One of the best Salesforce developers I ever met (let’s call him James to keep it anonymous) has the Force.com Certified Developer certification (a.k.a. the 401 Dev Cert, and it’s his only Salesforce certification). Some of the weakest Salesforce developers I have encountered also had 401 Dev Certs. I have a 401 Dev Cert. There’s a wide gap between those three populations, and that’s why I am glad to see this “Developer” certification go away.

The Fundamental Problem

I agree with the mantra of “clicks over code”, and I preach it as much as I can. Salesforce packs a lot of power into its declarative (i.e. clickable) platform, but sometimes you have to code some Apex (like Triggers, Controllers and Web service callouts) or some Visualforce (Custom UI, JavaScript Single Page App, etc.) to deliver your solution. In those instances, you usually call in a Salesforce Developer/Engineer. Herein lies the fundamental problem with the Certified Force.com Developer certification: you don’t need to know how to code anything to get it.

Some Background

Let’s back up a little bit and explore the reason why so many good developers only have a 401 Certification (as opposed to the 501 Advanced Developer Certification). The 501 Certification has two parts:  a multiple choice exam and a programming assignment. The multiple choice exam is easy enough to schedule and it is challenging, but not insurmountable, for most Salesforce developers worth their salt. However, registration for the programming assignment is only open during specific times during the year, and spots fill up quickly. Even if you passed the multiple choice exam today, it could be months before you could enroll and complete the programming assignment. This headache was enough to keep me, James and many like us on the sidelines sticking with our 401 Certifications.

The Easy Road

Here’s the other reason so many “Devs” have the 401 Cert only; it is so easy to get. My first foray into Salesforce was probably 5-6 years ago, and I was working on a proof of concept app for a large client who was considering moving to Salesforce as their application development platform. I picked up the platform pretty quickly, and was able to jump into Apex and Visualforce no problem, but I was just scratching the surface of the platform knowledge I would need to be successful developer in the Salesforce community. Our client eventually did choose Salesforce as their app dev platform, and they informed my firm that they would like to continue using us as a development partner, but we needed certified Salesforce developers to win the contract. That meant I had two weeks to become a Certified Force.com Developer. I was certified eight days later only because I had no desire to take the test on a weekend. I wasn’t a functioning developer on the Salesforce platform, but I was a Certified Force.com Developer.

A Hiring Manager’s Conundrum

Fast forward a few years, and my role evolved into a position where I was responsible for hiring Salesforce developers. I saw a lot of resumes come my way where the 401 Certification was called on as a badge of honor and activities like “Modifying Page Layouts”,  “Configuring Workflow Rules” and “Scheduling Reports” were stated as bonafides for a role where I needed someone who could code around the ten Apex callout governor limit (thankfully this has been bumped to 100 – thank you Salesforce) and who had the basic decency to not put SOQL or DML in a For Loop. James and I both knew that our 401 Certs didn’t mean a whole lot when it came down to business.

Platform Developer I

Now, I don’t want to bash the 401 certification too much because it has been transitioned to a title more appropriate in the Platform App Builder credential. Yes, you can build apps on Salesforce without writing a lick of code, and it’s one of the things that makes the platform so great. So now that the 401 has found it’s rightful resting place in App Builder, what are the Salesforce certified Developers/Engineers I am looking for?  They are (at a minimum) Platform Developer I’s. Let me give you an example test question from the Platform Dev I study guide:

A developer creates a method in an Apex class and needs to ensure that errors are handled properly. Which three would the developer use?

(Choose three answers)

A. ApexPages.addErrorMessage()

B. A custom exception

C. .addError()

D. Database.handleException()

E. A try/catch construct

Hallelujah!  If you come knocking on my door with a Platform Dev I certification, I know what you are capable of from a developer perspective. If we need you to code a service layer or an API integration, I’ve got a lot more faith you can get the job done than if you would have brought a 401 Cert with you.

If you come knocking with a Platform Dev II certification, I’ll probably invite you in and pour you a glass of whisky so we can talk about future opportunities and your career goals.

Thanks to the new Developer certifications grilling you on questions that good developers should be able to answer, my life as a hiring manager has been made that much easier.

The Blue Pill or the Red Pill

If you are a Salesforce developer with the 401 Cert and are reading this, you more than likely got the same email I did that stated you had a year before your certification expires. You can take the blue pill and pass the transition exam and move on to the Platform App Builder certification, or you can take the red pill and jump into the Platform Developer track and see how deep the rabbit hole goes. If you are a Engineering Manager with previous (and/or current) pain points around hiring qualified, certified developers, your life is about to get a bit easier. If you are a CodeScientist, you are looking at the gauntlet I just threw down. If you are James, I’m looking at you.