How to Become a Salesforce Tester in 2024?

The world of Salesforce is vast, offering an array of career opportunities. Among these, Salesforce testing stands out as a rewarding, engaging, and future-proof career path. 

In this article, you will learn about:

• The role of a Salesforce tester and the importance of Salesforce testing.
• The necessary skills and certifications to kickstart a Salesforce testing career.
• The career path and progression for a Salesforce tester.
• The future and salary prospects in Salesforce testing.

Let’s get started!

What is the Role of a Salesforce Tester?

A tester in Salesforce plays an indispensable role in ensuring the robustness and reliability of the software solutions developed on the platform. Salesforce testers, also known as quality assurance (QA) analysts or software test engineers, work in tandem with developers, project managers, and other stakeholders to ascertain that Salesforce applications are working as expected and aligning with business requirements.

At the heart of a Salesforce tester’s responsibilities is the need to validate functionality, performance, usability, and security of applications, which involves a range of tasks:

• Understanding Requirements: The role begins with understanding the business requirements, which are the guiding principles of any development work on Salesforce. Testers need to translate these requirements into testable components, enabling them to create effective test plans and cases.
• Designing and Implementing Test Plans: Salesforce testers design comprehensive test plans and test cases that cover all aspects of Salesforce functionality. These serve as detailed guides specifying what aspects to test, the approach for testing, and the anticipated results.
• Executing Tests: The tester then executes the test cases, which can involve manual testing, automated testing, or a combination of both. This process involves checking each aspect of the software’s functionality, comparing the results with expected outcomes, and documenting any discrepancies.
• Identifying and Reporting Defects: During testing, if the software doesn’t behave as expected, testers will identify these as defects. They document these issues in detail, including the steps to reproduce them, and communicate this to the development team.
• Re-testing and Regression Testing: Once defects are fixed, testers perform re-testing to ensure the issues have indeed been addressed. They also perform regression testing to verify that the fixes haven’t unintentionally disrupted other parts of the software.
• Collaborating with the Team: A Salesforce tester frequently collaborates with developers, business analysts, and other team members to discuss testing strategies, resolve issues, and ensure the software meets business needs and quality standards.
• User Acceptance Testing (UAT) Support: Testers often play a supportive role in the UAT phase, helping end users understand how to test the software and troubleshoot any issues they encounter.

The role of a Salesforce tester, therefore, goes beyond just identifying bugs or glitches. It’s about ensuring the solution performs optimally, delivers on its intended objectives, and offers a smooth user experience. This role requires a combination of technical proficiency, logical reasoning, and a keen eye for specifics.

Importance of Salesforce Testing

Salesforce testing is a critical component in the development lifecycle of any Salesforce application. It carries substantial significance for the successful deployment and operation of the software solution, primarily due to two key reasons: risk mitigation and user experience enhancement.

From a risk mitigation perspective, Salesforce testing helps identify and address any issues or defects in the application before it goes live. This ensures that the software performs as expected under different scenarios and conditions, thereby reducing the risks associated with system failures, data breaches, and performance lags. 

From a user experience perspective, Salesforce testing is vital to ensure the application is intuitive, efficient, and user-friendly. Whether it’s assuring the functionality, performance, usability, or security of the app, the ultimate aim is to deliver an app that aligns with the users’ requirements and anticipations. A well-tested Salesforce application translates to smoother workflows, improved productivity, and higher user satisfaction.

How to Become a Salesforce Tester?

Starting a career as a Salesforce tester can be a rewarding path, offering numerous opportunities for growth and learning. However, like any other job, it necessitates an assortment of appropriate skills, expertise, and practical experience. Here’s a step-by-step guide on how to start a Salesforce testing career:

1. Acquire Fundamental Testing Knowledge: Start by understanding the basics of software testing, including different types of testing (unit, functional, integration, performance, security, etc.), testing methodologies (Waterfall, Agile, etc.), and testing tools.
2. Learn About Salesforce: Gain a solid understanding of Salesforce, its architecture, various cloud offerings (Sales Cloud, Service Cloud, Marketing Cloud, etc.), and its customization features. You should be comfortable with Salesforce terminologies, objects, modules, and data models.
3. Get Hands-On Experience: Practical experience is key. Try to get involved in real Salesforce projects, which could be through your current job, internships, or volunteering. You could also set up a Salesforce Developer Edition account for free to explore the platform and practice your testing skills.
4. Learn Salesforce Testing Tools: Understand how to use Salesforce testing tools. This could include Salesforce’s built-in debugging tools, as well as third-party tools like Selenium for automated testing, JMeter for performance testing, and SOQL for querying Salesforce data.
5. Understand Business Processes: Since you’ll be testing applications designed to support business processes, it’s important to understand these processes and how Salesforce applications map to them.
6. Learn to Write Test Cases: Excel in crafting impactful test cases. An effective test case should be uncomplicated, concise, and encompass both positive and negative situations.
7. Get Certified: Salesforce offers a range of certifications that can help validate your skills and knowledge and boost your career prospects. For testers, the Salesforce Certified Administrator certification can be a good starting point, as it covers the fundamentals of the platform.
8. Networking: Join Salesforce communities, attend events, and connect with other Salesforce professionals. This can help you learn from others, stay informed about job opportunities, and grow professionally.

Also Read – How to Kickstart a Career in Salesforce?

Career Path and Progression

The career progression for a Salesforce tester is varied and dynamic, offering multiple avenues for growth and advancement. As tester gains experience and enhances their skill set, they can progress through different roles, each with increasing responsibilities and rewards.

1. Junior Salesforce Tester: At the start of their career, testers typically begin as junior Salesforce testers. Here, they work under the supervision of senior testers or test leads, assisting with test case creation, manual testing, bug reporting, and re-testing.
2. Senior Salesforce Tester: With a few years of experience and proven skills, testers can progress to a senior role. Senior Salesforce testers are responsible for designing test strategies, managing the testing process, automating test cases, and mentoring junior testers. They also liaise with stakeholders, including developers, business analysts, and project managers, to ensure effective communication and resolution of issues.
3. Salesforce Test Lead/Manager: With substantial experience and leadership skills, a Salesforce tester can become a test lead or manager. This role involves managing the entire testing team, planning and overseeing the testing process, coordinating with other teams, and making strategic decisions related to testing.
4. Salesforce QA Analyst: As a Quality Assurance Analyst, the tester focuses more on the quality processes, ensuring they align with industry standards and best practices. This role involves designing quality metrics, evaluating the efficiency of testing methods, and making recommendations for improvements.
5. Salesforce Consultant: With a broad understanding of Salesforce, a tester can also transition to a consulting role. Salesforce consultants advise businesses on how to use best their Salesforce systems, which can include recommendations on testing strategies.
6. Salesforce Business Analyst: If a tester is interested in the intersection of business and technology, they might transition to a Salesforce Business Analyst role. This role involves understanding business needs, designing Salesforce solutions to meet these needs, and ensuring these solutions are effectively tested.

Additionally, many Salesforce testers specialize in specific areas such as automation, performance, or security testing, opening up specialized roles such as Salesforce Automation Test Engineer or Salesforce Security Test Analyst.

Future and Salary Prospects in Salesforce Testing

As businesses increasingly adopt Salesforce to streamline their customer relationship management, the need for Salesforce testers will only grow. The future of Salesforce testing lies in areas such as automated testing, AI testing, and performance testing. With Salesforce continually launching new features and updates, the platform provides testers with constant opportunities to learn and grow. 

The salary of a Salesforce tester depends on several factors, such as the tester’s experience level, job role, geographical location, and specific industry. As per Glassdoor, a Salesforce tester in the US can expect an average salary of $63,297, while a Test Manager can earn upwards of $100,000 annually as of 2023. For more experienced or specialized roles, such as Salesforce Automation Tester or Test Manager, the salary can be substantially higher. 

Summing Up

In an era of digital transformation, the Salesforce platform has emerged as a pivotal tool for businesses of all sizes. As a Salesforce tester, you have the opportunity to play a crucial role in ensuring these applications are reliable, user-friendly, and ready to meet business challenges. With the platform’s continuing growth and evolution, the demand for skilled Salesforce testers is set to rise. As such, embarking on a Salesforce testing career can open up a world of opportunities and promising prospects.

To kickstart or advance your Salesforce testing career, consider enrolling in the Salesforce Admin Course by saasguru. This comprehensive course provides free community access, 1:1 mentoring support, and much more to help you gauge your preparedness for Salesforce certification exams. 

In our modern, fast-paced world, learning needs to keep up. This app can be your personal learning companion, offering access to a wealth of Salesforce resources anytime, anywhere.

Start shaping your Salesforce testing career today, and step into a future filled with exciting opportunities and endless possibilities. 

Your Salesforce journey starts here!