involved with Salesforce for quite a while now, and achieved my Admin Certification back in 2017. After reading the Exam Guide and thinking about it for more than five seconds (my wife tells me I need to think about things ‘for more than five seconds’ before committing), I booked the exam for later in the day.
After wrapping up my work day, I quickly loaded up WebAssessor and opened the exam. I wasn’t anticipating anything too complex, given I’ve recently studied for and completed a few post-Admin exams in the last few months. The exam contained all the basics, as per the exam outline, and nothing out of the ordinary. It was cleverly put together and gives the test taker an opportunity to show that they’re familiar with the foundations of the Salesforce platform.
The only complaint I had was that I thought some of the questions were not as carefully worded as they should have been, particularly for a newcomer to Salesforce. I’m sure this is just given that the exam is relatively new, and will be refined over time, but it was certainly something noticeable.
Ultimately, if you’ve been using Salesforce for a long time, I highly recommend doing the Trailmix and scheduling your exam as soon as possible. You will have a strong understanding of what the exam is asking and if you haven’t achieved a Salesforce Credential yet, it’s a fantastic one to start off with.
If you’ve achieved a Salesforce Certified Administrator credential or more, you shouldn’t have too many issues with this one at all. A good one to quickly smash out!
Summary
If you’re curious or considering taking the exam yourself, you can read more about it on Trailhead. I’d also be happy to answer any questions you have - feel free to connect with me on LinkedIn and ask any questions you have!
