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These days, say “CRM platform,” and most folks will say “Salesforce!” It has become a global juggernaut — the tool of choice for many businesses wanting to increase sales, generate more leads, improve customer service, and grow through sales.
As one experienced Salesforce developer puts it:
“Salesforce is great for companies since it’s a platform where you don’t have to build things from scratch. It gives you multiple out-of-the-box features but also allows you to quickly extend it with custom ones to meet specific business needs.” - Grzegorz Skaruz, Salesforce Developer
Offered as a cloud-based web service, Salesforce appeals to many buyers because it eliminates the time and cost of maintaining their own platform from scratch. Users like it because Salesforce software can help automate many formerly manual tasks. Aston Martin, GE, Pizza Hut, Western Union, and L’Oréal are just some well-known companies that use it.
Building on Salesforce
A programmer’s role in Salesforce development involves building and customizing applications on these platforms:
- SalesForce Lightning Platform (previously Force.com). This is the official Salesforce PaaS, which developers use to build applications.
- Heroku. Heroku is a cloud-based, managed container system that’s integrated with data services and powerful capabilities used to deploy and run Salesforce apps. Developers working on Heroku can build applications with different programming languages.
- Apex. This Java-based development platform enables programmers to build SaaS applications on top of Salesforce’s CRM functionality. With Apex, developers can create third-party SaaS applications by accessing the Salesforce back-end database and client-server interfaces.
Salesforce Frameworks, Languages, and Development Tools
Being a successful developer in the Salesforce ecosystem requires fluency in these frameworks, languages, and tools:
- Visualforce. This component-based, UI framework enables developers to create reusable interfaces. Visualforce is part of the Salesforce PaaS offering.
- SOQL (Salesforce Object Query Language) is an optimized version of SQL specifically designed for work in the Salesforce database.
- SOSL (Salesforce Object Search Language) is a Salesforce search language, with which users perform text searches in Salesforce database records. Users can search across multiple standards and customized object records.
- Fuel API. Developers use the Fuel API to build marketing apps used on Salesforce platforms.
- Lightning App Builder. This point-and-click tool makes it easy to create custom pages for the Salesforce mobile app and the Lightning Experience user interface.
Hiring the Best Salesforce Developers
The first step to hiring Salesforce developers: being very clear about the Salesforce professional you’re looking for. In the Salesforce ecosystem, you can hire Salesforce administrators, developers, implementation experts, and architects.
We designed this guide to help you find first-rate Salesforce developers. That means helping you identify the types of knowledge, skills, and tools that contribute the most value to projects that build or customize apps on the Salesforce platform.
Essential Knowledge, Skills, and Experience
A successful hire also requires other types of clarity: Knowing exactly what types of knowledge, skills, and experience the job requires. Consider these points to write effective SalesForce developer job descriptions and choose the right Salesforce developer.
Technical knowledge
What should SalesForce software developers know about programming for the Salesforce platform? It helps to know how strong a foundation your candidate is working with. That’s why it pays to consider their:
- Foundation knowledge. For example, a strong command of object-oriented programming methods such as inheritance, data binding, polymorphism, etc.
- Related knowledge. Technical skills and experience. How many years of experience should your candidates have? What should your candidates be able to do within the constraints of the job you’re hiring for? Will your developer code apps, and that’s it? Or will he/she have to participate in testing and code reviews too?
- Grzegorz’s Hiring Tip: When you’re looking to hire a Salesforce developer, it’s essential to verify his/her level of experience. It’s not only about the number of years worked with this technology but also the number of apps developed and the variety of projects. IT or business-related knowledge is also a plus.
Salesforce Certification
Software engineers can get SalesForce certified by gaining certification, which is one of the most reliable ways to know what your candidate can do before he or she joins your project. Does your project need skills confirmed with a certificate? If so, Salesforce offers a variety of programs, which certify the experience of different skills and roles. For example:
- Salesforce Administrator certificates document the skills and experience of Basic and Advanced Administrators, Platform App Builder, and CPQ Specialist positions.
- Salesforce Architect certificates document the skills and experience of Architecture Designer, Application and Systems Architect, and Technical Architect positions.
- Salesforce Developer certificates document the skills and experience of Platform App Builder, Platform Developer I and II, and B2C Commerce Developer positions.
- Salesforce Marketing Credentials certificates document the skills and experience of Marketing Cloud Email Specialist, Marketing Cloud Consultant, Pardot Consultant, and Pardot Specialist positions.
- Consultant Credentials certificates document the skills and experience of Community Cloud Consultant, Field Service Lightning Consultant, Marketing Cloud Consultant positions, and others.
Soft Skills
Coding ability is only part of any developer’s job. How significant a role do people skills have in your project? Identifying the collaboration, communications, and people skills your candidate needs to work well in your project will squelch nasty surprises later. For example, does your candidate have a reputation of quirky, distracting behavior that explodes a day before your deadline?
It also helps if your developer has business knowledge related to the development work. For example, understanding business processes is usually the job of a business analyst or product manager. However, smaller businesses might be able to only hire one technical consultant. In that case, hiring a developer who understands business requirements and can translate them into technical content is a big plus.
Hiring skilled Salesforce developers is one thing. But first, you must find your candidates. This requires the knack of taking the initiative and knowing where to look for them.
Finding Top Salesforce Developers
When looking for the best places to find first-rate Salesforce developers, remember the old saying, “Birds of a feather flock together.” It pays to look anywhere developers get the urge to gather. Luckily, that gives you plenty of scouting opportunities.
Salesforce Communities
- Salesforce developer communities
- Salesforce Trailblazer
- Salesforce developers on LinkedIn
- Salesforce subreddit
- Salesforce developers on Facebook
Hackathons, Meetings, and Conferences
- Annual Dreamforce Conference
- Trailblazer Community meetings in San Francisco
For blogs and other sites for Salesforce developers, you can refer to the Salesforce Rock Stars repo.
Remember, this list is just a tiny part of the meetups, conferences, and communities available to find Salesforce developers.
Salesforce Developer Salaries
You should now have an idea about where to find Salesforce developers and what you need to learn about them. Now it’s time to talk about money. Here’s a quick overview of what to expect:
There is no way to generalize about Salesforce developer pay rates. They vary widely throughout the U.S. and beyond. It helps to know and offer pay rates that will entice a highly qualified candidate without breaking your budget.
According to Indeed, the Salesforce developer's average salary is $113,762 per annum. Here’s a list of some of the highest average annual salaries of states with an IT hub:
- California: $136,500
- Colorado: $117,365
- Massachusetts: $135,000
- New York: $130,000
- Texas: $125,000
- Washington: $140,000
Providing Competitive Hourly Rates
As with full-time developer salaries, SalesForce developer’s hourly rates vary a lot in different U.S. cities and regions. The average SalesForce freelance rate is around $81 per hour, and the more experienced Salesforce developers may charge $100 hourly or more.
When calculated to monthly and annual pay, this pay range looks like this:
SalesForce developer average monthly pay: $12,960 to $16,000
SalesForce developer average annual pay: $155,520 to $192,000
Keep in mind that for on-site developers, there are other costs to consider beyond their salary — we go into more details about hiring freelance versus full-time/on-site in this post to see a breakdown of the actual costs.
Next Steps
To get the highest value from the time, effort, and cost of hiring Salesforce developers, follow these steps:
- Customize each job description. Emphasize the technical experience that each position requires. You know which skills (technical and soft) and experience are most relevant for each task, so make sure that this knowledge makes its way onto your job posting page. And remember to make each job description an opportunity to present your organization as an enjoyable place to work.
- Engage in virtual and face-to-face events. Many Salesforce developers enjoy gathering at Salesforce events and meetups. They are the folks most likely to make excellent networking connections.
- Keep your hiring budget in line. Learn the salary and hourly rates of local Salesforce developers or remote freelance developers, depending on your needs.
Now that you have the necessary knowledge, it’s time to start recruiting!