Salesforce Developer

Working Schedule

• Qualified Salesforce Developers can expect full-time work, if not more. As noted above, the demand for talent has vastly outstripped resources. Currently there is plenty of work to go around and not enough workers to do it. This trend doesn’t look like it’s going to change any time soon. 

Typical Duties

• Devising Customer Relationship Management tools, customized data solutions, technical plans, and effective workflows for external clients
• Working on and testing Salesforce’s suite of mobile and website applications
• Offering IT strategy advice 
• Partnering with engineers and developers; developing apps for other developers
• Integrating platforms
• Analyzing business processes
• Managing user roles and security protocols
• Additional Responsibilities
• Continuing to master the Apex and VisualForce languages developed by Salesforce
• Holding workshops for others to attend
• Maintaining certifications and skills

Soft Skills

• Strong customer service skills
• Professional demeanor
• Active listening to client needs and problems 
• Cooperative and team-oriented
• Creative and flexible
• Critical thinking
• Desire and aptitude to solve problems and improve processes
• Passion for learning new things
• Patience
• Persistence; goal-orientation
• Planning and organization skills
• Willing to upskill as needed

Technical Skills

• Knowledge of Apex and Visualforce languages
• Knowledge of HTML and JavaScript
• Declarative customization skills (using visual, point and click methods)
• Programmatic skills (coding)
• Data modeling and security
• Platform development
• App customization
• Search solutions basics
• Salesforce object query language

• Salesforce
• Large companies and organizations 
• Healthcare industries
• Governmental agencies

Developers are often called upon to extend the platform and continue to evolve it in new ways. Meanwhile, external clients rely on Salesforce Developers to get integrations right. Mistakes, oversights, or poor planning can be costly and time-consuming. Workers in this field bear a lot of responsibility and must be comfortable diving into the unknown of a client’s needs to come up with effective, creative technical solutions. Many customers may want to keep their existing sites while still incorporating Salesforce data-capturing capabilities. There’s no end to the challenges and opportunities!

Unlike traditional fields that feature data on the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Occupational Outlook Handbook, Salesforce Developer jobs aren’t as easy to find consistent data on. Salesforce has been described as a “huge universe,” with the company being cited as one of the best employers in the country. Workers focus on innovation over maintenance, constantly adapting as new tools are released. Salesforce is so large it has its own “economy,” which is predicted to generate 3.3 million jobs and $859 billion in revenue by 2022. The company uses Trailhead to help skill up workers for the future. 

People from all walks of life seem drawn to careers with Salesforce, but certain personality types may be more suited for developer roles. Most workers probably enjoyed working on computers in their youth. They may have been interested in programming, building websites, or honing their user experience/user interface (UX/UI) design skills. 
 
They’re analytical problem-solvers, who may have enjoyed math and science topics, as well as pastimes such as chess and puzzles. That said, there’s an artistic element to this type of work, too. Many Salesforce Developers would probably be interested in graphic arts or multimedia growing up. This is a collaborative field, so employees need to be confident and comfortable working with others towards a shared end goal. Thus, they may have been involved in clubs, committees, or other team-related school and extracurricular activities.