Top tips to get your dream job in Salesforce DevOps

With the recent news of Salesforce layoffs and hiring freezes, it’s fair to say that there’s some anxiety amongst Salesforce professionals seeking a new position. However, upskilling and implementing DevOps is still proving important. Back in 2021, 85% of Salesforce teams had implemented or were planning to implement DevOps, according to Gearset’s State of Salesforce DevOps report — and that number is only growing.

With the General Availability of Salesforce’s DevOps Center, the continued interest in agile development, and the urgency in maximizing Salesforce returns, there’s still high demand for Salesforce DevOps specialists. This means that while the Salesforce ecosystem may experience a slight stall in growth this year, DevOps teams will continue to experience growth within existing Salesforce operations.

So, whether you’re a Salesforce old-timer or looking for your first position in the ecosystem, read on to learn what you can do to prepare for — and land — your dream job in Salesforce DevOps.

How to find your dream Salesforce DevOps job

If you’re looking to move organizations or companies, there are a number of avenues to search for new roles. Alongside the standard online job ads or recruiters route, the advantage of the Salesforce Ohana is the strong sense of community. Many folks will be more than happy to offer mentorship and support to network and find new roles. A great place to start is to look for Trailblazer Community Groups in your local area, or head to Salesforce DevOps conferences, like DevOps Dreamin’. After attending events or meet ups, it’s always worth connecting with Salesforce professionals on LinkedIn or Twitter to stay in touch and to be the first to know of any new opportunities being shared. Building these relationships and gaining an employee referral will give you a better insight into the reality of a position, a better standing with the recruitment manager, and could even open the door to positions that aren’t yet advertised.

Getting ready to apply

Step one is always to get qualified. It’s worth considering which Salesforce skills are high in demand. For admins, mastering Flows has become an essential skill, alongside a critical need to be familiar with both Sales and Service Clouds. Similarly, the more technical Experience Cloud qualifications are great for devs looking to move into management roles. If you’re looking to upskill for a new position, why not begin with the courses here on Launchpad? We’ve got a range of courses covering everything from CI/CD to backup.

Including your qualifications on your LinkedIn or professional Twitter profile is also a great way to market yourself to recruiters and hiring managers. It’ll also boost your reputation in the ecosystem.

While it is possible to prove your technical capabilities without these qualifications, either through work experience or an impressive technical interview, they will reassure hiring managers. This is especially critical given those involved in recruitment decisions won’t necessarily work with Salesforce or DevOps, especially at organizations with a small Salesforce instance. If you’re still not convinced, read our blog post on why you should get DevOps certified for a rundown of the benefits. And even if you’re already qualified, it’s worth doing some revision of areas that you don’t use regularly to keep your knowledge fresh.

Finally, as with any interview, it’s essential to research the company and its wider industry. However, you can really demonstrate your passion and aptitude for DevOps by considering how Salesforce may function in the industry you’re applying for. For example, healthcare organizations will prioritize the security of their data, while those in the Tech sector may be most interested in accelerating releases so that they can get value to their end users as quickly as possible, and get the most ROI.

Structure of a Salesforce DevOps interview

Based on a number of community forums, the time taken to complete a Salesforce DevOps interview cycle ranges between one and five weeks. However, this can all vary by the recruiter’s approach, candidate availability, the seniority of the position, and the technical skills that need to be demonstrated during the process.

The structure of any interview process varies, but you can generally expect to have a technical and behavioral interview. Online timed challenges and screening calls with the potential future team are also common. Some devs have also reported that every interview included technical questions.

It’s worth looking at sites such as Glassdoor for insights into others’ experiences of the interview process with the company or specific role. This being said, good recruitment is transparent so you should be kept in the know throughout the process.

Typical Salesforce DevOps interview questions

Regardless of what position you’re applying for, you can expect a technical interview to test your understanding of Salesforce DevOps. This is often found in the form of an explanation based question, like ‘Can you define a CRM/SaaS/cloud computing/DevOps?’. So, it’s always worth brushing up on definitions before your interview!

For devs, a problem question on Apex or another relevant language can be expected, such as:

• ‘What command would you use if you wanted to find a file that you didn't know the location of?’ [DevOps Engineer Interview, 2021]

Technical questions on the lifecycle of the DevOps process and relevant tools at each stage are also common, like:

• ‘What are the SDLC Lifecycle stages?’ [Senior DevOps Engineer Interview, 2020]

While you can’t anticipate every technical question, a good way to prepare is to think through the DevOps process and map out the tools needed at each stage.

Within the technical interview, you may also be asked to justify specific ways of working. A question which asks you to explain the use of version control within the DevOps process may develop into questions about your rationale for your preferred VCS system and branching strategy. This might sound like:

• ‘What are your favorite Salesforce tools and why?’ [Salesforce Business Analyst, 2018]

Behavioural interviews

Behavioral interviews are held to ensure you would slot well into the company’s culture should you be successful. Some example questions that might be asked are:

• ‘What would you do if you force pushed something to master and had to quickly revert?’ [DevOps Engineer Interview, 2021]
• ‘Walk me through a scenario where you solved a complex business challenge with a Salesforce solution.’ [Salesforce Business Analyst, 2019]
• ‘Describe a time you led a project that failed, what did you learn and what would you have done differently?’ [Senior Salesforce Administrator, 2016]

If you’re struggling to know how to approach these questions, try the STAR technique: respond by explaining the Situation, then identify the Task, clarify your Action, and analyze the Result, using concrete, real-life examples.

Good luck!

At DevOps Launchpad we believe that continuous learning is the best way to secure your career goals and continue to grow once you do land your dream Salesforce DevOps job. If you want to develop your DevOps knowledge, begin with our Salesforce DevOps Fundamentals Certificate — you’ll master the principles and practices of DevOps, putting you in the best possible position ahead of that key job interview!