My name is Angelina Davydova. I work at Emakina Amsterdam, The Netherlands. And my current role is Order Management Consultant.

How did you get started with Salesforce?

It actually started not long ago—around nine months ago. I started with Salesforce because when I started my new job as a Consultant, my manager asked me to focus actually on the Salesforce Order Management System. Because it's a relatively new tool—they were still developing it. And as a Consultant, of course, I would have to know it very well. And I went to Trailhead first as the majority of people do that. And my manager also asked me if I could get certified because Emakina is a Salesforce partner and every certification counts, you know. So it's better to be certified. So that's how I started.

What were your goals when starting and how did you keep motivated?

My main motivation was just to be as good as I can be with Salesforce because the goal was to be able to set up a system for our potential clients as fast and as efficiently as possible. And also as a consultant, I would just need to know the tool very well so I can know the possibilities. And my goal is actually to keep learning and get more certifications. So I'm using Focus on Force for future certifications as well.

Did getting certified affect your career in a positive way?

It did in terms of getting the word out within the company because my colleagues looked at me like, “Oh, you got certified. Very nice!” So they just start following in the same sort of a path as me. And I do  pressure them a bit to also know the tool very well because it's so much fun to learn and it's just a very popular tool.

Which area of the Admin certification should learners focus on the most?

I would highly advise you to pay attention to all the little details and settings. It's just so vital because if you don't know where to find those settings, you will never be able to answer certain questions.

And that's why I really like Focus on Force because if you make a mistake while doing the practice exams there, you immediately see the solution or where those settings are. And I really learned a lot while I was actually doing the practice exams there. So it’s of vital importance to have all the knowledge about little things: where you can tick things, what settings are actually doing while you're setting up Salesforce, you know. Like the little small letters where you can see all this because yeah, it's very important to know.

What’s a typical working day like for an Order Management Consultant at Emakina?

I don't have a project now but most of the time, I'm actually focusing on Flows. So I go into the Order Management System a lot, and I'm just exploring the best way to set up the best background flow for when the customer hits the “Buy” button, you know. When you as a potential customer click on the “Buy” button, what happens after in the background? What are the processes involved? So it's all connected with flows in Salesforce.

So this is like a big part of my work and what I'm trying to achieve. The best and most efficient way to do that. But in general, I am not working as an Admin but it's unbelievably valuable for me to have this knowledge because it's like a first building block. It's a first step and I would say it's the hardest exam indeed.

Would you say that good communication skills are necessary for Salesforce professionals?

It's a vital skill. You have to actually know what to say and how to say it in order to explain to the customer how they can benefit from the tools that we're offering in general, you know. Because if you don't have a good case in your head, or if you don't know the tool very well it's very hard to do.

And especially when a customer insists on some things, but you as a Consultant or as a person who has experience—you know that it’s not correct, it's a wrong thing. So you have to find a very diplomatic and kind way to tell the customer that maybe this is not the best way—what they're doing now. So it is very vital indeed.

Would you say that Focus on Force was helpful towards your certification?

I failed the first time I took the exam for Admin. First time that I did the exam, I had this “Oh my god. What are they asking me? I don't know!” Focus on Force helped me enormously because it was so much easier the second time around because I already spent so many hours doing practice exams. It was much more comfortable for me to answer those questions because I figured out the logic of how this is done by doing practice exams on Focus on Force.

What advice do you have for those planning on joining the Salesforce ecosystem?

Go for it! It's so much fun because when people are starting to do Trailhead, they don't know what it is—they don't know Salesforce at all. But you get sort of drawn into how everything is made for them there. You can do modules. You can do projects. Personally, I love projects and I'm a very hands-on person so I have to try it so I can understand how it works. So I would advise them to just keep going.

Don't lose motivation, find your own balance in terms of how many hours you spend on it because you can also get very sick of it. You think, “Oh my god. I can't look at it anymore.” I had these moments as well, but take your time. It's not a race. It's not a competition. It's like a marathon. So just go for it, make a plan, and just run the marathon!