Salesforce is a booming industry, which has led to an increase in the demand for Salesforce QA roles. But what exactly are the requirements to become a successful salesforce QA?

In this blog, we will dive deep into the essential technical and non-technical skills required to become a Salesforce QA.

Necessary Skills for Salesforce QA Role

A salesforce QA requires technical expertise coupled with strong non-technical skills. Here’s a list of all the skills that a Salesforce QA might need.

Technical Skills

Software Testing Fundamentals: Solid understanding or testing methodologies is necessary for Software Testers. They must be familiar with SDLC, STLC, and Testing Methodologies.

Salesforce Knowledge: Familiarity with the Salesforce platform and its core functionalities (Sales Cloud, Service Cloud, etc.), and data model is a must have.

Automation Tools: Understanding how to use automation tools like Selenium or Salesforce tools like Salesforce Data Loader can be a bonus skill.

Apex: While not always required, knowledge of Apex, the Salesforce programming language, can be beneficial for creating complex test cases.

Non-Technical Skills

Analytical Thinking: As a Salesforce QA, the ability to translate complex business requirements into effective test scenarios is a must-have skill.

Communication: Since you will be working in a team, clear and concise communication is essential for collaborating with developers, business analysts, and stakeholders, it is important to excel as a Salesforce QA.

Problem-Solving: In your Salesforce QA career, you will need to identify issues, troubleshoot, and suggest working solutions for different problems.

Attention to Detail: A QA Engineer, irrespective of the domain they are in, requires a keen eye for detail for spotting potential bugs and ensuring a high-quality user experience.

Adaptability: The Salesforce landscape is constantly evolving, so the ability to learn new features and adapt to the barrage of changes is essential for a salesforce QA.

Salesforce QA Roles and Responsibilities

Active Participation in Requirement Gathering Phase

Depending on the role-level (junior, mid, senior), a Salesforce QA engineer may need to take active part in requirement gathering sessions for the project.

This step is crucial as it allows them to identify potential challenges and provide feedback during the development process.

Potential issues are gathered relatively early with this process and the QAs can also voice their concerns early on, which can streamline the entire development process.

Proactive Thinking

Salesforce QAs can’t afford to be reactive testers. Instead, they are proactive. One of the many tasks a Salesforce QA must perform is to analyze functionalities, integrations, and security aspects of the application.

In doing this task, it is necessary to proactively point out vulnerabilities before they turn into major issues.

Creating Test Plans

Coming up with a comprehensive test plan is one of every QA’s primary responsibilities. The test plan outlines the scope of testing, defines different methodologies to be used and specifies the required resources.

When you have a well-structured plan, it ensures the testing approach is systematic enough and this in turn prevents last-minute panic.

Writing Test Cases

For effective Salesforce QA, creating test plans is just the tip of the iceberg — QAs also need to write comprehensive test cases.

Test Cases delve into various functionalities, scenarios, and edge cases. For example, a test case for simulating high volume data entry is crucial to test a system’s stability under load.

These well-crafted test cases act as a blueprint that guides a QA through an effective testing process. 

Executing Test Cases

A Salesforce QA also performs hands-on test execution. QAs test the application in accordance with the test cases.

This step involves systematically running through functionalities, identifying bugs, and documenting any sort of deviations from expected behavior.

One way to streamline repetitive testing tasks is to automate the different processes. This can be done by incorporating automation tools, which frees up a QA’s valuable time.

Reporting and Analysis

Finding bugs is just one part of the equation, reporting the bugs is where Salesforce QAs need to shine.

Bug reports are necessary as they bridge communication between QA team, devs, and other stakeholders.

When all tests are complete, the reporting stage begins. This is the stage where QAs need to test the outcomes and document the bugs that they encounter.

The bugs are typically prioritized based on their severity and impact before being communicated.

Final Words

Salesforce is dynamic and ever evolving CRM software. With its evolution, the platform brings a lot of career opportunities for people — QA being one of them.

To excel in this role, you need to have a keen eye for detail, be adaptable, and have the willingness to learn.

And as a Salesforce QA, the bulk of your day will be spent on planning, writing, and executing test cases.

If you want to hire a Salesforce QA to streamline your salesforce operations, do give us a call.