On the internet, you can find many valuable sources that can assist you in studying for various Salesforce exams, including the Salesforce Certified Administrator exam. However, remember that Salesforce recommends using their official sources and materials as per their policy, which is great, at least in theory. In practice, though, it may not be enough, and you may want to delve into a topic using materials from another source. There’s nothing wrong with that as long as these are not the dumps mentioned previously in this chapter.
From the many places you can visit online to learn more about Salesforce, read about Salesforce features, and find well-organized legal (i.e., non-dump) study materials for various exams, I can recommend a few:
- Udemy: This is a learning platform where you can find courses and tests related to Salesforce:
- Courses: These are mostly video courses, some of which are dedicated to the Salesforce Certified Administrator exam. There are plenty of such courses available. How do you choose the right one? Firstly, Udemy allows you to check the course content (it is described on the page of each course) and listen to a part of the video course before purchasing it, which allows you to assess whether the content provided will be suitable for you and whether it will be presented in a way that suits you. Furthermore, each course can be rated, so you can see how other participants rated a particular course and make decisions based on those ratings. Ultimately, Udemy allows for a refund if it turns out that the course does not meet your requirements. Of course, there are some exceptions associated with this, but this option is generally available. Many people from the Salesforce community use the courses available on Udemy, which undoubtedly have the advantage of being video courses where someone guides you practically through the topics related to the exam.
- Tests: Similar to courses, Salesforce test questions can also be found on Udemy. It’s worth checking that they have good ratings and reputable authors. I am the author of several sets of Salesforce test questions on Udemy. At this moment, my test questions cover certifications such as Salesforce Certified Associate, Salesforce Certified Administrator, and Salesforce Certified App Builder. Of course, I am not alone on Udemy, and I was not the first, so if you want to check test questions from other authors, search for Salesforce Admin Test Questions in the Udemy search engine, and you will find what you are looking for. However, remember that these questions do not come from an official source, so they may differ from the questions on the exam. And that’s a good thing because otherwise, they would be dumps, which are prohibited. The questions that I and other creators on Udemy create are not identical to the questions you will have on the exam, but they cover the same topics, so they allow you to truly test yourself before the real exam. If you prefer to stick to official sources, remember that I described how to buy official test questions from Salesforce. However, if the price is a barrier for you or if you want to test yourself even more thoroughly, I encourage you to check out the Udemy platform.
- Focus on Force (FoF): FoF is a dedicated platform for learning Salesforce. It focuses solely on Salesforce. Just like on Udemy, you can find courses preparing you directly for the chosen certification. What distinguishes FoF from Udemy is that the main materials found there are not video materials. This means that with FoF, you will have to read much more, whereas with Udemy, you can watch and listen to videos. However, FoF has a different advantage: its materials are usually more detailed than courses on Udemy, and the test questions on FoF are usually difficult and structured similarly to exam questions.
- YouTube: I won’t recommend any specific Salesforce courses on YouTube here because I use this source in a slightly different way than courses. I use YouTube selectively when, for example, I want to better understand a specific functionality. In such cases, YouTube works very well. So, if, for example, you confuse Salesforce Profiles with Permission Sets and Permission Set Groups, you will surely find someone on YouTube who can explain it efficiently.
- Salesforce blogs: There are many blogs dedicated to Salesforce on the internet. It’s impossible to list them all, so I’ll focus only on a few that I have used most frequently. These mentioned blogs can serve as a source of information about Salesforce software itself, as they often describe practical applications of various Salesforce features or present the latest updates introduced by Salesforce. These blogs sometimes also contain test questions or teach how to prepare for exams:
- https://admin.salesforce.com/salesforce-admin-podcast is the official Salesforce Administrator podcast, offering interviews, automations, low-code, and other topics related to the Salesforce Administrator role
- https://www.salesforceben.com/ is a well-known Salesforce blog created by the Salesforce MVP, offering tips and tricks, articles, and interviews
- https://automationchampion.com/ addresses topics related to automation in Salesforce
- https://unofficialsf.com/ is a blog containing podcasts related to Salesforce and is full of useful resources about Salesforce automation and custom features, including links to unofficial apps that you can install
As you can see, we have listed quite a few sources that may be helpful to you during your learning process. In practice, of course, you won’t be using all of them, and certainly not all at once. It’s best to choose one or two sources, for example, video courses complemented by Trailheads, or similar combinations.