Salesforce is a widely used CRM application suite globally. One should be well-versed in Salesforce concepts to perform well in a Salesforce interview. In this article, we are sharing a few Salesforce Interview Questions that will assist you in cracking Salesforce interviews:
1. Basic Salesforce Interview Questions
Q: What is Salesforce, and how is it advantageous for organizations and businesses?
A: Salesforce is a CRM software suite that assists organizations in handling sales, marketing processes, and customer interactions. Salesforce offers the following par excellence:
- One data storage location to retain customers in the database to make informed decisions
- Automation of customer support, lead management, and streamlining workflow
- Scalability according to various sizes of businesses
- Access to the cloud from anywhere
- AI-driven insights using Salesforce Einstein
Q: List the key features of Salesforce.
A: The Following are the key features of Salesforce:
- Lead & Opportunity Management – Salesforce has plenty of features to handle sales leads and opportunities effectively.
- Workflow Automation – Salesforce is capable of automating repetitive and mundane tasks
- Reports & Dashboards—This Salesforce feature offers real-time reporting and dashboards that help with better handling customer data.
- Custom Applications – Applications can be customized using Apex, Visualforce, and LWC
- Integration Capabilities – Salesforce integrates third-party apps through APIs
- AI-based Analytics – Offers Predictive analytics via Salesforce Einstein
Q: What are the various Salesforce editions, and how are they different?
A: Various editions of Salesforce are available to support different business needs:
- Essentials – This edition of Salesforce is meant for Small businesses with very few CRM capabilities
- Professional – The professional edition of Salesforce is meant for small to medium businesses that leverage automation and personalization
- Business – The Business edition is meant for large businesses that make use of APIs and offer advanced reporting
- Unlimited – The Unlimited edition offers the entire set of premium features, which includes 24/7 support
Q: Describe the multi-layered security model of Salesforce’s architecture.
A: Salesforce is built on a multi-tenant platform that has three levels of security:
- Database Layer – This layer helps with customer data storage and metadata
- Application Layer – This layer runs Apex code and analyzes business logic
- User Interface Layer – The user interface layer offers Lightning Experience & Classic UI for the user interface
Q: Why is multi-tenancy so significant in Salesforce?
A: Multi-tenancy enables several businesses to share the same infrastructure but with separate data. The following are a few benefits of multi-tenancy:
- Cost-effectiveness – Sharing resources makes their usage cost-effective
- Automatic Updates – All the tenants receive upgrades without facing issues such as server downtime
- Scalability – Businesses can expand without issues related to infrastructure
2. Apex Programming concepts for Salesforce Interviews:
Q: Apex supports four OOP concepts. Name them and tell us how they are used.
A: Following are the four OOP concepts:
- Encapsulation – Hides data by utilizing private variables and ‘getters’/’setters’
- Inheritance – Allows code reuse using the ‘extends’ keyword
- Polymorphism – Allows method overriding using ‘virtual’ and ‘override’ keywords
- Abstraction – Allows logic abstraction using abstract classes and interfaces.
Q: List the differences between abstract & virtual classes?
A: Following are the differences between abstract and virtual classes:
- Abstract classes: These cannot be instantiated & must be subclassed
- Virtual classes: Virtual classes can be overridden in child classes.
Q: What is an Apex interface, and how is it used?
A: An Apex interface does not declare the method of implementation but only its signatures. The implementing classes must declare the methods.
3. SOQL & SOSL Queries
Q: What are SOQL and SOSL, and how are they different?
A: Following are the definitions of SOQL and SOSL:
- SOQL (Salesforce Object Query Language): This language queries a single object’s records
- SOSL (Salesforce Object Search Language): This language searches for multiple objects
Q: How do you avoid hitting governor limits with SOQL queries?
A: Following are a few ways one can avoid hitting governor limits with SOQL queries:
- Reference indexed fields in WHERE clauses
- Don’t use queries inside loops
- Use selective queries through filters
4. Triggers
Q: What is a Salesforce trigger, and how does it work?
A: Triggers are blocks of Apex code executed before or after data modifications in Salesforce.
Q: What is the difference between “before” & “after” triggers?
A: Following is the major difference between “before” & “after” triggers:
- A Before Trigger is used to validate and update fields
- An After Trigger is used to execute operations such as creating (related) records
Q: What are trigger context variables and how are they useful?
A: Context variables such as Trigger.new and Trigger.old provide access to records being processed within a trigger.
5. Salesforce Automation Tools
Q: How are Workflow Rules, Process Builders, and Flows different from each other?
A: Following are the definitions of Workflow Rules, Process Builders, and Flows:
- Workflow Rules: These allow basic automations and offer a limited range of actions
- Process Builders: These are more sophisticated than workflows & allow multiple criteria to be input.
- Flows: These are regarded as the most powerful among the 3 automation tools and also allow user interaction.
Q: How do you build a record-triggered flow in Salesforce?
A: A record-triggered flow can be built using the Flow Builder to set up the trigger criteria and actions.
6. Asynchronous Apex
Q: What is Asynchronous Apex and why is it used?
A: Asynchronous Apex runs processes in the background, thus avoiding performance lags & imminent delays.
Q: List the differences between Future Methods, Batch Apex, Queueable Apex, and Scheduled Apex?
Feature | Purpose |
Future Methods | Runs a single process asynchronously |
Batch Apex | Processes large datasets in batches |
Queueable Apex | Supports job chaining |
Scheduled Apex | Runs at scheduled intervals |
7. Data Management
Q: Different methods for importing data in Salesforce?
A: Following are the methods to import data into Salesforce:
• Data Import Wizard: For small imports (less than 50,000 records)
• Data Loader: For bulk data operations (more than 50,000 records)
Q: How are REST, SOAP, Bulk, and Streaming APIs different from each other?
A:
|
API Type |
Use Case |
|
REST API |
Lightweight, used for web integrations |
|
SOAP API |
XML-based, supports complex transactions |
|
Bulk API |
Handles large volumes of records |
|
Streaming API |
Provides real-time data updates |
8. Security & Sharing
Q: What are Organization-Wide Defaults (OWD)?
A: OWD settings define the baseline level of access to records within an org.
Q: How do Profiles and Permission Sets differ?
A: Following are their definitions:
- Profiles: Define default permissions for users
- Permission Sets: Grant additional access to users without changing their profiles or editing their profile settings.
Q: How does Role Hierarchy influence access to data?
A: Lower roles’ access is rolled up to higher roles.
9. Governor Limits & Best Practices
Q: What are Salesforce Governor Limits?
A: Using Governor Limits, Salesforce limits resource use for multi-tenant stability.
Q: Is there a limit on SOQL queries per transaction?
A: A maximum of 100 SOQL queries are allowed per synchronous transaction.
Q: How can one avoid DML operation limits?
A: DML Operation Limits can be avoided by utilizing Batch Apex and bulk process techniques.
10. Salesforce Integration
Q: What are the types of integration that Salesforce offers?
A: Following are the types of integration offered by Salesforce:
- API Integrations such as REST & SOAP
- Middleware Solutions such as MuleSoft & Dell Boomi
- File-Based Imports (CSV, Excel)
Q: What are REST and SOAP callouts?
A: Salesforce utilizes REST and SOAP callouts to call external systems using HTTP requests.
11. Reports & Dashboards
Q: What are the different types of reports available in Salesforce?
A: Salesforce offers the following 4 types of reports:
- Tabular Reports –These reports have a tabular structure, which is created in a plain/basic format
- Summary Reports – These reports group data with totals
- Matrix Reports – These utilize rows and columns
- Joined Reports– These reports merge different report types together
Q: How are Dynamic Dashboards different from Static Dashboards?
A: Following are their definitions:
- Dynamic Dashboards: Show data pertaining to the user who is logged in
- Static Dashboards: Show the same information to all users
Conclusion:
Learning these Salesforce concepts and related technical jargon shall boost your chances of clearing the Salesforce interview multifold!
Mastering Salesforce concepts and gaining hands-on experience will significantly increase your chances of acing any Salesforce interview. Make sure to practice coding, understand core concepts, and stay updated with the latest Salesforce releases.
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All the best!
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