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Over two decades have passed since Salesforce emerged on the scene. During this time, it has seen its popularity grow by leaps and bounds. This is why the race is on to hire Salesforce developers in USA and elsewhere.
Salesforce.com is a big name in the world of cloud computing and customer relationship management (CRM), and there are good reasons for this.
Businesses have used the Salesforce platform to benefit from its numerous advantages, some of which include:
- Empowered customer service agents;
- Sales teams working smarter than before;
- Faster business growth;
- Improved marketing;
- More engaged customers;
- Good pool of Salesforce developers for hire.
Whether you are running an e-Commerce business or a large enterprise offering market-leading products, Salesforce is a great choice to aid you with your product development.
Developers also get enormous benefits from Salesforce cloud development too. The Salesforce ecosystem is incredibly rich. For example, if you are undertaking a web development project, then you will likely use a “Platform-as-a-Service” (PaaS) platform. Heroku is one of the first names that come to mind when you think of PaaS platforms, and it’s a part of Salesforce.
Salesforce provides excellent development tools for its community cloud platform. The company has a comprehensive certification program too. As such, Salesforce-certified developers are in high demand. Businesses need to pay high rates if they plan to hire a Salesforce consultant or a Salesforce administrator. Certified Salesforce developers are at a premium in the United States.
Given this, developers take great interest in learning Salesforce. However, due to the demand from companies hiring Salesforce developers, you could find it hard to hire a Salesforce developer, particularly at short notice.
You need to choose between the different hiring platforms – freelance platforms or hybrid software development companies that hire Salesforce developers out to companies.
You can find part-time Salesforce developers on freelance platforms, however, working with Salesforce freelancers can expose you to certain risks. Hybrid software development companies offer full-time Salesforce developers, which helps if you have a complex Salesforce app development project. We will talk about this shortly.
You need to ensure that your Salesforce developer has the following technical skills:
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Essential Salesforce development skills
- Apex: This is a proprietary language that was created by Salesforce.com. Developers can use this strongly-typed, object-oriented programming language to execute the transaction control system on the Force.com platform. They can also use it to execute the flow of a business process.
- Visualforce: Salesforce developed Visualforce for front-end development, which helps developers to design and build custom user interfaces on the Salesforce Lightning platform. It’s a web development framework and programmers can use it to build user interfaces for web applications. They can use it to create a UI for a mobile app or desktop app too.
- SOQL: SOQL (Salesforce Object Query Language) is similar to SQL, and developers can use it to search the Salesforce database.
- SOSL: SOSL (Salesforce Object Search Language) offers developers a programmatic way to execute text-based searches against a search index.
- Salesforce administration: You need to hire Salesforce developers that have experience working as a Salesforce administrator.
- Designing skills: The experience in designing objects, fields, page layouts, workflows, etc. is important for a Salesforce developer.
- Salesforce search solutions: Salesforce provides powerful search solutions. Developers that know them can expedite a project far more efficiently.
- Salesforce Developer Console: Salesforce Developer Console helps developers considerably. It’s an IDE (Integrated Development Environment) that has an impressive collection of tools. Developers can use it to create, debug, and test Salesforce applications.
We recommend that you look for developers that have a Salesforce certification.
Other app development skills that a Salesforce developer needs
You should look for a few more skills when you hire Salesforce developers, and these skills are as follows:
A. Key programming language skills
While Salesforce development relies on Visualforce, Apex, SOQL (Salesforce Object Query Language), and SOSL (Salesforce Object Search Language), effective Salesforce programmers need a few more programming language skills. These languages are as follows:
- Java;
- JavaScript;
- HTML;
- CSS;
- SQL.
Sound knowledge in these will help them in Salesforce app development or web development using Salesforce.
B. The knowledge of Salesforce Lightning
You need developers with the knowledge of Salesforce Lightning. The Salesforce Lightning platform allows developers to create cloud applications quickly. It also enables developers to deploy applications quickly.
This platform offers excellent tools so that Salesforce developers can create reliable, secure, and scalable cloud apps. It also offers tools to integrate with external applications, automate business processes, and deliver a mobile user experience.
Salesforce Lightning platform developers should know the following:
- How to use the drag-and-drop app builder tools;
- Customizing data models;
- How to write apps on the Lightning platform using Apex;
- Using the Lightning platform APIs.
Look for a Lightning platform developer with Salesforce certification.
C. Comprehensive knowledge of Salesforce integration
You need developers with Salesforce integration skills. They need a thorough understanding of the various approaches for integrating with the Salesforce Force.com platform. These approaches correspond to the various layers of applications, namely, user interface, business logic, security, and data.
D. The experience of customizing Salesforce applications
Salesforce offers several customization options which benefit businesses enormously. You need developers with considerable experience in customizing Salesforce applications. They should know the following:
- How to customize reports;
- How to develop Visualforce pages, triggers, custom views, page layouts, custom workflows, and Apex classes;
- Building custom consoles;
- How to customize the Salesforce1 mobile app;
- Integrating other apps with the Salesforce environment of the client’s organization.
E. The knowledge of application security
Salesforce projects typically process confidential information. As with any application processing sensitive or confidential data, application security plays an important part. You need developers that know how to code secure apps. They need to know the coding best practices, moreover, they should be able to identify application security vulnerabilities.
F. In-depth knowledge of the Salesforce cloud capabilities
To be effective, a Salesforce developer needs to have a thorough knowledge of the considerable cloud capabilities that Salesforce has. Such an in-depth understanding will help in many ways. For example, they can implement CRM solutions more effectively by utilizing Salesforce cloud capabilities.
Salesforce Service Cloud is a great example. It can help businesses to transform their customer service operations. Businesses can use it to boost agent productivity, improve case tracking, provide better support via social media channels, and improve customer experience.
Salesforce Sales Cloud supports sales, marketing, and customer support. Salesforce Marketing Cloud is yet another example.
Salesforce has matured cloud capabilities in several other functional areas. A Salesforce expert that knows the Salesforce cloud capabilities can formulate effective Salesforce solutions for the organizational business needs.
G. The knowledge of succeeding in a Salesforce development project
To be effective, a Salesforce developer needs the following additional skills:
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- Knowledge of using editors like Eclipse or MavensMate on the Force.com platform;
- The ability to understand business requirements and translate them into viable technical solutions;
- Knowledge of software architecture;
- Understanding of RESTful APIs including how to develop and secure them;
- Problem-solving skills;
- The ability to collaborate with testers and DevOps engineers;
- Code review experience.
How to find Salesforce developers?
Now that we have explained the skills that you need to look for, you now need to take the following steps:
1. Choose between freelancer platforms and software development companies to hire Salesforce developers
Your hiring decisions will have an important impact on your Salesforce application development project. If you hire expert Salesforce developers, you will likely execute a painless and successful project development. On the other hand, incompetent or only partially focused Salesforce developers can impact the quality, cost, and schedule objectives of your project.
Turning around troubled projects can take time. Therefore, hire good Salesforce developers so that your project doesn’t become troubled in the first place.
Freelancer platforms can connect you to part-time freelance Salesforce developers. You can bargain and get a good rate, however, you cannot be sure of what you are getting. Also, remember that these freelancer platforms don’t offer any management support.
Working with part-time Salesforce freelancers can be hard since they work on multiple projects simultaneously. Freelance platforms deduct a considerable part of their pay, which can demotivate them. While freelancer platforms focusing exclusively on software development can give you access to high-quality developers, you still need to manage the other risks.
On the other hand, hybrid software development companies such as DevTeam.Space provides you with full-time Salesforce developers. Having dedicated developers can be very useful if you are executing a complex project. DevTeam.Space guarantees the work of your developer, including offering a replacement in the case of sickness.
Note that software development companies treat your sensitive and confidential information with care. They implement numerous safeguards to secure this information. For example, they will make their developers sign a “Non-Disclosure Agreement” (NDA) when they work with you. Analyze your business needs carefully before choosing a hiring platform.
2. Interview the candidates
Before hiring Salesforce developers, you will need to interview the candidates. You can do this yourself if you know Salesforce well enough, if not get your project manager to do it.
If you don’t have Salesforce development skills in your organization, outsource a Salesforce consultant to do the interviews for you. Alternatively, you can ask an associate to interview them or get interview questions from the Internet. Please see the following section for some examples.
You need to cover all the skill areas we have mentioned. Pay attention to each Salesforce candidate’s portfolio and focus on the complex projects that they have worked on. Ask them about how they navigated the complexities and what they have learned.
Describe the business needs of your project and ask them how they would approach it. You should expect specific responses with insightful recommendations.
3. Provide relevant details about your Salesforce development project
You need to give sufficient information about your project to your hired Salesforce developers. Provide them with the business requirements, technical solutions, test strategies, and other relevant documents.
Introduce them to your larger Salesforce development team. Take time and explain their roles and responsibilities. Provide access to the technical environment of your project including code repositories.
Set up an effective communications process. Explain the project plan and iterations. Describe how you review milestones and what are the payment terms and conditions. Establish accountability.
How to interview Salesforce professionals
How do you find the best Salesforce developers? Focus on interviewing the candidates effectively. We recommend the following:
A. Look for skills in the important Salesforce solutions and Salesforce services
The landscape of Salesforce development services is vast. Even an expert Salesforce developer will not have in-depth knowledge of all the nooks and corners! Hiring Salesforce developers with deep knowledge of the entire Salesforce development space can be very hard.
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Narrow down your requirements appropriately. If you primarily want Salesforce CRM development skills, focus on that. Such Salesforce experts will not need experience in providing Salesforce consulting services. Maintain a laser-like focus on what you need.
B. Follow the “80:20 rule” for skills when hiring salesforce team members
You will likely hire certified Salesforce developers. You will assess their skills in Apex, SOQL, SOSL, Visualforce, Salesforce administration, etc. These are vast skill areas. Even a certified Salesforce developer may not be proficient in every aspect of these skill areas.
In reality, you don’t need developers that are experts in every aspect of Apex, SOQL, SOSL, etc. You will use Salesforce to create business applications. The best business applications focus on simplicity. You need only 20% of the Salesforce skills 80% of the time. Look for these skills.
C. Look for relevant experience when you hire dedicated Salesforce developers
Look for relevant experience more than theoretical knowledge when hiring dedicated Salesforce developers. Programmers learn a lot more on complex projects than in training programs. Practical experience counts more than theoretical knowledge.
This is another reason why we don’t recommend hiring freelance Salesforce developers. You will find it very hard to assess the relevant experience of freelance Salesforce developers. It’s harder if you hire remote Salesforce developers.
You don’t have this challenge when hiring from a hybrid software development company like DevTeam.Space. Such companies have stringent screening processes.
Examples of Salesforce coding questions
While interviewing, focus on asking questions requiring hands-on knowledge. Review our Salesforce interview questions and answers. A few examples are as follows:
Question 1: What are the different annotations supported by Apex?
Answer: The annotations supported by Apex are as follows:
- “@AuraEnabled”;
- “@Deprecated”;
- “@Future”;
- “@invocableMethod”;
- “@IsTest”;
- “@ReadOnly”;
- “@RemoteAction”;
- “@TestSetup”;
- “@TestVisible”.
Question 2: How should you handle bulk data in an Apex trigger?
The following best practices help to handle bulk data in an Apex trigger:
- The code in the trigger should not be constrained so that it handles one record only.
- Developers should use “Trigger.New” and “Trigger.Old” to get a list of records in an Apex trigger.
- Programmers should use “Trigger.NewMap” and “Trigger.OldMap” to get a map of the records.
- Salesforce developers should use only one trigger per object.
- One should not use SOQL queries and DML operations in an Apex trigger.
- Programmers should avoid a trigger recursion via a static variable when updating an object from the trigger.
Question 3: How do you create a “many-to-many” relationship in Salesforce?
Answer: Programmers should use a “junction object” to create a many-to-many relationship in Salesforce. Junction objects are custom objects with two “Master-Detail” relationships.
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