Career Insights: Salesforce Technical Curriculum Developer

“The journey into the Salesforce eco-system will be the best career choice you will ever make!”

Where do you work?

I work for Salesforce and am based in ‘Salesforce Tower’ near Liverpool Street in London. I am a Technical Curriculum Developer.

What do you do in a typical day?

My work day is fairly dynamic and full of new challenges. Typically I am responsible for architecting the delivery of content for the latest technologies Salesforce wants to train people on and advocate through the eco-system. My major responsibility is to help Trailblazers (people learning Salesforce) to understand and absorb new innovations in Salesforce and develop the technical content that will be delivered by the team of instructors to the global audience. This also means I get to visit and interact with a lot of different cultures and Trailblazers from all over the world to understand how they use Salesforce, so we can deliver the new technology in an effective manner.

Do you work flexibly?

Yes, I do have flexibility to adjust my work timing to a good extent and my hours are adaptable.

What is the most challenging thing about your role?

The most challenging, albeit fun part of my job, is that I am exposed to the latest Salesforce technologies and innovations, which puts me at the cutting edge of learning every day. Being the architect of the messaging, and structure of how it needs to be used in training the larger Salesforce eco-system can be really challenging but very interesting!

What is the best thing about your job?

The opportunity to be part of the journey that changes peoples lives, by helping them learn new skills and technologies.

What has been the biggest challenge in your career to date?

In Bulgaria, the country that I come from, women’s empowerment and women leaders are part of the culture and it is never questioned. Coming over to the UK a decade ago, I did see the ‘glass ceiling’ that was an additional challenge for women to break through, in the technology field. In many teams that I worked in, I was the only female developer which came with its own challenges but also came with the opportunity to be a Trailblazer!

How did you get into Salesforce?

I was always excited and inspired constantly by technology and knew deep down that I wanted to be part of this revolution. After I did my Master’s in Computer Science, I applied for my very first Salesforce job as a Developer and never looked back.

What certification do you have and what are you working towards next?

I have 16 certifications, including the Platform Developer certifications. I am working towards Certified Technical Architect, so lots of learning to do!

What are your top tips for studying for the PDI certification

1. Evaluate and understand the study guide and weightage of each of the sections of which you’ll be tested on, this helps you to understand where you’d need to focus or sharpen your technical skills
2. Review the PD1 Trail in Trailhead : https://trailhead.salesforce.com/en/users/strailhead/trailmixes/prepare-for-your-salesforce-platform-developer-i-credential
3. One of the most important and sometimes overlooked part, is practice! Create a developer org for yourself and think of different use cases of which you take inspiration, from day to day businesses that you come across and try to solve them in the org. Going through the Trailblazer community forum, identify the questions people ask and solve them in your dev org – this is a very quick way to gain good experience with a rich variety of real world business uses cases
4. Code is not scary and being a platform developer is a position where you get to feel the true power of Salesforce. It will give you a lot more freedom to express your creative thinking – to solve what is possibly a million dollar business problem. Learning development is just like learning a new foreign language, all you need is practice.

What do you think is great about the Supermums programme and why do you think people should do it?

It is wonderful that Supermums is helping parents (anyone!) find flexible work and realise their potential through learning Salesforce. It is a great career opportunity.

What is your favourite thing about Salesforce?

My favourite thing about Salesforce is the different ways one can shape a career – so many opportunities. My favourite Salesforce character is Astro: the character that can be whoever they want to be. Today, they are an astronaut and tomorrow they can be cooking with the latest LWC recipes.

There is a big Salesforce community on Twitter and online in general. Who are the best people to follow and groups to join?

MVPs and group leaders are great because the are some of the people you can learn the most from. (Of course, we say follow @RadiRadkova and @SFSupermums too!)

Join your local Salesforce Developer user group, Release Readiness groups, Certification Study Group and MVP Office Hours; these are groups in the Trailblazer community. (If you have a Salesforce login, join the Supermums Trailblazer Community Group HERE)

Is there anything else you would really like to tell people who are considering a career in Salesforce?

The journey in the Salesforce eco-system will be the best career choice you will ever make!