The Advantage of Embracing Development Skills as an Admineloper

The Salesforce ecosystem has undergone significant changes in recent years, with an influx of new professionals entering the field and a slowdown in hiring. With a saturated market and employers becoming increasingly selective, it’s crucial to understand what sets successful candidates apart. 

This article delves into the importance of specialization and the growing demand for hybrid roles like adminelopers – administrators with developer skills – as a way to enhance employability and add value to organizations. Drawing from my personal experience and industry observations, I’ll provide practical advice and resources for both newcomers and seasoned professionals in the Salesforce ecosystem wishing to gain a strategic advantage by becoming an admineloper.

The Changing Salesforce Economy

Let’s face it: the Salesforce ecosystem has changed; there’s a large number of people coming out of the ecosystem and even fewer being hired. This has been widely reported on platforms like LinkedIn, as well as trusted Salesforce sites and community groups over the past year. 

Just a few years ago, hiring individuals new to the Salesforce ecosystem was at an all-time high. There was an influx of transitioning professionals such as teachers, healthcare workers, and military veterans. With dedication, individuals could get their first certification, and land their first Salesforce job within months.

I can relate because I was one of them. The first time I heard of Salesforce was in July 2022. The hype was real and I was interested in tech. I had recently lost my job and it was the right time for a career change. I studied hard, earned my admin certification, and landed my first Salesforce role in November 2022 with zero prior experience. I entered the Salesforce ecosystem just as it was reaching its peak. A short few months later, the waves of tech layoffs began. The layoffs continued through 2023 and hiring slowed down tremendously.

In the last 18 months, hiring has dramatically decreased and the market is saturated with new aspiring Salesforce professionals earning certifications with hopes of breaking into the ecosystem. This comes down to the fact that employers now have more choices – they want to get more bang for their buck, which means it takes more time to choose the best candidate, look for specializations, and ask for more from Salesforce Admins.

Don’t get me wrong, I understand that everyone has value and I am truly thankful that my company took a chance on me. Think of it this way; If you wanted to go to a restaurant for steak and your town had only Outback Steakhouse, chances are you’d end up there.

However, if your town had Outback, Charlestons, Longhorn, DeStefano’s Steak House, Delmonico’s, Mastro’s Steakhouse, Wolfgang’s Steakhouse, Pappas Bros. Steakhouse, Cattlemans, Vince Young Steakhouse – you aren’t going to visit all of them for dinner. You’d choose one that checks all your boxes, whether it’s location, pricing, reviews, variety, or recommendations from friends.

For employers, it’s a similar predicament. They’ll review more than just certifications; they will likely review your LinkedIn profile, work experience, certifications, portfolio, community involvement, and beyond. What sets you apart from the rest?

Is it impossible for newcomers to break into the Salesforce ecosystem? No, but it’s significantly more competitive. Even for seasoned professionals, it’s time to level up.

Boosting your value in the Salesforce ecosystem can be accomplished through different avenues. Identifying your niche, a cloud where you excel can help. However, finding this niche can be challenging for newcomers due to a lack of experience. It’s a chicken-and-egg dilemma where gaining experience requires securing a job first.

What Is an Admineloper?

Another way to make yourself more valuable is to become an admineloper. This hybrid role is becoming more well-known and is used to describe an admin with developer skills.

Knowing more than just declarative skills is becoming a sought-after skill, therefore being an admineloper adds a competitive edge within the Salesforce ecosystem.

Benefits of Becoming an Admineloper

I’m a strong believer in value, but it’s about more than what I can offer to an employer or client. I also prioritize understanding the value that I gain from the work I do. What value can becoming an admineloper do for you?

Enhanced Problem-Solving Capabilities

Adminelopers possess both declarative (point-and-click) and programmatic (coding) skills, enabling them to tackle a broader range of challenges. This dual expertise allows for more efficient troubleshooting and the ability to create comprehensive solutions that purely administrative or developer roles might not achieve.

Better Project Efficiency

Adminelopers can manage projects more effectively by understanding both the business requirements and the technical possibilities. This leads to more accurate project scoping, quicker turnaround times, and fewer misunderstandings between admins and developers, ultimately saving time and resources. 

For example, learning developer skills enabled me to review a lightning web component’s code for a client. This allowed me to quickly assess if their request was a simple fix or needed a more complex solution. As a result, it took me 20 minutes to find the solution and fix the code. Otherwise, the internal process to assign a developer the ticket and resolve the issue would have taken several days. Subsequently, it significantly reduced time and saved several hours of billable time.

Improved Communication and Collaboration

Having a solid grasp of both administrative and development concepts allows adminelopers to communicate more effectively with both business stakeholders and technical teams. This improved communication helps in translating business needs into technical specifications and vice versa, ensuring smoother project execution.

Not everyone will have both skills, so you can bridge the gap, or become the liaison, between those who understand the declarative side and the developers. Developers appreciate admins who possess developer skills and can understand their language. You can effectively communicate business needs because everyone shares a common understanding.

It can be frustrating for an admin when a developer doesn’t fully grasp the request. Even though you might think you’re communicating effectively from the developers’ perspective, it can feel like speaking a foreign language. The key is whether you’re using your words meaningfully and accurately.

This not only saves time for the client but also for yourself and the developer, while reducing frustration for all parties involved.

Enhanced Understanding of Best Practices

Adminelopers gain a deeper understanding of Salesforce best practices, including security, data management, and coding standards. This comprehensive knowledge helps in implementing robust, scalable, and maintainable solutions that align with industry standards. You’ll become familiar with the intricate boundaries of Salesforce and comprehend multi-tenant system constraints such as query limits, DML statements, and governor limits.

Greater Impact on Business Outcomes

Adminelopers can directly contribute to more effective and innovative business solutions, enhancing overall business outcomes. Their ability to create custom solutions that precisely meet business needs can lead to improved customer satisfaction and business performance. Enhanced communication, better project scoping, and effective decision-making processes are some of the ways adminelopers bring value to a company.

Increased Employability and Job Security

With the Salesforce job market becoming more competitive, having both admin and developer skills makes you a prime candidate. Employers value the versatility of adminelopers, who can bridge gaps between different teams and reduce the need for multiple specialized hires. 

This versatility can also lead to greater job security and career advancement opportunities. Enhanced developer skills position you at the forefront of this rapidly changing ecosystem, making you a better asset to your current company and more appealing to potential employers.

Advanced Career Development

By combining admin and developer skills, adminelopers position themselves as valuable assets in the Salesforce ecosystem. This unique skill set opens up advanced career paths, including leadership roles such as Salesforce Solution Architect, Technical Lead, or Consultant, where both strategic and technical expertise are crucial.

Understanding developer skills not only deepens your comprehension of security and coding best practices but also enhances your business analysis skills, leading to improved business outcomes.

Personal Growth and Satisfaction

Learning and applying both administrative and development skills can be highly rewarding. Adminelopers often experience greater job satisfaction due to the variety and complexity of their work, as well as the opportunity to continuously learn and grow within the Salesforce ecosystem. This role not only adds value to employers and clients but also enriches your professional and personal development.

How Do You Gain Developer Skills?

Start by recalling which study methods have been effective for you in the past. When preparing for certifications, consider which approach worked best for you – whether it was study groups, YouTube videos, instructor-led courses, or Udemy courses, apply the same mindset when learning development skills.

Of all the available resources, I wouldn’t personally recommend Trailhead for development training. Being goal-oriented, I prefer live, instructor-led courses. I enrolled in a course at Cloud Code Academy, which required a significant time commitment to stay on track. Fortunately, all sessions were recorded for those who needed flexibility, but I found it most effective to keep pace with the live sessions.

Having a live instructor to address real-time questions was invaluable to my learning. Cloud Code Academy taught me coding skills and provided a deep dive into the development career path. Throughout this process, I discovered that while I enjoy coding, I didn’t want to become a developer myself. However, many of my peers in the cohort did choose the developer route and thrived.

How Adminelopers Can Work with Developers

Even though I gained tremendous value from acquiring some developer skills, I wouldn’t have been able to determine if it was the right path for me until I tried it. Coding is challenging, which is why developers command higher salaries. It’s important to remember that becoming an Admineloper doesn’t automatically make you a full-fledged developer. Instead, it equips you to communicate more effectively with developers.

Understanding some code doesn’t make you an expert, but it does help you grasp the limitations of custom development. As an admineloper, ensure you consult with developers on custom configurations. Developers have a deeper understanding of the complexities and should be your primary source of truth.

We need developers, and developers need admins – let’s make it easier for both sides. By enhancing your developer skills and increasing your value as an admin in this competitive ecosystem, you can distinguish yourself and stand out.

Summary

Becoming an admineloper not only boosts your marketability and career prospects but also enhances your ability to deliver comprehensive, efficient, and innovative solutions within the Salesforce ecosystem. Whether you’re new to Salesforce or a seasoned professional, developing both admin and developer skills can make you a pivotal player in your organization and lead to a more fulfilling career.

Resources

• Introduction to Salesforce Apex
• Cloud Prism with Igor Kudryk
• Cloud Code Academy by Warren Walters 
• Camp Apex
• Code with Sally