10 Common Interview Questions About Using Salesforce

Updated 24 January 2023

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Salesforce is a cloud-based customer relationship management (CRM) solution. It facilitates result-oriented interaction between companies and their customers. Salesforce provides companies with a comprehensive solution to gather and access data on their customers. This data could be related to sales, commerce, marketing, analytics and after-sales service. If you are appearing for a Salesforce interview, it is essential to know its operations and underlying technology. In this article, we provide you with 10 common salesforce interview questions and sample answers to help you prepare for your interview.

What Salesforce Interview Questions You Require To Expect?

Interviewers are likely to ask general questions, technical questions or both, depending on the nature of the job. For example, if you apply for a development role such as a content management platform developer, the questions would be related to Docker, Kubernetes, Java and JavaScript. If you are applying for Salesforce administrator, the interviewers would focus on your operational knowledge and topics such as Salesforce Sandbox, service desk monitoring, effective resolution of support tickets, customer life-cycles and reporting. But, all interviewers expect a basic working knowledge of the Salesforce platform.

Common Salesforce Interview Questions

Here are some common interview questions that you can expect in a Salesforce interview:

1. What is Salesforce?

This question is usually reserved for junior and internship positions. Interviewers try to see if you know the fundamentals of Salesforce. You can define Salesforce in a single sentence to keep it brief.

Example: "Salesforce is a cloud-based CRM suite that provides a complete overview of every customer life cycle to the marketing, sales, commerce and service departments within your organisation."

2. What is a dashboard?

This is a general question that checks your knowledge of user interfaces. Describe the meaning of a dashboard and then provide a context for Salesforce dashboards. Such an explanation shows the interviewers that you know the term when used across different software.

Example: "A dashboard is a graphical user interface which displays a summary of statistics and different data types in a single accessible location. Salesforce dashboards display reports, metrics and key performance indicators of the organisation with respect to the customer cycles."

3. Explain the difference between static and dynamic dashboards.

The ability to differentiate between both types of dashboards can showcase your knowledge of using dashboards as different users. Begin the answer with an explanation of the classic dashboards, explain the limitations and then introduce dynamic dashboards with their advantages to impress the interviewing panel.

Example: "The static dashboard feature in Salesforce Classic allowed a single user to access only one dashboard at a time. This feature was unreliable because the system administrators needed to clone the dashboards for every access level, increasing their workload and the number of dashboards in the system.

To address this problem, Salesforce introduced dynamic dashboards to allow users with a certain level of access to simultaneously view the data according to the profile permissions. They modified the dashboard panel and login systems to incorporate the advanced functionality while still keeping backward compatibility. With this new system, you can run a dashboard only as a specified user to access it without the security settings filter applied. The other option allows you to log in with your credentials to view the data on a dashboard according to your own level of access."

4. Can multiple users have the same profiles in Salesforce?

Some interviewers ask this question to check your experience working with access control in Salesforce. To answer this question, address the key point directly. Then explain how an organization assigns profiles to its users.

Example: "Yes, multiple users can have the same profiles in the Salesforce Classic edition. It provides standard profiles that you can assign to different users. For example, a business organization may assign the System Administrator profile to one person to configure the Salesforce application. In other cases, they can add multiple users to the Standard Platform User profile who can use the functionality of core and custom apps, but not customize Salesforce."

5. What is the use of sharing rules?

As a Salesforce administrator, knowledge about sharing rules is critical to show that you have grasped the basics of assigning policies, setting permissions and regulating user access. Many employers ask such questions to check how you decide to distribute access to individuals in their Salesforce org. An effective answer is required to begin with the introduction of sharing rules and then state the advantages over older criteria-based rule allotment.

Example: "Salesforce introduced sharing rules to increase the access for users in the public groups, roles or territories. In previous Salesforce versions, all accounts would be shared across the entire organization if you tried to automate the process. To prevent that, you would require to customize the sharing process on a per-record basis, which was extremely time-consuming for an organization with a large number of records. Sharing rules allow administrators to alleviate this issue by setting up field values before sharing the records."

6. What types of apps are available in Salesforce?

Some interviewers use this question to check if you are aware of the console and standard apps native to Salesforce. You can describe the difference between both and complement your answer by mentioning the app exchange and providing an example.

Example: "There are two types of core apps available in Salesforce, console and standard, depending on the type of navigation. Standard apps allow users to open only one record at one time. Console apps allow opening multiple records simultaneously.

Salesforce also allows for developing custom apps. The Salesforce app exchange lists many third-party apps which can extend the functionality of Salesforce. For example, the cover app from the marketplace can utilize AI to deliver personalized customer experience and search results from within Salesforce itself."

7. What is a Salesforce Sandbox?

Use this question to demonstrate how you can create a different environment to develop and test new features in a separate instance without interfering in the live production process.

Example: "In Salesforce terms, Sandbox is an exact copy of your entire production organization. It is used for testing new designs or development features and train new employees in the operation of Salesforce software."

8. What kind of database does Salesforce use?

Questions about databases check if you have technical knowledge about working with Salesforce. You can state the type of database at the start of your answer. Try to avoid naming the database because Salesforce may change the provider of their databases from time to time. Instead, try to mention how this kind of database is useful for Salesforce and provide an example to showcase additional knowledge.

Example: "Salesforce uses a relational database instead of a traditional one. A relational database enables complex relationships between different tables via unique row and table identifiers. Salesforce relies on presenting data that connects different objects stored in separate tables with lookup, master-detail, many-to-many or custom relationships. Therefore, relational databases work well with Salesforce.

For example, an organisation may create master-detail relationships between tables of accounts and contact information. Then they can create a lookup relationship between accounts and purchase history. So, accessing the account on the dashboard brings up phone numbers, email addresses and purchase history all at once."

9. How would you use SOQL and SOSL?

Technical questions involving query or search languages often follow the database question. If you apply for a database role, you are required to explain the difference between searches and mention when you can use one over the other. Begin your answer by explaining the acronyms and then explain using each in a typical situation.

Example: "SOQL means Salesforce Object Query Language, whereas SOSL means Salesforce Object Search language. We use SOQL when we know the location of data within Salesforce objects. This query searches the entire database for that specific term. SOQL is useful when the required data is tightly bound in terms of relationships.

We use SOSL when we do not know the origin of the data. SOSL can combine multiple terms and create tokens from them to create search indexes. This process ensures that you get to view possible objects and fields regardless of their relationships. So, SOSL gives you a broader perspective because it incorporates the CJKT languages in the search process."

10. What is an audit trail in Salesforce?

Some employers may ask this question as a part of system administration and security procedures. In your answer, you are required to explain why this procedure is necessary for tracking project changes. Mention some of the changes you can track and how you can view the audit trail along with the duration of records.

Example: "Audit trail is a way of monitoring changes in the setup of your Salesforce org. Audit trails are useful when you employ more than one system administrator in your organisation.

Some of the changes tracked include modifications to the user profiles, permission sets, page layouts, visibility of tabs, console settings, sign-ins, validation rules, password policies and resets, session timeouts, deletion of records, user events, security certificates, encryption setups and sandbox uses.

To access the audit history, you can type 'View Setup Audit Trail' in the Quick Find box. The result shows the View Setup Audit Trail as the option. You can select this option to check the history. Salesforce allows us to download 180 days because the setup entity records are automatically deleted after that duration."