How to Ace your Salesforce Consultant Interview

As a Salesforce Consultant, you’re in a high impact career in large demand. So it should come as no surprise that Salesforce consultant interviews can be fast-paced and filled with difficult questions.

While interview situations can be intimidating, good preparation will help you know what to expect going into your next Salesforce consultant interview. With some time, you can be confident of presenting the best version of yourself to a prospective employer.

Here are four key tips to help you nail your next Salesforce consultant interview.

Refresh your portfolio prior to the interview

A Salesforce consultant role is typically a billable position under the Salesforce umbrella, and you’re expected to have a strong working knowledge of Salesforce’s architecture. Employers are very concerned with what you’ve done in the past as an indication of how you will do in the new role.

With demand for Salesforce skills currently greater than the talent pool, it’s your experience as a Salesforce consultant that makes you a valuable candidate. The best way to demonstrate this experience is to fill out your portfolio with all the projects you’ve worked on, your role in those projects, and what you learned from them as a result. It’s always helpful to use real-world examples, as a way to demonstrate knowledge and experience.

Organize your portfolio so you can look at your previous projects and extract which tools you used, how long the project lasted, what your learning outcomes were, and how you would improve the process if you had to do it again.

Ask about the interview format

For most organizations, you will likely be faced with technical and non-technical interviews. Some interviews will be an informal chat with candidates to get a feel for who they are as a person. These are typically to gauge a personality or cultural fit. Other interviews serve to test technical proficiency with a practical exercise or assessment.

While a good consultant should be able to adapt to any interview format, it never hurts to find out in advance what you’ll be expected to do. At the very least, it will help you be more calm. Or it may allow you some time to refresh on technical topics before an assessment.

Be prepared for common questions

While your interview questions will vary based on the type of role, company, and other factors, I have seen a few common Salesforce consultant interview questions repeated. Here are a few that you should be prepared to answer:

1. Share an experience of when you have worked with a difficult client. How did you manage that situation?
2. How do you handle communication with both technical and non-technical members of a client team?
3. What do you see as the most important factor(s) to a successful project (or implementation)?
4. How do you avoid scope creep? How do you handle it when that is inevitable?
5. What is a project that you are very proud of?
6. What has been your most difficult engagement, and why?

For all of these questions, have some situations in mind. When asked about handling a difficult situation, don’t sugar coat things too much. Consultants are frequently faced with difficult situations and clients. Your employer expects that you have experienced these items, and wants to understand how you react to them.

Relate to the company’s bottom line

According to an independent Salesforce survey, 64% of Salesforce partners have seen an increased number of projects. Because of that increasing demand, good consultants are in short supply. This puts you in great position to get an offer. However, because this is a revenue generating position in many companies, they also want to protect their investment.

Don’t become too focused on your individual role in the organization. Remember that you’re there to increase profits, so you should understand where you fit in the larger vision of the company. A startup will have very different goals than a global consultancy. Understand what the business cares about, and you could prove yourself as a valuable asset before your Salesforce consultant interview has even concluded.

Conclusion

Following these four tips will give you the best chance of receiving that coveted job offer. Remember to always be honest with the interviewer, and have confidence in your abilities. Your skills and experience are extremely valuable in the Salesforce market, so the interview is just as important for your prospective employer as it is for you!

If you are looking for a good consulting position, Simplus is always hiring experienced consultants.