Codey and Cloudy sitting next to a fire and text that says "Mike's Ultimate 2021 Career Playlist."

Mike’s Ultimate 2021 Career Playlist

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With 2021 drawing to a close and 2022 just around the corner, many people are reevaluating where they want to be and what they want to do as a career.

In the Salesforce ecosystem, it’s a great time to be a Salesforce Administrator, with the role showing an astounding 746% YoY growth in established markets and making up two out of every five job postings.

As many enter the community and it continues to mature, I find it important to keep a pulse on what admins are doing with their careers and how they build their skills. I believe this playlist connects you with exactly that kind of content.

Cloudy in a snow globe and text that says "Favorite Career Blog Posts."

3 Tips for Diving Into the Salesforce Eco-System Head-On

What it covers: In this blog post, Ozzy Solorzano shares his experience of changing careers and entering the Salesforce ecosystem with zero technical experience — the ups, downs, lefts, rights — and you’ll see how anyone can dive into the Salesforce ecosystem head-on!

Why I loved it: When evaluating new career choices or seeing what’s ahead of you, I think it’s important to see what others’ experiences were like so that you have a baseline of understanding. Ozzy shares three pieces of advice that I find to be very helpful.

Read it here.

Inspiring Admin Career Stories

What it covers: Is it too meta if I include a blog post about other blog posts and podcasts? Either way, this post has four great, inspiring stories.

Why I loved it: From finding a job, to landing that first big break, to growing your career, these stories cover a little bit of everything for everyone.

Read it here.

Cloudy in a snow globe and text that says "Favorite Career Videos.""

What Skills Do Salesforce Administrators and Developers Need to Be Successful? | No Silly Questions 

What it covers: This video features a question submitted by Trailblazer Della Leahy, with an expert answer from Sarah Franklin, President & Chief Marketing Officer at Salesforce. Watch to find out which six skills all Salesforce Admins and Developers need to be successful.

Why I loved it: I love that this video response comes from Sarah, who helped build the Admin & Dev Relations team. Sarah also discusses some very tactical skills that all admins and devs need to know, not just fluffy marketing speak.

Watch it here.

What Is a Salesforce Admin?

What it covers: Simply put, Salesforce Admins telling us what a Salesforce Admin is and does.

Why I loved it: This is just a fun, short video that I think helps all of us admins by providing a simple explanation about what admins do, that we can share with our users, friends, parents, aunts, uncles, and puppy-dog sitters.

Watch it here.

Cloudy in a snow globe and text that says "Favorite Podcast Episodes.".""

Your Guide to Getting a Salesforce Admin Job in Today’s Market with Michele Corwin

What it covers: This is another great episode that covers how you can get started to change your career and land your first Salesforce Admin job.

Why I loved it: Because whether you’re new to the ecosystem or have been an admin for a long time, we all remember our first admin position. It’s important to reflect on the things we would do differently, the things we can’t believe we accomplished, and the people who helped us along the way.

Listen to it here.

Create Your Own Salesforce Experience with Gordon Lee 

What it covers: This podcast covers how to get that valuable Salesforce experience in ways other than helping a non-profit. And let’s be honest, when employers say “experience,” they mean trust — so how do you bridge that trust gap? That’s a topic talked about in-depth here, and I love Gordon’s perspective.

Why I loved it: This is an eye-opening episode that really addresses how someone can create and demonstrate Salesforce experience outside of volunteering at a non-profit. And while we love helping non-profits, it’s also important to use your skills for good while not leaving behind potential mountains of technical debt as you gain that experience.

Listen to it here.

The beauty of being challenged in your career

In the movie A League of Their Own, Tom Hanks famously delivers the line, “It’s supposed to be hard. If it were easy, everyone would do it.” While it’s certain there are things that challenge us as admins, if it weren’t that way, I don’t believe it would be as rewarding of a career choice. As you spend time exploring this playlist, I want you to know that I consider admins to be in a league of their own. We, collectively as a community, are redefining success in technology. We, collectively as a persona, are pushing technology and its creators to not accept complacency. The end result, in my opinion, is that we will have the biggest, most diverse, inclusive, and driven group of creators who wake up every day and say, “Why can’t Salesforce do that?”

We want to know what your favorite admin resources from the year were, too! Sharing your favorite blog posts, videos, and podcast episodes is easy.

1️⃣ Fill in our quip template: sforce.co/FavoriteAdminContent.
2️⃣ Take a screenshot of it.
3️⃣ Share it on social using #AwesomeAdmin.

We can’t wait to see what resources you enjoyed the most.

Additional resources

Celebrating 10 years of awesome admins

From Low Code to Agentforce: A 10-Year Journey of Awesome Admins

Over the past decade, the Salesforce Admin role has undergone a remarkable transformation, evolving alongside the platform itself from a simple CRM tool to a robust business ecosystem.  As Salesforce has grown, so too has the significance and complexity of the admin role, making it one of the most critical positions within any organization leveraging […]

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Why admins should listen to podcasts

Why Salesforce Admins Should Listen to Podcasts

Your role as a Salesforce Admin demands more than just technical know-how—it requires creativity, problem-solving, and the ability to think beyond the basics. While there are plenty of resources available that teach you the “how” of Salesforce, from documentation to step-by-step tutorials, there’s something invaluable about understanding the “why.”  Podcasts, often overlooked as a learning […]

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Advance Your Admin Career With Dev Fundamentals

Advance Your Admin Career With Dev Fundamentals

Ready to take the next step in your admin career but unsure where to start? Take a page out of my book and learn development fundamentals to jumpstart your abilities as an advanced admin and extend your Salesforce Platform knowledge. Several years ago, I was at a career tipping point. I felt solid in my […]

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