The Salesforce Admin exam will be changing on June 23, 2021. While it may look like there were many changes, actually more than 90% of the topics you need to be knowledgeable in are the same as in the previous exam outline.
So what is changing?
For starters, the number of exam sections have been reduced from 12 to 7. Previous sections were either moved or renamed as shown below.
PREVIOUS SECTIONS | STATUS |
|---|---|
Activity Management and Collaboration | Moved to : Productivity and Collaboration |
Analytics—Reports and Dashboards | Moved to : Data and Analytics Management |
AppExchange | Moved to : Productivity and Collaboration |
Data Management | Moved to : Data and Analytics Management |
Desktop and Mobile Administration | Moved to : Productivity and Collaboration |
Organizational Setup | Moved to : Configuration and Setup |
Sales and Marketing Applications | Sales and Marketing Applications |
Security and Access | Moved to : Configuration and Setup |
Service and Support Applications | Service and Support Applications |
Standard and Custom Objects | Renamed to : Object Manager and Lightning App Builder |
User Setup | Moved to : Configuration and Setup |
Workflow/Process Automation | Workflow/Process Automation |
Additionally, 3 of the current exam sections remain the same and 4 new sections have been added:
CURRENT SECTIONS | STATUS |
|---|---|
Configuration and Setup: 20% | NEW |
Data and Analytics Management: 14% | NEW |
Object Manager and Lightning App Builder: 20% | NEW |
Productivity and Collaboration: 7% | NEW |
Sales and Marketing Applications: 12% | Existing |
Service and Support Applications: 11% | Existing |
Workflow/Process Automation: 16% | Existing |
Detailed objectives have also been reduced from 34 to 26. 16 detailed objectives remain the same, whereas the remaining 10 only had some modifications in the descriptions.
If you've already booked your exam and have been studying using the previous exam outline, no need to worry! The area to focus on is the new detailed objective to be added to the Workflow/Process Automation section: Describe capabilities and use cases for Flow.
Also take note that three detailed objectives from the current exam outline have been retired, so you do not need to study those.
1 new detailed objective has been added to the new exam outline:
- Workflow/Process Automation: Describe capabilities and use cases for Flow.
3 detailed objectives from the current exam outline have been removed, namely:
- Describe the capability of Salesforce Content.
- Describe the capabilities of Salesforce Knowledge.
- Describe the capabilities of the Salesforce Communities
The updated exam outline consists of a total of 26 detailed objectives (Click on each section to view):
- Describe the information found in the company settings (For example: company settings fiscal year, business hours, currency management, default settings).
- Distinguish and understand the administration of declarative configuration of the User Interface. (For example: UI settings, app menu, list views, global actions, Lightning App Builder).
- Given a scenario, demonstrate the proper setup and maintenance of users.
- Explain the various organization Security Controls. (For example: Setup Audit Trail, Login Hours, Session Settings)
- Given a user request scenario, apply the appropriate security controls based on the features and capabilities of the Salesforce sharing model. (For example: public groups, org wide default, sharing: roles, subordinates, hierarchy, report and dashboard folders)
- Given a scenario, determine the appropriate use of a custom profile or permission set using the various profile settings and permissions.
- Describe the standard object architecture and relationship model. (For example: standard object, parent/child, master detail/lookup/junction relationships, and record types.)
- Explain how to create, delete, and customize fields and page layouts on standard and custom objects, and know the implications of deleting fields.
- Given a scenario, determine how to create and assign page layouts, record types and business processes for custom and standard objects.
- Given a scenario, identify the capabilities and implications of the sales process. (For example: sales process, opportunity, path, and forecast impact.)
- Given a scenario, apply the appropriate sales productivity features using opportunity tools. (For example: dashboards, lead scoring, Einstein opportunity scoring, and home page assistant.)
- Describe the capabilities of lead automation tools and campaign management. (For example: leads, lead convert, lead assignment rules, campaign and campaign members.)
- Describe the capabilities of case management. (For example: case, case assignment rules, and queues.)
- Given a scenario, identify how to automate case management. (For example: support process, case auto-response rules, and case escalation.)
- Describe the capabilities of activity management.
- Describe the features of Chatter.
- Describe the capabilities of Salesforce Mobile App.
- Identify use cases for AppExchange applications.
- Describe the considerations when importing, updating, transferring, mass deleting, exporting and backing up data.
- Describe the capabilities and implications of data validation tools.
- Describe the options available when creating or customizing a report or report type.
- Describe the impact of the sharing model on reports.
- Describe the options available when creating and modifying dashboards (e.g., dashboard components, data sources, chart types, Subscribing, running user).
- Given a scenario, identify the appropriate automation solution based on the capabilities of the tool.
- Describe capabilities and use cases for Flow.
- Describe capabilities and use cases for the approval process.
IN SUMMARY:
- 1 new detailed objective
- 16 detailed objectives remained exactly the same
- 10 detailed objectives were modified, most with small modifications
- 3 detailed objectives will be retired
As always, we continually monitor the exam outlines for changes. When we find a change we get to work and update our study guides and practice exams as soon as possible.
We hope you find this information useful. Should you have questions or clarifications, don't hesitate to drop us a comment below.
Good luck!
Thank you for the update. Am really looking forward to sharing my success story soon. This platform is a great study guide.
Hello Oyeyinka! We are all excited for you in reaching your certification goals. Very soon, without a doubt, we’re sure that we will be seeing your success story in one of our page comments here. We’re cheering for you!
Hello everyone! I’m so excited to start getting ready to for certification exam and so excited having the help from Focus on Force. Just a question, I have been doing Trailhead challenges and now I will start using Focus on Force study guide, so, my question is, is it OK to mix both elements like 2-3 days doing Trailhead and then 2-3 days using Focus on Force? I just want know if this is a good “process” o “path” to get ready for my exam. By the way, my exam is in October, so I think that’s enough time to get ready. Thank you!!
Hi Luis! Thanks for the inquiry. I have spoken lately to a user who had aced the Admin Certification Exam and this is what he shared: “I’d like to share my experience when I was preparing for my certification. During my preparation, along with the Focus on Force study guide topic, I did the same topic in the Salesforce Trailhead Admin Trailmix. After completing those, then I’d do the FoF topic exam. After I had completed all the topics, I did the FoF practice exams. I would also mimic some of the scenarios in the exam questions in my Salesforce dev org especially if the topic wasn’t clear to me. Before I took the official exam, I had completed several Super Badge projects in Trailhead as well. Doing hands-on scenarios in my dev org definitely helped.”.
We wish you all the best on your upcoming exam. Good luck!
Hi Starkey. This is awesome! Thank you for sharing this, it has been really helpful and now I know how to structure my study process. Thank you again!!
Hi there, your link on “Whats new on the admin” in your exams guide does not work (https://trailhead.salesforce.com/de/help?article=Salesforce-Certified-Administrator-New-Exam-Guide) – the site does not exist or is changed. You should maybe link to: https://trailhead.salesforce.com/de/help?article=Changes-to-the-Certified-Administrator-exam-FAQ. From there you will find the link to the trailhead, that has been updated, as well.
Hi Susanne, thanks for pointing that out. Salesforce has retired the link as they have applied the updates on the official exam guide page: https://trailhead.salesforce.com/help?article=Salesforce-Certified-Administrator-Exam-Guide
We will update the link posted on our Whats new page.
Did anyone here take the salesforce admin exam after the June 23rd changes? Any useful tips?
Hi Nisha, I took it on July 1st and fortunately I’m now proud to be Salesforce Certified! The increase in Workflow/Automation from 8% to 16% is by FAR the most significant difference, and reflected in the new exam. Also, be sure to review both Lead and Opportunity scoring. Happy studying!
Hi there, on the outline of the new test, under the sales and marketing applications module, it mentions using Einstein opportunity scoring. There was a module on trailhead for the prepare for salesforce admin trail but it seems to have been removed. Anyone have a link to the new content for that?
I can’t seem to see it in the Salesforce Admin Prep Trailmix. However, it is included in the Module for Sales Cloud Einstein that is part of the ‘Optimize Sales Features for Lightning Experience’ Trail.
Thank you!
The primary topic here seems to be the old vs,. new outline and/or material. My questions, Analytics, Reports & Dashboards show RETIRED. Have those functions been re-positioned in one of the “new” seven topical areas — OR are there no longer questions of analytics, dashboard and reports on the Admin Cert exam? My exam is in a week and do not want to study material not on the exam. Thanks in advance.
Hi Pete, majority of the content from the “Analytics, Reports and Dashboard” section that was retired was moved to the new “Data and Analytics Management” section. There are 3 detailed objectives in the said section that discusses “report, report types, and dashboards”
1. Describe the options available when creating or customizing a report or report type.
2. Describe the impact of the sharing model on reports.
3. Describe the options available when creating and modifying dashboards (e.g., dashboard components, data sources, chart types, Subscribing, running user).
Configuration and Setup had 148 questions after the 23rd June change..Now its changed to 100.More questions means more practice,so curious why did it change to 100.
Hi Anuradha,
Our team is working on splitting the topic exam into multiple parts so that we can limit the # of questions per exam.