Marvin Kreck is a Senior Salesforce Consultant for Abilex — a company that caters to midsize companies in Stuttgart, Germany. He’s been involved with Salesforce his entire professional life — shortly after graduating from university, he got his start when his first job required him to implement and roll out Salesforce.
Today, Marvin is a 7X Certified Salesforce professional who says that starting a career in Salesforce is one of the best decisions in his life.
My name is Marvin Kreck. I’m a Senior Salesforce Consultant for Abilex. We’re based in Stuttgart in South Germany and we work with midsize companies.
How did you get started with Salesforce?
After completing my university education, I got a job as Executive Assistant to the CEO for a company where the first project I was assigned was to implement and roll out Salesforce. This was back in 2016. This was how I got my start and how I fell in love with Salesforce.
About 2 ½ years ago, I made the switch to consultancy and I’ve been here since.
Can you please give us a day in the life of a Senior Salesforce Consultant?
With my experience working with midsize companies in Germany, the most important aspect of my job is explaining how Salesforce and digitalization works to clients. You have to communicate to clients effectively why they should use Salesforce. We all know Salesforce is great but clients have to understand this.
I would say this is the most important thing about my job, along with implementation.
The most important aspect of my job is teaching how Salesforce and digitalization works to clients.
“
What are the most important skills do you think a Senior Salesforce Consultant should have?
I think he should love Salesforce. Salesforce is almost like a lifestyle. Your work does not end in the office. If you’re working on certifications, for example, you do spend a lot of time at night and on the weekends learning the certification with Focus on Force.
One also has to be in the know of updates and Salesforce’s latest offerings.
So it is crucial for a Salesforce Consultant to always be open to new things on a daily or a monthly basis. This is what makes working as a Salesforce Consultant easy.
Salesforce is almost like a lifestyle. Your work does not end in the office. If you’re working on certifications, for example, you do spend a lot of time at night and on the weekends learning the certification with Focus on Force.
“
What was the most challenging part of learning Salesforce?
I’m currently studying to become a Developer with Focus on Force. By far it has been the biggest challenge for me. It's the types of Environments in Salesforce, the object-oriented development, sharing architecture, and everything. It’s very clear but more on Apex programming and integrations.
It is challenging and what I am studying for right now.
How did obtaining your certifications affect your career? Did it change your career?
Yes, it did. Salesforce is now more popular in Germany and there is a demand for Salesforce professionals. I’ve done many job interviews in the last 3 or four years and I would say that being certified, it’s very easy for me to get a job.
And just being called in for an interview, for example. Before I became certified, it was more difficult. Particularly here in Germany, being certified is helpful and makes your job hunt easier.
Plus, here in Europe many companies are looking for Salesforce Consultants right now. So the demand is there.
Speaking of job interviews, would you say that communication skills are essential to one’s career?
It really depends on the role you are pursuing. You take Developers, for example — it's not necessarily the most important thing for them to have good communication skills, I think.
Of course, it would be a bonus if they did, but having great communication skills is more necessary for a Business Analyst, for example. So it depends on what career path you want.
Was Focus on Force at all helpful towards your certification exam? How so?
Focus on Force was definitely helpful. I now have 7 certifications and I learned each of them by first studying with Trailhead, and of course on Focus on Force.
For me the website is a great tool for learning the certifications because when you get an answer wrong, the website tells you what was wrong and why it was wrong.
I like how they provide explanations and solutions. They’re very different from other similar resources. They certainly make you learn the certifications.
Should I pursue more certifications in the future, I think I’d have a few problems because I think I’ve finished studying all the guides and practice exams that they have on Focus on Force. So then I’d have to come up with another way to prepare for my future certifications.
Focus on Force was definitely helpful. I now have 7 certifications and I learned each of them by first studying with Trailhead, and of course on Focus on Force.
“
What advice would you give someone who is planning on starting a career with Salesforce?
A career in Salesforce is a great decision. This is a great career path that doesn’t even require a university degree.
As long as you have a laptop or a computer and some time to study, you can definitely learn Salesforce. This is a professional path where you can land a good job and have a great career.
And you can easily jump on it after college too, which is what I did. I believe I made the right decision with Salesforce and look forward to the next 5 or 10 years. So I would say, DO IT.
A career in Salesforce is a great decision... This is a professional path where you can land a good job and have a great career. And you can easily jump on it after college too, which is what I did.
“
What Certification are you studying for now?
Focus on Force currently provides practice exams and study guides for sixteen certifications
