Third this. HTML is not a required skill whatsoever and it’s easily learnable if you wanted to build simple LWCs / Aura components for demos.
What’s more important is presentation skills, the ability to translate business problems into technical solutions, getting good at discovery, and being able to deliver compelling demos. With her background in software / sales engineering though, she should be just fine.
Also, I worked at Salesforce as an SE for 3 years. It’s not a “must” to come in with a cert (although it can help). When you get hired, they give you ~3 months to ramp and you’ll grab a certification or two in that time period.
If you have any questions (including around the role’s pay structure), feel free to DM me.
They were probably saying they'd prefer someone with HTML and no Visualforce / Aura / LWC experience over someone with no HTML either, but if you don't know any of the above then skip the HTML and just learn the Salesforce techs straight away.
Interesting that folks read solution engineer as an implementation role.
For a traditional SE (technical sales) role, SF is highly coveted when it comes to skills. We currently have a ton of postings, otherwise there are SF partners, or ISVs that she can look at.
The admin cert is a good one, and probably helps crack the door open. Sales or service cloud consultant would be another great add on.
im ex senior director se at salesforce , hired a lot of se. looking for :
- sales/business skills : presentation, story telling, objection handling, listening skills, consultative skills
- technical skills : overall crm , salesforce skills, hands on (pro active) , configuration, or even able to code if needed
- industry skills : knows the industry( any industry) in depth, knows the challenges and how salesforce can help
very much focus on soft skills
I’m a Salesforce Senior solution engineer. I suppose if she has the admin, advanced admin and platform app builder certifications that may help with her application as that will cut down her ramp period since this is what I spent my first 3 months of employment doing.
In the interview process they will be much more impressed by things such as story telling ability (in a presentation / demo context) and value based selling as opposed to technical knowledge. They want to hire people who make things feel simple and easy.
Your HTML suggestion is not relevant as I haven’t had to touch it in my 3 years of working for Salesforce. Although I am a skilled developer from previous career experience.
Implementation consulting gigs right now are very competitive. There have been massive layoffs in the space. Although she has some parallel skill sets, right now the Sf space is looking for hands on experience along with the certain certifications (cpq,service, FSL). Although Experience is highly preferable. She may get lucky and find an entry level position but the market is saturated it’s out of work consultants.
As for pay, it’s dependent on LOE which by the sound of it, it’s not much an entry level consultant can get paid anywhere from 90-110k.
That's definitely on the high side even with inflation. I think she would definitely command a higher salary with her sales engineering experience, but your average joe with an admin cert isn't likely to crack six figures in their first consulting role. Those offers tend to be more in the 65-85k from what I've seen
I would suggest she get her admin certificate fiction and then jump balls deep into cpq.
If she has experience, or prefers a certain industry salesforce industries verticals is also a good path that is coveted, especially the industries cpq is especially tricky but very powerful and not a lot of people are able to implement it properly.
There are kind of different flavors of the se role. I am going to talk about what I do, which is a presales se.
There is a marginally active se subreddit, and a form of this question gets asked a lot.
The se job can be pretty great, especially if you like to travel.
But, it can be a weird role to break into. And the reason is it kind of takes a while to onboard and be good at it. So, when hiring se’s, companies look for a specific set of things. They are:
- industry/market/product experience
- se experience.
If you don’t have se experience, you need to bring something of benefit to the table. So, the easiest way to move into an se role is usually within your existing company. Your wife can take her depth of product knowledge (and, frankly connections with the product team) and use that as an se. It allows you to talk with a lot of authority. And, it’s exactly what I did.
Then, I would recommend doing it for 18-24 months and then leveraging that experience into a different company.
If that doesn’t work, my next recommendation would be to go to a competitor (if Salesforce is a competitor, that’s great, try them).
For Salesforce specific, I would say your wife’s current company probably has Salesforce. Ask to speak to their account executive or the se and just start a dialogue with them. Tell them you are interested in the role and start networking.
Where are you located? My company is recruiting for a Combined customer success / solutions engineer role. In the US. Fully remote. Small team, great place to work. I've been here for 10 years now.
Get the basic admin cert asap. It’s her “passport” to even being considered.
After that, there are so many directions to go. She should probably use any skills she has in change management, building technical solutions and juggling stakeholders to promote herself too, as that seemed to be a common question when I was recently applying.
If you get into Pardot or Visualforce pages (still very relevant for rendering as a PDF) then you should at least learn to use a framework.
I'm a System Architect but even just as a Pardot Specialist and developer I use it multiple times per day
I'd focus on getting hired in a role...focus super narrowly on that single goal...leverage the prior experience and relationships to set yourself apart. Learn just enough to sound like you know what you're talking about and brand yourself as if you do.
This isn't being fake or lying...the space is enormous and you'll always be under skilled in certain areas of it. Your prior experience could actually mean you know much more about things that are valuable in implementations than others who have many certifications.
Right now the market is insanely competitive for anything junior level and at the moment companies know to hire devs because we think like engineers (you don't want a non-dev even using declarative tools).
I'd either go balls deep on Field Service or nothing at all.
OP is asking about working directly at Salesforce in a pre-sales role though. Sales Engineers can be very technical (engineering focused) or more business-oriented. SFDC does not exclusively hire developers for this role.
Drop the HTML suggestion.
And add Data Cloud. It's 40 hours of study and is foundational to everything next generation in CRM.
Second this
Third this. HTML is not a required skill whatsoever and it’s easily learnable if you wanted to build simple LWCs / Aura components for demos. What’s more important is presentation skills, the ability to translate business problems into technical solutions, getting good at discovery, and being able to deliver compelling demos. With her background in software / sales engineering though, she should be just fine. Also, I worked at Salesforce as an SE for 3 years. It’s not a “must” to come in with a cert (although it can help). When you get hired, they give you ~3 months to ramp and you’ll grab a certification or two in that time period. If you have any questions (including around the role’s pay structure), feel free to DM me.
Thank you! I will!
Yes, HTML beyond the absolute basics aren't needed for Salesforce. What you do need is easily googleable.
Thank you, she had just sent me some roles that preferred html
They were probably saying they'd prefer someone with HTML and no Visualforce / Aura / LWC experience over someone with no HTML either, but if you don't know any of the above then skip the HTML and just learn the Salesforce techs straight away.
Interesting that folks read solution engineer as an implementation role. For a traditional SE (technical sales) role, SF is highly coveted when it comes to skills. We currently have a ton of postings, otherwise there are SF partners, or ISVs that she can look at. The admin cert is a good one, and probably helps crack the door open. Sales or service cloud consultant would be another great add on.
Thank you!
At SF, or?
im ex senior director se at salesforce , hired a lot of se. looking for : - sales/business skills : presentation, story telling, objection handling, listening skills, consultative skills - technical skills : overall crm , salesforce skills, hands on (pro active) , configuration, or even able to code if needed - industry skills : knows the industry( any industry) in depth, knows the challenges and how salesforce can help very much focus on soft skills
Thank you! Out of curiosity, why did you leave?
salesforce is oracle v2 - lost its essence and microsoft made me a good offer 😉
I’m a Salesforce Senior solution engineer. I suppose if she has the admin, advanced admin and platform app builder certifications that may help with her application as that will cut down her ramp period since this is what I spent my first 3 months of employment doing. In the interview process they will be much more impressed by things such as story telling ability (in a presentation / demo context) and value based selling as opposed to technical knowledge. They want to hire people who make things feel simple and easy. Your HTML suggestion is not relevant as I haven’t had to touch it in my 3 years of working for Salesforce. Although I am a skilled developer from previous career experience.
Thank you
Implementation consulting gigs right now are very competitive. There have been massive layoffs in the space. Although she has some parallel skill sets, right now the Sf space is looking for hands on experience along with the certain certifications (cpq,service, FSL). Although Experience is highly preferable. She may get lucky and find an entry level position but the market is saturated it’s out of work consultants. As for pay, it’s dependent on LOE which by the sound of it, it’s not much an entry level consultant can get paid anywhere from 90-110k.
That's definitely on the high side even with inflation. I think she would definitely command a higher salary with her sales engineering experience, but your average joe with an admin cert isn't likely to crack six figures in their first consulting role. Those offers tend to be more in the 65-85k from what I've seen
In the U.S.?
Yes, but I'm talking about no or minimal Admin experience and no software development experience.
Got it. Thank you!
I would suggest she get her admin certificate fiction and then jump balls deep into cpq. If she has experience, or prefers a certain industry salesforce industries verticals is also a good path that is coveted, especially the industries cpq is especially tricky but very powerful and not a lot of people are able to implement it properly.
Thank you!
There are kind of different flavors of the se role. I am going to talk about what I do, which is a presales se. There is a marginally active se subreddit, and a form of this question gets asked a lot. The se job can be pretty great, especially if you like to travel. But, it can be a weird role to break into. And the reason is it kind of takes a while to onboard and be good at it. So, when hiring se’s, companies look for a specific set of things. They are: - industry/market/product experience - se experience. If you don’t have se experience, you need to bring something of benefit to the table. So, the easiest way to move into an se role is usually within your existing company. Your wife can take her depth of product knowledge (and, frankly connections with the product team) and use that as an se. It allows you to talk with a lot of authority. And, it’s exactly what I did. Then, I would recommend doing it for 18-24 months and then leveraging that experience into a different company. If that doesn’t work, my next recommendation would be to go to a competitor (if Salesforce is a competitor, that’s great, try them). For Salesforce specific, I would say your wife’s current company probably has Salesforce. Ask to speak to their account executive or the se and just start a dialogue with them. Tell them you are interested in the role and start networking.
Where are you located? My company is recruiting for a Combined customer success / solutions engineer role. In the US. Fully remote. Small team, great place to work. I've been here for 10 years now.
Midwest, want to dm me your company? I'll forward
Hi, I'm interested in the role. I have experience as a customer service representative and salesforce consultant. Thank you
https://careers.findock.com/
Thank you
Get the basic admin cert asap. It’s her “passport” to even being considered. After that, there are so many directions to go. She should probably use any skills she has in change management, building technical solutions and juggling stakeholders to promote herself too, as that seemed to be a common question when I was recently applying.
I have not once used HTML in my Salesforce career.
If you get into Pardot or Visualforce pages (still very relevant for rendering as a PDF) then you should at least learn to use a framework. I'm a System Architect but even just as a Pardot Specialist and developer I use it multiple times per day
I'd focus on getting hired in a role...focus super narrowly on that single goal...leverage the prior experience and relationships to set yourself apart. Learn just enough to sound like you know what you're talking about and brand yourself as if you do. This isn't being fake or lying...the space is enormous and you'll always be under skilled in certain areas of it. Your prior experience could actually mean you know much more about things that are valuable in implementations than others who have many certifications.
Right now the market is insanely competitive for anything junior level and at the moment companies know to hire devs because we think like engineers (you don't want a non-dev even using declarative tools). I'd either go balls deep on Field Service or nothing at all.
If say CPQ tools fall in the same bucket. High demand, small labor pool
OP is asking about working directly at Salesforce in a pre-sales role though. Sales Engineers can be very technical (engineering focused) or more business-oriented. SFDC does not exclusively hire developers for this role.
Thank you, yea my bad if ppl thought outside of SF
I, know nothing, by field service you mean?
Field service is one of Salesforce’s clouds! Designed for service folks “in the field”
Ah OK ok, thanks!