When it comes to Salesforce the sky is the limit, as the platform continues to grow and develop.
And everyone with Salesforce knowledge is being taken along for the ride, with the number of roles flooding the market increasing. Indeed, the IDC are projecting that nearly 2 million jobs requiring Salesforce skills will be created over the next five years.
And one of the roles that is rapidly increasing in demand is that of Salesforce developers – the technical geniuses who live in the world of coding to build functionalities, design new developments and oversee integrations.
But with so many of these roles flooding the market, employers are looking for more than a good programmer to fill their Salesforce developer jobs. Without a doubt, strong coding skills are essential to landing that dream Salesforce job, but other traits and skills are becoming increasingly vital.
Read on to find out the top 5 traits you will need to have to set yourself apart as a top developer – and to ensure you have your pick of all the jobs entering the market.
1. Be in love with your work
There’s always something new to learn with Salesforce, as the ecosystem continues to grow to the tune of 3 major releases per year and hundreds of new partner applications released every month. As a result, any Salesforce developer needs to have a genuine thirst for technical knowledge and a desire to stay on the cutting edge of the force.com platform.
It should go without saying, but a Salesforce developer who is a genuine believer in the platform and strives to continuously improve and update their knowledge is a much better asset than someone who lacks passion, and only wants to do enough to deliver the basic business requirements.
2. Focus on the goal
You are able to focus on the goals and objectives of your company and achieve them through your programming skills. Indeed, as a developer you need to not only be able to create stellar codes and creative programs but also ensure that what you are creating is in line with what the company has set out to achieve.
You will have the technical knowledge and long-term, strategic thinking needed to be able to guide the marketing, sales and executive teams on the software or applications that will make it possible to achieve the business goals that they have set out (and then you’ll need to go and deliver it for them…)
3. Speak in layman’s terms
Programming is a complex skill that most people don’t understand. A great Salesforce developer knows this, and also knows how to communicate difficult concepts and problems in a way that will help the rest of their company understand what is and isn’t working (translation: they can make things make sense).
This interpersonal skill is often overlooked by developers, who may think their role is just to sit behind the computer and make sure their deliverables are met, but being able to translate whether or not something is working, and guide the company in knowing if a chosen application will help meet objectives, is paramount to success.
4. Find innovative solutions
No matter how much you learn and keep up to date with the world of Salesforce, the reality is that code can be unpredictable. As a top developer you need to have to ability to adapt and respond to issues when they arise (which is almost always unexpectedly, and almost always in a time crunch).
Problems you encounter might be completely unique, but you are not afraid to ask ‘why’ and keep digging until you find the answer. You are solution focused and, in some respects, are able to think as logically and analytically as a computer when it comes to solving a development challenge.
5. Think like a salesman
A huge goal of the Salesforce system is to boost sales and increase customer retention. And this isn’t just something that the sales and marketing team need to constantly be aware of. A good Salesforce developer should have a sales-oriented mind when designing applications or customising a businesses’ system, so they can ensure that what they are creating will actually help the business meet their sales goals.
Both the raw skills to manipulate the sales process and the strategic knowledge to understand what they are helping to achieve are now necessary to excel as a Salesforce developer.
Are you a Salesforce Developer looking for your next big challenge?
Get in touch with one of our consultants to hear about the latest opportunities in the ecosystem!
