The usefulness of the certification is a classic argument.
A certificate without skills is a waste of money, I think too.
But I've always wanted to talk about certifications from a different perspective.
What are the motivations or reasons for your certification?
In my case, there are many types it isn't special. However, those motivated them to pass.
1 Administrator (WI16)
It was requested by the company because there is no certification. I chose it because I thought developers should be also familiar with Admin.
2 Sales Cloud Consultant (SU17)
It was the most encountered product. I wanted to check my knowledge. And the company presented the incentive as a prize :)
3 Platform Developer I (SU17)
It was also present the incentive by company:) I am a developer and of course I should have it.
4 Platform App Builder (SU17)
I found through David Liu's blog that the Salesforce certification can be useful for a career path. I wanted an application architect first. This was the first step for it.
5 Sharing and Visibility Designer (SU17)
Many people overlooked the sharing rules. I wanted to conquer it.
6 Data Architecture & Management Designer (SU17)
I've been a DBA role in the past and this was taken for granted.
Now, I'm Application Architect
8 Advanced Administrator (WI18)
I have done a lot of reports and designed the application area and wanted to set a milestone.
9 Service Cloud Consultant (WI18)
I was instructed to take as an instructor in the customer education session. I have tried to prove to myself that I am qualified in instructor. After many failures, I gave up for a while and tried again to get it when I felt I was ready.
10 Community Cloud Consultant (WI18)
Since it was optional for the application architect, so I earned it and completely finish AA.
11 Integration Architecture Designer (WI18)
I started because the system architect is also another pillar of the journey to CTA.
12 Development Lifecycle & Deployment Designer (WI18)
I was a one-man army. So development management was my weak point and I learned a lot from this.
13 Marketing Cloud Email Specialist (SP18)
I was earned it by studying this product while preparing a proposal. However, the opportunity was lost and it did not lead to project experience.
14 Identity and Access Management Designer (WI19)
It was the last piece of system architect. The prerequisite to finally take CTA was met.
Now, I'm System Arhcitect.
16 Pardot Specialist (WI19)
Again, I studied to write a proposal. And then if I earn this, I am the person with the most certifications in Korea. Eventually, I had, but my company was close-lost opportunity again. My company had a very difficult competition due to no experience in marketing.
17 Platform Developer II (WI19)
It was the most wanted because I am a developer. But I waited for a colleague who wanted it more than me. But I heard that a competitor had acquired it for the first time in Korea. I was prepared and pass immediately to become equal to the competitor.
18 CPQ Specialist (SP19)
I participated in the project sales opportunity to use CPQ. I told the customer that competitors have experience but only junior members have experience. Our company is competitive because a certified expert will lead the project. so My company won the opportunity.
19 Pardot Consultant (WI20)
I heard that someone I respect has more certifications than me. I wanted more. I planned to acquire three more certifications. At that time, I was the architect for the customer who uses Pardot. I took advantage of that experience and passed.
20 EA and Discovery Consultant (WI20)
As I said before, I was an expert in the database and I thought this was of course mine. However, SQL and SAQL were different. In my case, The DBA experience didn't help much. Re-scheduled, failed, and pass. Now I have the same number.
21 Nonprofit Cloud Consultant (WI20)
I prepared for the NGO project before leaving the company last year, and it was an important opportunity, so I studied very hard and proposal it. The opportunity was won and I wanted to use that experience for my final certification.
22 Java-Script Developer I (SP20)
Recently, my role as an architect has reduced my chances of coding myself. I was studying architect topics so I didn't have time to code. Just in time, the JavaScript certification was released and I thought it would be a good opportunity to maintain a sense of development. More times than expected, many failures followed, but eventually got it.
23 User Experience Designer (SU21)
Work with a client who is very interested in UX, I felt the need to organize my knowledge about it. And Salesforce recently announced this certification and I expected it to be a good fit for my learning.
I had a good time checking on the knowledge that I knew from experience.
I recommend it to anyone with customer-facing roles.
24 Marketing Cloud Administrator
As a data guy, I was very interested in Marketing Cloud, which utilizes data through SQL. However, because it did not provide a playground, there were few opportunities to experience Marketing Cloud. On the other hand, there was a sense of distance as it was very different from other SFDC products.
Since I have been working on a project that uses Marketing Cloud for the past two years, there were limitations in design without knowledge about it. So I decided to get it now that I can access the marketing cloud, and I got it. Next, try to get MC developer.
Someone said to me,
Is your hobby collecting certifications?
I know it's a compliment, but it wasn't a pleasant question. Before my role is related to Salesforce, the only two certifications I got When I was a high school student. I simply acquired it by a variety of motives, and at one point it became 24x certified.
If you want a lot of certification, you don't need magic to be certified for your skills, find motivation in your daily life, and keep study hard.
