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How to Pass Salesforce Associate Certification Exam

How to Pass Salesforce Associate Certification Exam

1. About the Salesforce Associate Certification Exam

Salesforce Certified Associate BadgeThe Salesforce Certified Associate Certification exam is for candidates who may be new to the Salesforce ecosystem and have an interest in understanding and using the Salesforce Customer 360 Platform. Salesforce Certified Associate candidates desire to learn the Salesforce platform and common business use cases. They are interested in gaining experience in Salesforce and may want to explore a Salesforce career or may be on the path to becoming a Salesforce Certified Professional.
contentContent40 multiple-choice/multiple-select questions
durationTime allotted70 minutes
bulls eyePassing score62% (25 out of 40 questions)
price tagExam FeeUSD 75 plus applicable taxes
retryRetake FeeFree
optionsPrerequisiteNone

For an uptodate information about this exam please refer the exam guide.

2. Salesforce Associate Certification Exam Outline

Salesforce Certified Associate Certification Exam Outline
Salesforce Certified Associate Certification Exam Outline

3. Salesforce Associate Certification Exam Guide

4. Salesforce Associate Certification Exam Trailmix

5. Salesforce Associate Certification Exam Practice Questions

Business AnalystSalesforce Certified Strategy Designer Badge LogoSalesforce Certified User Experience Designer BadgeSalesforce Certified Associate BadgeSalesforce Certified Administrator LogoSalesforce Certified Sales Representative Badge
Popular Salesforce Certification Guides

6. Important Topics for Salesforce Associate Certification Exam

6.1 Salesforce Ecosystem 32% (13 Questions)

Salesforce Certified Associate Certification Ecosystem
  • Salesforce is a customer relationship management solution that gives every business team⁠—from sales and marketing to commerce, service, and beyond—a single, shared view of every customer.
  • Salesforce Values
    • Trust
    • Customer Success
    • Innovation
    • Equality
    • Sustainability
  • Trailhead is the online learning platform.
    • Learning topics are organized into modules, which are broken up into units.
    • To finish a unit, you earn points by completing a quiz or a challenge.
    • Trails are groups of modules that provide guided learning paths suited to specific roles or need.
  • Trailblazer Community is where you connect with other Trailblazers
  • Trailhead Playground is an org that you can use for hands-on challenges, learning new features, and testing customizations.
  • Create a Trailhead Playground
  • Salesforce Help: Search Salesforce documentation and help resources.
  • Salesforce Customer 360 is an integrated customer relationship management (CRM) platform that helps companies transform their businesses by uniting their marketing, sales, commerce, service, and IT teams with a single, shared customer view. It encompasses the full breadth of the Salesforce portfolio—including our core applications, platform, services, and connected ecosystem.
  • Key Salesforce Products
Sales CloudSales automation software available as part of Salesforce CRM. Sales Cloud is used for Lead, Account & Contact, Opportunity and Forecast Management.
Service CloudCustomer service and support application from Salesforce.
Marketing CloudMarketing automation and customer engagement application.
Commerce CloudEcommerce solution to create seamless experiences that inspire and convert today’s connected shoppers.
Experience CloudAn online social platform that enables companies to connect customers, partners, and employees.
Health CloudSalesforce’s industry specific solution for Healthcare Industry.
Financial Services CloudSalesforce’s industry specific solution for Financial Services Industry.
Consumer Goods CloudSalesforce’s industry specific solution for Consumer Goods Industry.
Manufacturing CloudSalesforce’s industry specific solution for Manufacturing Industry.
Communications Cloud Salesforce’s industry specific solution for Communications Industry.
Education CloudSalesforce’s industry specific solution for Education Institutions.
Nonprofit CloudSalesforce’s industry specific solution for Nonprofits.
MuleSoftIntegration platform to help businesses connect data, applications and devices across on-premises and cloud. 
CRM AnalyticsAnalytics and business intelligence solution on Salesforce platform.
SlackEnterprise collaboration and messaging software
  • The Salesforce ecosystem is made up of:
    • Salesforce: The World’s No 1 CRM company.
    • Customers: Companies that use Salesforce products.
    • Partners: Salesforce-certified experts who work with customers across products and industries.
Career PathResponsibilities
Salesforce AdministratorAutomating complex business processes using click not code, creating reports and dashboards, and training users on Salesforce.
Salesforce DeveloperAutomating complex business processes via customization using Apex, JavaScript, Lightning Web Components.
Salesforce ArchitectDesign, build, and deliver solutions that businesses need to succeed in a demanding economy. Provide technical leadership to the team.
Salesforce Business AnalystGuide businesses to improve business processes and efficiency in Salesforce. They elicit, document, and analyze requirements around business challenges, and then produce data-driven solutions.
Salesforce MarketerDrive greater campaign click-through rates, reengage inactive subscribers, and grow your subscriber base with an enterprise email solution.
Salesforce ConsultantLead and support the customer throughout the entire Salesforce implementation lifecycle, including analysis, design, and development.
Salesforce DesignerOptimize flows, interactions, and visual interfaces for intuitive, human-centered experiences built on the Salesforce Platform.
Salesforce Career Paths
  • Trust.salesforce.com is the Salesforce community’s home for real-time information on system performance and security.

6.2 Navigation 28% (11 Questions)

Salesforce Associate Certification Navigation
  • Accounts are companies that you’re doing business with, and contacts are the people who work for them.
  • Accounts & Contacts for Lightning Experience
  • AppExchange is the marketplace for Salesforce Apps
  • AppExchange Basics
  • Scrum is a project management framework which helps people and teams deliver value incrementally in a collaborative manner. 
  • Scrum core values
    1. Focus
    2. Courage
    3. Openness
    4. Commitment
    5. Respect
  • Scrum Roles
    • The ScrumMaster
    • The Product Owner
    • The Team
    • The Shared Service Subject Matter Expert (SMEs)
    • The Technical Program Manager (TPMs)
    • The Functional Manager
  • Scrum elements of delivery
    • Product Backlog
    • Sprint Backlog
    • Potentially Shippable Work
  • Kanban is a lean method to manage and improve work across human systems. This approach aims to manage work by balancing demands with available capacity, and by improving the handling of system-level bottlenecks.
  • Four key traits of Kanban
    • Visualize workflow
    • Limit work in progress (WIP)
    • Incremental and evolutionary change
    • Kanban includes metrics
      • Lead time: Average time to complete one item, sometimes called cycle time
      • Throughput: Amount of work completed in a single period of time
  • Key differences between the Scrum and Kanban workflow
ScrumKanban
Who prioritizes it?Product owner prioritizes on product backlogProduct owner prioritizes on product backlog
Where does it go?The product backlog is reordered for the next sprint.The product backlog is continuously reordered for the next available person with capacity.
When does the work start?During sprint planning, the team commits to the work in the next sprint.As soon as there is capacity to work on it.
Why is there a delay?Scrum focuses the team to deliver on their sprint commitments, and interruptions mid-sprint are discouraged.Kanban focuses on efficient flow of work, so the top of the backlog is always the next thing to be worked on.
How long does it take to deliver?It can be 2 weeks or more, depending on sprint status.As soon as it is completed.
Key differences between the Scrum and Kanban workflow
  • Scrum and Kanban at Salesforce
  • Search Solution Basics
  • Salesforce CRM
  • Activities
    • Activities include tasks, events, and calendars
    • Task – Represents a to do list in Salesforce
    • Events  and Calendars – Represents an event in the calendar
    • You can track your activities in the activity timeline
    • The activity timeline shows activities associated via the name field (such as contact) and the related to field (such as account)
    • You can use filters on the activity timeline to narrow down what’s visible such as
      • Date range
      • Activities to show
      • Activity type
      • Sort Order
  • Every user in Salesforce has a user account. The user account identifies the user, and the user account settings determine what features and records the user can access.
  • User account contains at least the following
    • Username: Each user has both a username and an email address. The username must be formatted like an email address and must be unique across all Salesforce organizations.
    • Email Address
    • User’s First and Last Name
    • License: A user license determines which features the user can access in Salesforce.
    • Profile: Profiles determine what users can do in Salesforce.
    • Role (optional): Roles determine what users can see in Salesforce based on where they are located in the role hierarchy.
  • You can configure access to data in Salesforce at four main levels:
    1. Organization
    2. Objects
    3. Fields
    4. Records
      • Organization–wide defaults
      • Role hierarchies
      • Sharing rules
      • Manual sharing
  • Lightning App Builder: Build custom pages for Lightning Experience quickly with point-and-click tools.
  • Lightning Page Types:
    1. App Page: Create a home page for a third-party app that you can add directly into the Salesforce mobile app and Lightning Experience navigation menus
    2. Home Page: Create Home pages with features relevant to specific types of users, and assign the customized pages to different apps or app-and-user-profile combinations.
    3. Record Page: Create a customized version of an object’s record page, tailoring it to your users’ needs. 
  • Group: A group consists of a set of users. A group can contain individual users, other groups, or the users in a particular role or territory.
  • There are two types of groups:
    • Public Groups
    • Personal Groups
  • You can use groups in the following ways.
    • To set up default sharing access via a sharing rule
    • To share your records with other users
    • To specify that you want to synchronize contacts owned by other users
    • To add multiple users to a Salesforce CRM Content library
    • To assign users to specific actions in Salesforce Knowledge
Process Automation BadgeFinancial Services Cloud Accredited Professional BadgeHealth Cloud Accredited ProfessionalEinstein Prediction Builder Accredited Professional Badgedata cloud consultant
Popular Exam Guides

6.3 Data Model 25% (10 Questions)

Salesforce Certified Associate Certification Data Model
  • Schema Builder is a tool that lets you visualize and edit your data model. 
  • Data Modeling
  • Standard objects are objects that are included with Salesforce. Common business objects like Account, Contact, Lead, and Opportunity are all standard objects.
  • Custom objects are objects that you create to store information that’s specific to your company or industry.
  • Object relationships are a special field type that connects two objects together.
  • There are two main types of object relationships:
    1. Lookup Relationships
    2. Master-Detail Relationships
Salesforce Certified Associate Certification Key Salesforce Objects
Key Salesforce Objects
  • Leads & Opportunities for Lightning Experience
  • Lightning Experience Productivity
  • Formulas and Validations
  •  A Formula field is a ready only field that automatically calculate a value based on other fields or a formula.
  • Validation Rules
    • Validation rules verify that the data a user enters in a record meets the standards you specify before the user can save the record.
    • A Validation rule can contain a formula or expression that evaluates the data in one or more fields and returns a value of “True” or “False”.
    • Validation Rules also include an error message to display to the user when the rule returns a value of “True” due to an invalid value.
  • Data Security
  • Permission Set Groups
  • A permission set is a collection of settings and permissions that give users access to various tools and functions. Permission sets extend users’ functional access without changing their profiles.
  • A permission set group streamlines permissions assignment and management. Use a permission set group to bundle permission sets together based on user job functions. Users assigned the permission set group receive the combined permissions of all the permission sets in the group.
  • Picklist Administration
  • Salesforce provides several standard fields in each record. You can create a custom field if you may want to capture important info that’s not covered by a standard field.

6.4 Reports and Dashboards 15% (6 Questions)

Salesforce Certified Associate Certification Reports and Dashboards
  • Report Type
    • A report type is like a template that makes reporting easier
    • A report type determines which fields and records are available for use when creating a report
    • This is based on the relationships between a primary object and its related objects
  • Reports display only records that meet the criteria defined in the report type
  • Out of the box, Salesforce provides a set of predefined standard report types
  • Report  Formats
    • Tabular(Default) – Similar to a spreadsheet, they consist simply of an ordered set of fields in columns, with each matching record listed in a row 
    • Summary – Summary reports are similar to tabular reports, but also allow you to group rows of data, view subtotals, and create charts 
    • Matrix – Matrix reports allow you to group records both by row and by column
    • Joined – Joined reports are report blocks that provide different views of your data
  • Report Folders
    • Every report is stored in a folder
    • Report folders determine how reports are accessed, and who can access them to view, edit, or manage
    • Folders can be public, hidden, or shared
  • Dashboards offer a visual display of your data around a common theme.
  • Dashboard
    • A dashboard is a visual display of key metrics and trends for records in your org. 
    • Each dashboard component is based on a single source report 
    • You can use the same or different source reports for the various components in a dashboard
  • Dashboard Folders
    • Like reports, dashboards are stored in folders. 
    • If you have access to a folder, you can view its dashboards. 
    • To view the individual dashboard components, you will also need access to the underlying reports.
  • Dashboard Components – Come in various chart types, tables, metrics, and gauges, and you can customize how data is grouped, summarized, and displayed for each component.
  • Reports and dashboards are stored in folders. 
  • For reports: You can control who has access to the contents of the folder based on roles, permissions, and more.
  • For dashboards: Each dashboard has a running user whose security settings determine which data to display to the dashboard’s viewers.
  • With dynamic dashboards, the running user is always the logged-in user, which means that viewers only see the dashboard data according to their own access level.
  • A report chart gives users a visual way to understand the data in your report.
  • Key Dashboard Component Types
COMPONENT TYPEIMAGEDESCRIPTION
ChartPie chart componentYou can use a chart when you want to show data graphically.
GaugeGauge componentYou can use a gauge when you have a single value that you want to show within a range of custom values.
MetricMetric componentYou can use a metric when you have one key value to display. 
TableTable componentYou can use a table to show a set of report data in column form. .
Key Dashboard Component Types
  • Report Chart Types
Bar chartsA bar chart shows values as horizontal lengths, so this format can be good for comparing distance or time. Use a bar chart when you have a summary report with a single grouping, or you only want to display one grouping.
Column chartsA column chart is very much like a bar chart, but it can be a better format for showing relative counts of things, such as leads or dollars. Use a column chart when you have a summary report with a single grouping, or you only want to display one grouping.
Line ChartsLine charts are good for showing changes in the value of an item over a series of points in time, such as week to week or quarter to quarter. Use a line chart when you have one important grouping representing an ordered set of data and one value to show.
Pie ChartsUse a pie chart when you have multiple groupings and want to show the proportion of a single value for each grouping against the total.
Donut ChartsUse a donut chart when you have multiple groupings and want to show not only the proportion of a single value for each grouping against the total, but also the total amount itself.
Funnel ChartsUse a funnel chart when you have multiple groupings in an ordered set and want to show the proportions among them.
Scatter ChartsUse scatter charts to show meaningful information using one or two groups of report data plus summaries.
Report Chart Types

7. Practice Questions

8. How to Pass Salesforce Certified Associate Certification Exam Short Video

Please watch this brief video for useful tips to pass the Salesforce Certified Associate Exam. Please subscribe to the DYDC YouTube channel for more videos like this!

8. Additional Resources

Salesforce Certified Associate Certification Certificate

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10 thoughts on “How to Pass Salesforce Associate Certification Exam”

  1. Are the notes in the article you made all we need? I looked at other mock exams and they require a higher level of knowledge to answer.

  2. Besides a singular 11$ Udemy course, this was the only other blog I took excerpts from before passing the test at noon today. As a former BA in previous Salesforce projects, this was the perfect encapsulation of all introductory concepts before diving back into SFDC. Highly underrated- including the links to Trailhead. so make sure you get pretty comfy by clicking your way through the apps. Good luck, fellow blazers!

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