Start writing killer Salesforce resume bullet points

As a Salesforce developer, your resume needs to not only list your tasks but also illustrate the full impact of your work. Let's dissect a typical bullet point:

Automated and modernized the process of Company 1 Team Name by transitioning their manual tasks and physical record keeping into Salesforce through the creation of a custom object, email templates, and a custom Visualforce page.

This point is factual, but it doesn't narrate the real value of your work. To transform this, we'll employ a simple, yet powerful technique called the "So What?" method. 

The "So What?" Method

The "So What?" method helps you probe deeper into the consequences of your work, turning a list of tasks into a captivating story of achievement. It involves answering the "So what?" question your reader might ask about each bullet point on your resume. 

Let's apply the "So What?" method to our example:

This person "automated and modernized team processes in Salesforce."

So what?

How many people did the automation impact?

This person's work in Salesforce affected 25 employees at a company.

25 people were affected. So what?

Were they positively or negatively affected?

As it turns out, these people no longer had to spend 2 hours a day. This person's automation saved them time, which is a precious resources companies like to reduce.

You saved 2 hours a day. So what?

Before the automations, 25 people spent two hours a day performing manual task entry, record updates, and swivel-charing across 3 systems.

Now, these people have two hours free to work on things that will move the business forward.

If we do a little back-of-the-napkin math here:

2 hours x 25 people x 5 days/week * 50 weeks/year = 12,500 hours/year.

12,500 hours a year. So what?

How much is that 12,500 hours saved worth to the business?

‍The median hourly rate for these 25 people was $40/hr. So, $12,500 x 40/hr = $500,000 saved for the business.

Now, each time a new employee joins the company and adopts the process implemented by this developer, it’s $20,000 worth of time that the hire could otherwise dedicate to tasks that move the business forward.

How else could we spruce up the Salesforce resume bullet point?

• How long did it take you to implement the process? 2 months.
• Was it faster or slower than expected? Slower. We initially expected it to take 2 weeks, but scope creep blew up the estimates. Okay, great. This is something we can talk about in the interview.
• How many objects did you create? Three. 
• Email templates? Seven.
• Visualforce pages? Four.
  

Now, let’s summarize everything.

You could keep going and end up with something like:

Implemented and automated manual Salesforce processes for 25 users over a B month period, reducing their workflow time by 14% - from 8 to 7 hours - by creating X custom objects, Y email templates, and Z custom Visualforce pages. As a result, this drove $250,000 in savings to Company every year.

This narrative resonates more powerfully than a simple list of tasks. As a guide, use the "So what?" questions to dig deeper into your work's impact:

1. What was the overall impact of your work?
2. How did it enhance efficiency?
3. How much time did it save, and what's the financial implication of that time saving?
4. How did you drive customer satisfaction, and what initiatives did you implement to gather feedback?
5. How did you execute the project, including details like the time taken and specific elements created?
   

By using the "So What?" method and considering these detailed questions, you can transform your resume into a captivating narrative that showcases the real-world value of your work. Try it on your own resume and see the difference. We'd love to hear how this technique helps you tell your Salesforce story.