One of the most asked question if you are salesforce developer / administrator is “Are you a salesforce certified”. All openings for salesforce development / Administration prefer that you to have a certification. Here are some tips to keep in mind while preparing for a salesforce certification.

Refer Certification Website

Take a look at the certification website. Choose the certification path you want to follow by selecting the path under credentials menu dropdown. Here you can find more about the exam. Take a look at the study guide, which provides you with all the information regarding the exam. Try to run through all the reference materials provided in the study guide. Also take a look at the Exam outline which provides topics which would be covered in the exam and its weightage.

Rate your knowledge

If you already have some experience in developing or administering salesforce, its better to look at the topics in the study guide and rate yourself against each of the topics in the scale of 1, 2 and 3 where
1 = i know
2 = i know but need some review
3 = have no clue about it.
Put all your efforts on points 2 and 3. This really helped me focus on the topics which i needed to work on.

Enroll for a salesforce training

Enrolling in a course is the final step to being prepared. CM-Focus is offering salesforce training courses to help candidates prepare for certifications.

Why CM-Focus for Training

•  Our trainers are certified consultants and developers/architects and have been working on the force.com technology for over 7 years including the largest implementations (over 150,000 users) as well as multiple appexchange applications.
•  We have a proven track record of delivering training for Salesforce Enterprise Customers as well as Partners
•  Candidates from our programs have been successfully placed at Fortune 1000 companies.

Set your Test date

Choose a date when you would want to take a test. There have been so many times where we tend to start studying for the exam but end up pushing the exam date. Give yourself a realistic date in which you can cover all the topics for the certification and go ahead booking a slot to take up the certification, otherwise you would end up pushing the date (which has happened many a times to me). Also make sure you check which release you are taking the certification for. Salesforce has 3 releases every year and if you are preparing your exam during the winter and taking your exam after the spring release then the info you were preparing could be outdated.

Use your salesforce resources

If you have access to the help and training of salesforce make sure you run through it. Check out all the resources recommended in the study guide. Also make sure you also practice what you learn in a developer org. check out the sample question sets for ADM201

Be careful of Braindumps or Flashcards

Dont depend on reading up any braindumps or flashcards. They generally tend to have wrong answers or outdated answers. With each new release of salesforce the answers to the questions would differ. All questions for salesforce certification are reviewed after each release, so the answers in the braindumps are not going to correct.

Exam Format

Again refer the study guide for the most updated information regarding the no of questions and pass score etc. Each certification has its own study guide so make sure you check out the correct guide.

On Exam day

Make sure you reach the exam center well in advance and plan in for possible traffic issues. Be Relaxed.

Items to bring for the exam

Get 2 ID proofs and the registration form. No reference material can be accessed during the exam. You are not allowed to carry food, water or mobile into the exam centre. So make sure you are well stocked up to last the duration of the exam.

Tips on answering the questions

Read through the questions carefully once or twice before answering it.

• If you are very sure of the answer, dont mark it for review
• If you are not very sure of the answer mark it for review.
• If you are not sure of the answer dont spend too much time on that question, mark it for review and look at the next question.

Review all the questions marked for review and read them carefully and if you are not sure try eliminating the wrong answers and usually some questions you have answered before could provide a clue to the question. Dont skip any questions as there are no negative marks.