36 Salesforce Admin Interview Questions (Beginners): Part 1

Last updated on September 19, 2024
By Rachna Namjoshi
| Reviewed by: Jaikumar Mahadevan

Nowadays countless businesses heavily rely on Salesforce because of its versatility. The role of a Salesforce Admin holds immense importance in maximizing the platform’s value. When preparing for a Salesforce Admin interview questions, it can feel like there’s a mountain of information to cover. Although it’s likely that you’ve browsed thousands of resources, what if you could find all you required in one location, well organized?

You’ve come to the right place! In this guide, I’ll break down 36 essential Salesforce Admin interview questions into categories to help you confidently approach any interview. I’ll cover everything from the basics of the platform to scenario-based questions and advanced topics.

Let’s dive into each topic, exploring questions with sample answers that might make or break your interview.

What is Salesforce Admin?

A Salesforce administrator sets up the Customer Org, their roles and duties, and the Hierarchy in the system correctly. They also choose which login user should see what data, manage screen visibility, etc. Configuring OAuth, reporting, dashboard management, and any outbound or inbound communication channel settings, etc.

If you’re new to Salesforce, consider enrolling in our Salesforce Admin course. You can also have a look at Salesforce Admin roles and responsibilities.

Let’s start with the simplest one.

General Salesforce Platform Questions

Q1. What do you know about Salesforce?

Salesforce is a cloud-based platform that offers customer relationship management (CRM) solutions. Its objectives are to help businesses of all sizes in managing relationships with customers, optimize processes, and boost sales and service. To support various departments within an organization, the platform has multiple clouds, such as the Sales, Service, and Marketing clouds.

Q2. What is CRM software?

CRM stands for Customer Relationship Management. It’s software meant to help businesses in managing their relationships with clients.
CRM systems include features like contact management, sales pipeline tracking, marketing automation, and customer service tools.
CRM aims to raise income, speed up sales procedures, and improve customer happiness.

Q3. What are the different Salesforce editions?

Salesforce has several editions, each with different features:

Developer: It is the free edition. Salesforce can be integrated with other business tools by developers.
Essentials: Great for small businesses.
Professional: Designed for businesses needing a full CRM solution.
Enterprise: Offers advanced customization and automation.
Unlimited: For businesses needing extensive customization and support.

Q4. What are the different Salesforce clouds?

Salesforce is segmented into different clouds but the main 6 clouds are Sales Cloud, Service Cloud, Marketing Cloud, Commerce Cloud, Experience Cloud, and Analytics Cloud. Every cloud serves to particular business requirements.

Q5. What is the difference between a sandbox and a production environment?

A production environment is the live version where real business data is stored and used. A sandbox is a testing ground for changes before deploying them to production.

Q6. What are the different types of Salesforce sandboxes?

Sandbox Type	Data	Storage	Refresh Interval	Use Cases
Developer Sandbox	Only metadata	200 MB	1 day	Development, configuration, and testing
Developer Pro Sandbox	Only metadata (more storage)	1 GB	1 day	Development, more extensive testing
Partial Copy Sandbox	Metadata + subset of production	5 GB	5 days	Integration testing, UAT, QA testing
Full Sandbox	Full copy of production (data + metadata)	Same as production environment	29 days	Performance testing, UAT, final staging, training

Q7. Explain the difference between static and dynamic dashboards.

Static Dashboards display the same data to all users, offering a broad view of organizational performance. They’re perfect for tracking company-wide metrics.

With dynamic dashboards, users can customize data views according to particular criteria or their functions. This functionality ensures that each user sees the most relevant information, improving decision-making and collaboration within the organization.

Q8. How do you create and manage users in Salesforce?

Creating users involves entering their personal details and assigning them a profile and role. Managing users includes ensuring they have the correct permissions and troubleshooting login or access issues.

Q9. What are profiles, permission sets, and user roles in Salesforce?

Salesforce uses three key components to manage user permissions. Profiles define what users can do within the system. Permission sets give additional access beyond what’s defined in a user’s profile. User roles define a user’s position in the hierarchy and the data they can access.

Q10. How do you configure field-level security in Salesforce?

Field-level security controls what fields users can view or edit. To configure field-level security in Salesforce, go to Setup, find the relevant object in the Object Manager using Quick Find, select the field that you wish to change under “Fields & Relationships,” and then click “Set Field-Level Security” to customize the field’s access level for various profiles or permission sets.

Q11. How do you create and manage data validation rules in Salesforce?

Go to Setup > Object Manager, choose the desired object, and then select “New” under Validation Rules. From here, you can define a rule’s name, its active status, a description, and most importantly an “Error Condition Formula“. It determines when the validation rule will trigger, along with a corresponding error message to display to the user if the condition is met; to manage existing rules, simply click on them to edit or deactivate as needed.

Data Modeling: Structuring Your Data Right

Q12. Explain the difference between standard objects and custom objects in Salesforce.

Standard objects like accounts and contacts are pre-built. Custom objects are created by the user to meet unique business needs.

Q13. What are the different data types available for field creation in Salesforce?

Text, Text Area, Text Area (Long), Text Area (Rich), Text (Encrypted), Number, Percent, Currency, Date, Date/Time, Time, Picklist, Picklist (Multi-Select), Lookup Relationship, Master-Detail Relationship, External Lookup Relationship, Indirect Lookup Relationship, Geolocation, Checkbox, Email, Phone, Formula, Auto Number, Roll-Up Summary.

Q14. How do you create and manage relationships between objects in Salesforce?

You can establish object relationships using lookup, master-detail, or hierarchical relationships, depending on how data needs to be linked.

Q15. What are lookup relationships, master-detail relationships, and hierarchical relationships?

Lookup relationships links two objects loosely. It’s not mandatory that the related record exists.

Master-detail relationships is a strict relationship where the child (detail) record depends on the parent (master) record.

Hierarchical relationships are specific to user objects.

Q16. How do you design a data model for a specific business process?

First, analyze business requirements and identify key objects and their relationships. Properly choosing between lookup and master-detail relationships is key.

Security and Access: Keeping Your Data Safe

Q17. How do you configure data-level security (DLS) in Salesforce?

Configuring data-level security (DLS) in Salesforce involves setting access permissions on individual records, fields, and objects. Salesforce offers several tools and layers to control access to data, ensuring that the right users can view or modify the appropriate records.

Q18. What is object-level security (OLS) in Salesforce?

OLS controls which objects users can view, edit, or delete. It’s set through profiles and permission sets.

Q19. How do you create and manage permission sets in Salesforce?

Navigate to Setup, search for “Permission Sets” in the Quick Find box, click New, then define the desired permissions for the set, including object-level access, field-level permissions, and system permissions; to manage permission sets, select the set, click “Manage Assignments” and choose which users to assign it to.

Q20. How do you assign permission sets to users in Salesforce?

First, go to Setup, search for “Users” in the Quick Find box, select the desired user, then in the “Permission Set Assignments” related list, click “Edit Assignments” and choose the permission set you want to add from the “Available Permission Sets” list, clicking “Add” to assign it to the user; finally, save your changes.

Q21. What are the best practices for securing Salesforce data?

Best practices for securing Salesforce data include using multi-factor authentication to enforce strong password policies, granular access controls with profiles and permission sets, frequent user activity monitoring, data encryption, utilizing Salesforce Shield for advanced security features, regular security health checks, and training users on data protection procedures.

Reports and Dashboards: Turning Data into Insights

Q22. What is the difference between reports and dashboards in Salesforce?

A report is an elaborate, tabular list of data that you can filter and group to analyze particular information. While a dashboard is a visual representation of key metrics from several reports that are presented visually through charts and graphs to give you a quick overview of performance and trends.

Q23. How do you create and customize reports in Salesforce?

Click “New Report” under the Reports Tab, choose the preferred report type, add fields and filters to specify the criteria and style, preview the report, and save it in the folder of your choice with a name.

Q24. What are the different report types available in Salesforce?

There are four report types in Salesforce available:

Tabular (simple lists)
Summary (grouped data)
Matrix (data grouped by rows and columns)
Joined (combining multiple reports)

Each report has a different function and it depends on how you want your data to be presented.

Q25. How do you create and customize dashboards in Salesforce?

To create and customize a dashboard in Salesforce, Go to the “Dashboards” tab, click “New Dashboard,” give it a name, and then add components by clicking “+ Component” and selecting the report you want to display.

You can further customize each component by choosing the type of chart, adding titles, and modifying the layout in the dashboard builder before saving your modifications.

Q26. What are some best practices for creating effective dashboards?

Prioritize selecting the right metrics, using a variety of visuals like charts and graphs. Incorporate interactive elements like filters and drill-downs, maintain a consistent layout, and ensure the data is relevant and up-to-date with real-time updates when possible.

We must focus on key metrics that align with business goals and tailor the dashboard design to the specific user’s needs.

Data Management: Keeping Your Information Clean and Usable

Q27. How do you import and export data in Salesforce?

We can use tools like Data Loader or the Data Import Wizard to import/export data. We primarily use the “Data Import Wizard” accessible through the Setup menu, which allows us to upload data from a CSV file.

The “Data Loader” is a separate downloadable application that offers more advanced features for bulk data import and export, including the ability to use SOQL queries to filter data.

Q28. How do you create and manage data backup and recovery procedures?

We primarily use the native “Salesforce Backup” feature, which enables us to plan backup frequency, create automatic backup policies, pick which objects to include, and recover data from backups when necessary.

We can also use other methods like Data Export Service for manual exports, and Data Loader for targeted data extraction. We can even use third-party backup solutions for more advanced features depending on your needs.

Q29. What is data cleansing and how do you perform it in Salesforce?

Within your Salesforce database, data cleansing is the process of identifying and correcting or eliminating inaccurate, incomplete, or duplicate data. It makes sure that your CRM data is timely, accurate, and consistent, which helps you make better decisions.

Data cleansing can be performed using features like duplicate rules, matching rules, data validation rules, manual review, and data import tools.

Q30. How do you automate data cleansing tasks in Salesforce?

Automating data cleansing is a crucial step in maintaining data integrity. You may create rules to identify and manage common data quality issues like duplicates, incorrect formats, or missing information by using technologies like Apex, Flow, or third-party apps.

Setting up these automated procedures will guarantee that your data is consistent and clean, which will increase the accuracy of your reports and the general efficiency of Salesforce.

Q31. What are the different ways to integrate Salesforce with other applications?

We can use APIs (like REST and SOAP), MuleSoft, and AppExchange integrations to connect Salesforce with external systems.

Automation: Making Your Job Easier

Q32. What is a workflow and how do you create workflows in Salesforce?

A workflow is an automated set of rules that trigger specific actions when certain criteria are met on a record. It mainly streamlines business processes by automating tasks like sending emails, updating fields, or creating tasks based on predefined conditions.

To create a workflow first we navigate to the setup menu, and then select “Workflows,” then define the criteria. It will trigger the workflow and the actions that should be taken when those criteria are met.

Q33. What are the different types of workflows actions?

Immediate Actions: Actions that are performed immediately after the criteria are met.
Time-Dependent Actions: Actions that are performed at a specified time after the rule criteria are met.

Q34. What is Process Builder and how does it differ from workflow?

Process Builder is a Salesforce automation tool. It allows you to create complex business processes by combining multiple workflows into a single process with a visual interface. While a workflow is a more basic tool. It defines a simple sequence of steps to automate a specific task or activity.

It has typically less flexibility in decision-making compared to Process Builder. Process Builder offers a more advanced level of automation with greater customization options than a standard workflow.

Q35. How do you create and manage approval processes in Salesforce?

For creating an approval process in Salesforce, first go to Setup then search for “Approval Processes” in the Quick Find box, select the object you want to manage approvals for, and click “Create New Approval Process”. After that use the wizard to define the approval steps, criteria, and approvers for each stage of the process.

Q36. What are triggers and how do you use them to automate tasks in Salesforce?

In Salesforce, a “trigger” is a piece of Apex code that automatically executes before or after a specific action on a record, like creating, updating, or deleting it. It allows you to automate tasks based on changes in your Salesforce data.

It can even effectively streamline business processes without manual intervention. They allow more complex automation than workflows or Process Builder.

Conclusion: Be Prepared, Be Confident

Preparing for a Salesforce Admin interview can be daunting, but with these 36 Salesforce Admin interview questions, you’ll walk into the room feeling confident. Remember to focus on understanding the concepts deeply, rather than just memorizing answers. By combining your technical knowledge with strong communication, you’ll set yourself apart from the competition.

Good luck, and remember, you’ve got this!