Education Cloud Consultant Certification Exam Q&A with Chris Parker Hunt
Salesforce released a new education cloud consultant certification at the end of 2019. Chris Parker Hunt, Sleek’s VP of Strategic Programs, took the Education Cloud Consultant exam at the tail end of 2019 and she passed. Here are her thoughts on the exam and things to consider when preparing for it.
What’s different about this exam from the Salesforce Administrator Certification exam?
Salesforce’s Education Cloud Consultant Certification exam differs from the Salesforce Administrators Certification exam in that it has more emphasis on what a consultant should recommend in a given scenario. A consultant advises and gives recommendations based on experience and, in this case, mastery of the Salesforce system.
In consulting, oftentimes, no matter how many questions are asked, you will never have all the information at your fingertips at the time you have to make a recommendation. So, the exam questions are presented more like: given the information presented – and limited information is presented – what would you recommend an educational institution do in that moment?
What’s similar about this exam and the Salesforce Administrators Certification exam?
It’s still multiple choice! It only has 60 questions. It’s only 105 minutes long! Phew.
The exam does have questions on architecture, or what, where, or if an object, field, or app is in Salesforce. I particularly like how you can tag a question that you want to review later before submitting it.
So, as you take the exam, you can move quickly through the ones you know and then tag the ones that give you pause, and review the ones you’ve tagged before submitting.
How did you prepare?
I prepared in two ways: work experience and studying.
At Sleek, I have been on many projects where we are migrating data from a legacy system to Salesforce – specifically with higher ed institutions. I’ve heard lots of data scenarios – that include student, parent, alumni, and donors over the past 4 years – so in a way, I’ve been preparing for that part of the exam through my work experience.
In terms of studying, I relied on Salesforce’s Trailhead, the existing EDA Documentation, and getting my own EDA dev org. The Dev org only lasted for 30 days so I found that to be a helpful motivator for studying. Knowing it was going away – made me hustle!
Also, there was a Trailmix that I spent time on, created by John Richter, and recommended by Salesforce. It is your complete checklist and comprehensive source for learning EDA and what you need to know for the Education Cloud Consulting Certification.
I genuinely find Trailhead fun to follow and so I get pulled into it easily. I am competitive and so seeing the points and badges and the numbers go up – works really well for me!
How did you make time for studying?
I would love to study during the workday but that was not realistic or feasible. I did squeeze in studying on my lunch hour but that was not enough.
Finally, for me – I had the help of my family. I had to tell them I needed time to study – uninterrupted! They had to value my goal of getting certified just as much as I did. So, it was a family conversation first. I needed to carve out time to do this and I needed their help in getting there. They let me be, they knew when the test was, they gave me that time. And they celebrated with me when I earned it.
Why should consultants get the certification?
Salesforce is a vast sea of information! Salesforce has an amazingly simple presentation (the interface, the learning tools, the documentation) but in reality, there are 10,000 leagues under the sea…It is more complex than it looks.
If you are working with higher education institutions – they will have many, many scenarios with their students, parents, alumni and donors. The consistent generation of data from these constituents is enormous. But so are the variety of ways in which the data can come into your organization, be manipulated, and then be pulled out.
So, as a consultant you will be presented with scenarios where you have large amounts of diverse data – coming and going and many options for what to do with it! Knowing what’s possible, where the data could/should go, what can be done with it – knowing Education Cloud with confidence – gives you the knowledge and skill to be the best consultant you can be. And that is what I wanted for myself and for Sleek.
About Chris
Christine Parker Hunt
Vice President of Strategic Programs
Chris has led teams in both the programmatic and fundraising areas of well-respected national and international non-profit organizations for many years. She has raised millions of dollars as a front line fundraiser and as head of strategic/principal gifts and lead development operations — overseeing events, stewardship, research, and the database team. Throughout her non-profit career she has facilitated and trained diverse audiences of all sizes on various topics but in particular: technology, data, and metrics, fundraising, planning and performance management. She is passionate about helping non-profits and their employees save time and money so more of their resources can directly support the mission. In addition to being Salesforce Certified (System Administrator and Education Cloud Consultant), she graduated from George Washington University with a bachelor’s degree in English and has a Master’s in Public Administration with a concentration in non-profit management from New York University’s Wagner School of Public Service.
Christine Parker Hunt
Vice President of Strategic Programs
Chris has lead teams in both the programmatic and fundraising areas of well-respected national and international non-profit organizations for many years. She has raised millions of dollars as a front line fundraiser and as head of strategic/principal gifts and lead development operations — overseeing events, stewardship, research, and the database team. Throughout her non-profit career she has facilitated and trained diverse audiences of all sizes on various topics but in particular: technology, data and metrics, fundraising, planning, and performance management. She is passionate about helping non-profit’s and their employee’s save time and money so more of their time and money can directly support the mission. In addition to being Salesforce Certified (System Administrator and Education Cloud Consultant), She graduated from George Washington University with a bachelor’s degree in English and has a Master’s in Public Administration with a concentration in non-profit management from New York University’s Wagner School of Public Service.
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