50 Salesforce Interview Questions (+Answers) to Know

Salesforce is one of the most competitive major tech companies you can apply for. If you’ve scored an interview, it’s time to get familiar with some common Salesforce interview questions. 

We’ll give you the overview of everything you should know about the Salesforce interview, from the hiring process to how to prepare and what questions you should practice beforehand. 

An Overview of the Salesforce Interview Process 

The Salesforce interview process is much like any other interview process. Still, there are certain questions that may stick out that you’d like to know about, like how many interview rounds there might be.

Here’s everything you need to know about the interview process at Salesforce, from the difficulty of the interviews to the acceptance rate. 

Is it hard to get hired by Salesforce?

It depends. It’s not exactly easy to get hired by Salesforce because of the competition. It’s a competitive company but it’s a worthy opportunity to pursue. 

One of the main factors is how many people applied to the role. It’s much harder to score a position at Salesforce if 131 people applied versus just a few applicants for another role.   

How many rounds of interviews are there at Salesforce?

Although the number of rounds of interviews at Salesforce can depend on many factors, usually, applicants report about six or seven interviews. The main aspects of Salesforce’s interview process include the original phone screening with a recruiter, an interview with the hiring manager, and a team or panel interview. 

Sometimes the process involves take-home technical challenges or a design round. It totally depends on what role you’re shooting for. Regardless, be sure to wear business casual and dress to impress for your interview.

How long is the Salesforce interview process?

The Salesforce interview process can last anywhere from a couple of weeks to months. Usually, most people report the process only lasting a few weeks at most. 

If you’re applying for a more high-level position, the interview process will likely be longer and more comprehensive. 

The longest part of the Salesforce interview process is oftentimes setting up the first interview. 

What’s the acceptance rate for Salesforce?

Unfortunately, there’s no solid data on an acceptance rate for Salesforce. However, the competition among applicants who want jobs at major tech companies is fierce. It’s a competitive environment to begin with but can vary based on the position. 

Does Salesforce drug test?

No, Salesforce does not drug test. Although the policy can always change, typically, applicants and employees report that they were not drug tested.  

How to Nail the Salesforce Interview Questions

If you’re worried about answering your upcoming Salesforce interview questions, putting in some practice and prep work can do wonders for your confidence.

Here are four easy ways you put your mind at ease and boost your chances of nailing the Salesforce interview questions. 

1. Research Salesforce (and the position you applied for).

Taking the time to research Salesforce, as well as the position you applied for, is well worth the effort. 

To start, be sure that you understand the roles and responsibility of the role you applied for, including the title of the role. The interviewer will expect you to know what job you applied for, but some candidates disregard that information as they think the interviewer will give them an overview of the position during the interview (which isn’t always the case).

Read more about the history of Salesforce. This can help you understand more about why the company was founded and specifically, how its signature customer relationship management (CRM) system was created. Not only does this type of information give you a better foundation to work off of during your interview, but it can also boost your confidence. 

Be sure to understand the products and services Salesforce offers as well, particularly its cloud-based CRM software. To get a better idea of what the company offers its customers, check out some of the product demos for a clearer visualization. 

Other specific information — such as what companies use Salesforce — can be helpful to bring up in your interview as well, if it’s relevant. Having a foundation of information and details like that can make you seem like a more appealing candidate to the interviewer. It shows that you took the time to take a deep dive into its products and services because you’re passionate about the position. 

2. Review and practice answering common Salesforce interview questions for practice.

Practicing Salesforce interview questions beforehand is possibly the single most important way you can prepare. Although every interview is different, many interviewers use similar or even the same questions amongst candidates. Once you’re ready to start practicing, Yoodli is an option you’ll want to explore.. 

Yoodli — a virtual speech and communication coach — offers a sophisticated interview simulation for job seekers to use. Aside from your actual interview, this simulation is the most realistic method for practicing Salesforce interview questions. 

You can make a free Yoodli account and download the app right to your computer for ease of use. Once you have your account, the options for practicing are limitless. That’s because of how customizable Yoodli’s interview simulation is. You can change not only the questions the simulator will ask you but also the tone of the interview. This adds to the practicality of Yoodli as an interview prep tool.

Still, Yoodli does more than just ask Salesforce interview questions. This communication technology tool also asks users intelligent follow-up questions with generative AI based on a user’s response to the previously asked question. 

Once you’re done with the interview simulation, you’ll receive detailed analytics and information with regard to how you answered the questions. For example, you can learn more about your word choice, how many filler words you used, how fast you spoke, and even how loud you sound.

Using these insights, Yoodli gives users an intimate look at what they can improve on with actionable feedback. For example, if your answer came off a bit vague, Yoodli can give you specific ways you can build off your original answer, such as providing more details about your work experience. 

These AI-backed suggestions for improvement cna take your answers to Salesforce interview questions to the next level. 

3. Brush up on your technical skills.

Before your Salesforce interview, plan to brush up on your technical skills if it’s applicable to the role you applied for. For example, review skills like Salesforce Object Query Language (SOQL), Lightning Web Components (LWC), Apex, and Visualforce. 

You should also be ready for any automation or data security concepts. You can take a deep dive into the best practices and security features Salesforce relies on for workflow automation, for example. 

Online coding challenges can help you use your technical skills in “real world” situations. You can test your skills and figure out what exactly you need to work on most. For example, Salesforce Trailhead hosts lots of unique challenges to take advantage of. 

4. Hone in on your behavioral skills.

One aspect candidates sometimes overlook are their behavioral skills. These are the skills needed to successfully answer Salesforce interview questions. 

For example, understanding and implementing the STAR method to structure your responses can put you a step ahead of other applicants. It can help you hone in on the best way to answer a query so that you don’t accidentally ramble. 

Behavioral skills include both communication and leadership capabilities, so be sure to highlight any past work experience that can inform your potential work with Salesforce. It can be helpful to brainstorm and think of a few times where you worked in a leadership role, took initiative, or used your communication skills. 

Both teamwork and problem-solving skills are relevant to many Salesforce interview questions. To give the interviewer a better understanding of your skillset, you can mention examples where you worked effectively as part of a team. 

Salesforce Interview Questions

No matter what position you applied for, practicing Salesforce interview questions should be at the top of your prep list. 

Try practicing some of the most common Salesforce interview questions, including queries like:

1. What motivated you to apply to Salesforce?
2. Tell me about your long-term career goals. How would working at Salesforce help you reach those goals?
3. Given sensitive data, how would you go about configuring sharing rules to limit or restrict access to that data?
4. Let’s say a customer aims to optimize their sales process. How would you begin to analyze the process they currently rely on to come up with a solution? What Salesforce tools would you use? 
5. If a client was having trouble with a new Salesforce feature, how would you assist them? 
6. Tell me about a time when you stepped up to the plate and used your leadership abilities to complete a task. 
7. Explain how you would create a dashboard in Salesforce to track important sales metrics.
8. When you’re approaching a complicated issue, what’s your thought process look like? 
9. Using the SOAP API, how would you integrate an external system with Salesforce?
10. Let’s say you were tasked with retrieving any opportunities from the last quarter that amount to more than $15,000. How would you write an SOQL query to do that?
11. Describe the relationship between opportunities, contacts, and accounts in Salesforce.

Salesforce interview questions and answers

It can help to understand how you should respond to these types of queries, too. Below are a few Salesforce interview questions and answers to guide your practice:

• Let’s say a customer expresses their frustration with regard to how their Salesforce instance is performing. How would you handle it? An appropriate answer to this question could be something like: “I’d start by acknowledging the customer’s frustrations and validating them. Then, I’d take a look at the Salesforce instance to pinpoint any issues. By communicating and collaborating with the customer, I’m confident we could brainstorm how to prioritize solutions and updates.”
• Why do you want to work at Salesforce? You could answer this question with a response like: “I’ve always been interested in Salesforce and the CRM industry as a whole. I’m particularly excited about the company’s mission of supporting customers and continuing to improve its products and services. I think I’d fit right into the work culture as I believe in its company values as well.” 
• Explain the difference between a standard object and a custom object in Salesforce. With a technical question like this one, you can provide a straightforward answer like: “A custom object is created by the user and can be used to meet the user’s specific needs since it can be customized to the company’s requirements. On the other hand, standard objects are pre-built, meaning the fields are predefined.” 

Salesforce developer interview questions

If you’re applying for a developer role, it might be helpful to practice more specific Salesforce developer interview questions. Check out the below queries and do your best to answer them: 

• How would you explain dynamic Apex to someone without a background in Apex?
• Tell me about your familiarity with roll-up summary fields.
• When performing dynamic SOQL, how should you go about securing it?
• What are Sharing Rules and how should we aim to enforce them within our Apex code?
• Explain the Salesforce Lightning Design System (SLDS).
• Give me an example of when and why we would use Aura components over Lightning Web Components.
• Explain how an external system can integrate into Salesforce.
• How do you go about debugging Apex code?
• Tell me how and why we would use an interface.
• What are Apex Triggers and are some scenarios where you would use them?
• Explain what kinds of Salesforce-supported development tools exist.

Salesforce admin interview questions

If you’re aiming for a more administrative role, putting a little effort into answering some common Salesforce admin interview questions can be especially helpful. These questions usually fall into categories like: 

• Data security
• Process automation
• Data management
• AppExchange
• User interface

Some key questions to practice answering include queries such as:

• List and explain custom metadata examples and why they’re used.
• Explain the difference between a Lightning page and a page layout.
• How are dashboards and reports used?
• Give me an overview on the various types of Sandboxes that exist.
• How would you explain the difference between unmanaged and managed packages?
• What’s an Experience Cloud? Why is it used?
• With regard to process automation, describe an approval process.
• What’s a junction object?
• Explain the various types of fields and why it’s important for the field type to match the data.
• What’s a permission set?

Salesforce interview questions on integration

You might also want to prepare for Salesforce interview questions on integration. If that’s a goal of yours, be sure to brush up on your basic integration knowledge. In the meantime, check out some of the most relevant queries, including: 

• What kinds of Integration options does Salesforce offer?
• What are the OAuth2.0 Authorization flows you’d see in Salesforce?
• Describe SoapUI and when you might use it.
• How would you describe Web Services Description Language (WSDL) in plain language?
• What’s the main difference between Partner WSDL and Enterprise WSDL?
• In Salesforce, what are the various types of Integration patterns that exist?
• How would you describe web service flow?
• Tell me what you know about OpenID Connect.

Salesforce testing interview questions

In particular, Salesforce testing interview questions can be tricky. If you’d like to prepare for these types of tester-specific queries, practice answering some of the below questions: 

• How would you explain the difference between Salesforce Classic and Salesforce Lightning?
• Tell me about some of the challenges you’ve experienced during your testing of integrations with Salesforce Community Cloud and other apps. 
• For Salesforce testing, what tools would you recommend using?
• With a multi-tenant architecture like Salesforce uses, how do you approach testing?
• If you wanted to test Salesforce mobile responsiveness, how would you go about it? Talk me through your process. 
• What are governor limits? Why are they used?
• Give me some examples of testing tools you’d suggest in Salesforce.

The Key Takeaway 

You should feel proud if you’ve scored an interview with Salesforce. It’s a competitive environment and an innovative company to work for. 

Taking the time to prepare is well worth it, and practicing Salesforce interview questions is the best way to do so. 

Sources

• Interviewing.io: “Salesforce’s Interview Process & Questions in 2023.”
• Salesforce: “What is Salesforce?,” “Our Story.”  
• Salesforce Developers: “Introducing Lightning Web Components” 
• Salesforce Ben: “30 Salesforce Admin Interview Questions and Answers.”
• Salesforce Help: “What’s the Difference Between Standard and Custom Objects?”