16 November 2020 - Mason Frank Salary Survey

In case you missed it, the Mason Frank Salary Survey for 2020-2021 has been released. It's the 7th year that the team has put this document together which offers a rather detailed snapshot of the Salesforce ecosystem, capturing over 263,000 data points and squishing the results into 62 pages. 

In the early days it was a much smaller report and the focus was on the all important salary survey results. I know I was a fan to pour over these tables. It has always been a helpful resource for benchmarking salaries in the operating market you are in, whether to ensure you are being paid your value but also keeping salaries in check for your team. 

This year's report is packed full of information about the Salesforce ecosystem, including all aspects of working in the world of Salesforce but also a wellbeing in our workplaces section courtesy of SalesforceBen and a mention about the Community from yours truly.

Having had a good rummage through the report here's my choice pieces that caught my eye. 

Let's start with Salesforce products. It comes as no surprise to me that Sales Cloud is the most purchased product with 85% of respondents saying they used it. Lightning came next with a score of 80%. Since it's launch late 2015, we know there are still some Orgs that haven't yet converted but this result is very encouraging. Salesforce has really worked hard to convert customers over to this UI as Classic is now dead. They have recently added aids for customers such as the Lightning Experience Transition Assistant and the Lightning Usage App, both found in Setup, to apply further encouragement. The 3rd top product is Service Cloud, weighing in at 71%. Considering as most businesses use Salesforce to engage with their customers for sales pipeline, account management and customer service then these products will, in my opinion, always be high up in usage. 

Moving on to certifications, which could also be considered as a product area for Salesforce. The certification paths have grown massively over the past 10 years. Some of this has been due to acquisition of new products and some has been to align certifications to certain career paths for people in the ecosystem. 77% of the respondents said that they had at least one certification, with 90% of those holding Administrator and 47% with Platform App Builder, as the top 2 gained certifications.

Respondents said that having a certificate helped them to verify their own skills in a particular subject area and showed proof of their abilities. 80% thought that holding at least one certification would help them stand out in the job market, while 43% got a bump in salary from their employer after passing an exam. 

95% of survey respondents said that they used Trailhead. Trailhead is such a great resource for learning about all the different Salesforce products and wider topic areas such as change management and wellbeing. Half of respondents held over 100 badges or more. It makes you wonder if Salesforce should consider extending their ranks as we now hear about 10 x Ranger level (which equates to 1000 modules completed).

In addition to Trailhead certifications, traditional further education is still a desired achievement for potential employers with 53% respondents stating they had a Bachelor's Degree, with the top 3 subjects being: Information Technology, Computer Science and Business Administration.

Even though importance is placed on certifications of sorts it will always be outweighed by experience in the role and 90% believed that this was essential for increased earning potential. 

The large majority of respondents work in permanent employment at 86%, while only 9% are in freelance or contracting roles. I wonder if this figure will be impacted for the UK market if the Government continues to threaten contractors with in creased tax complexities (IR35) from April 2021, not that they haven't got enough mess to drag the country through with Covid and Brexit. Time will tell.

What sets Salesforce apart from all its competitors is its Trailblazer Community which is made up of different types of individual groups, defined by their area of speciality and location. Salesforce was brave enough to let the groups self organise and decide their content for meetings, with just a little supporting hand from the mothership. As most groups are now meeting in a virtual capacity due to Covid measures then it can be easier to find a group that suits you. I recommend signing up and participating. They are an opportunity to network, learn, and could also help boost your career prospects too. 

Which brings me to the final point from the survey and the all important reading feature, the salary results. Mason Frank covers the largest Salesforce operational countries and splits out the rates dependent on role and experience level. Next time you are considering a job change, reviewing the corresponding table to your location just might be worth your while. 

Even with this unprecedented year the Salesforce ecosystem is still holding steady. As businesses realise they must adapt and be serious about their own digital strategy then Salesforce skills will continue to be in demand. It's worth reading the Mason Frank Salary Survey to learn more about the captured insights so that you can stay ahead as a desirable candidate but also know what you want from your next move.

Download your copy of the survey:   Salary Survey