As a young graduate in 2002, it never even crossed my mind that I would one day become a Salesforce instructor with aspirations of becoming a Certified Technical Architect (CTA)! At the time, I didn't even know about Salesforce, and cloud computing was still a recent and little-known term. I started my career as a developer who just wanted to create code—faster, more optimized, more "something."

A former boss gave me my first opportunity to work with Salesforce. She had two important projects to deliver and at that time (2012), there weren't many Salesforce professionals in Brazil, so she decided to invest in someone that she trusted and who she knew loved to learn.

I needed to get up-to-speed quickly to deliver on the project at hand. My only option was to consume all the online training I possibly could. I'd always enjoyed studying, and now I had an urgent reason to. After we delivered the two projects (resulting in very satisfied customers), I felt I was prepared to attempt my first certification exam.

It was a PASS! I had earned my Administrator credential just three months after starting with Salesforce. And I loved it! The adrenaline of the exam and the Salesforce product as a whole...within the next nine months I achieved four more (there were only seven certifications total available at this time). I was totally hooked.

My Salesforce journey continued, and next, I found myself on the instructor path. The certification process was a shock, but I took up the challenge. The exam consisted of me delivering a training course to two American instructors. It was a rigorous exam, conducted in English (not my native tongue), where I was expected to not only prove my knowledge of Salesforce, but also that I could effectively pass this knowledge on to students. I must take this time to give a massive “Thank you” to Leah McGowen-Hare and Andy Anderson for all their help and feedback—you both definitely helped me to become a better instructor!

I take great pleasure in training people on a product that I love and trust. It also helps that I have actual project experience, as this allows me to illustrate to students where to use certain features in "real-world" situations, giving me greater credibility as an instructor. But I believe the most important thing is to have an empathy and a real desire to help people understand Salesforce, and not just memorize menus or procedures.

Seeing the evolution of students throughout a training course gives me great satisfaction. And when I hear that one of my students has passed their certification exam, got themselves a better job, or even has praise for me as their instructor, it is the best motivation. As the wise Brazilian poet, Cora Coralina, once said, "Feliz aquele que transfere o que sabe e aprende o que ensina” (Happy is he who transfers what he knows, and learns what he teaches), so I can truly say that being an instructor helps me to be a happier person!

In the meantime, Salesforce had launched some new certifications. I wanted them! So I sat for and passed another four exams, making me 10x certified! I was very happy with this until last November, when I decided to set my next big goal (the biggest yet)—to become a much-desired Certified Technical Architect (CTA). I believe that it will benefit Brazil as a whole to have more Salesforce CTAs—but being the first is not what's driving me: this is more of a personal challenge.

To get to review board level, I knew I needed to get another seven certifications first. My desire for learning makes me a huge Trailhead fan. I'm currently a "Ranger" with 110 badges and +73,000 points! The material is excellent for learning and I, obviously, use it a lot. For the Architect Designer exams, I used the free self-directed training guides that were invaluable for my study and exam preparation.

I have now accomplished all the CTA prerequisite exams and am proudly Application Architect and System Architect certified. I am giving myself until 2018 to pass the infamous CTA review board (wish me luck!).

In order to attempt this next step, I know I need to improve my English, so I've decided to give free Designer exam mentoring for people that speak fluent English. I get to practice training in English, it helps me remember the main topics I need to study, and I get to help others on their Architect journey. It's a win-win approach—reach out if you're interested!

I am so committed to my goal, that I recently even changed my job in order to get more experience working in a bigger company, giving me the chance to work on more complicated projects and gain more experience in preparation for the CTA review board.

If, like me, you begin to wonder after time if all the hard work is worth it, my answer would be, “For sure!” A deep understanding of Salesforce allows you to work on much larger projects faster and more assertively. Even though I like the adrenaline hit I get when sitting for an exam (every time I click the submit button, it reminds me of my first time skydiving!), I do not consider it as the end of the road. Certification is one part of the journey, giving you more confidence to reach even higher.

I still cannot see the peak of the mountain, but more importantly, and in the words of another wise Brazilian, Ana Vilela, “Não é sobre chegar no topo do mundo e saber que venceu. É sobre escalar e sentir que o caminho te fortaleceu” (It's not about getting on top of the world, knowing that you won. It's about the climb and feeling that the way just made you stronger). And as for me? I'm still climbing.

Eric's Certifications
Salesforce Certified Administrator August 13, 2012
Salesforce Certified Sales Cloud Consultant October 19, 2012
Salesforce Certified Force.com Developer November 21, 2012
Salesforce Certified Service Cloud Consultant January 21, 2013
Salesforce Certified Advanced Administrator February 22, 2013
Salesforce Certified Platform Developer I December 2, 2015
Salesforce Certified Platform Developer II December 2, 2015
Salesforce Certified Instructor May 15, 2016
Salesforce Certified Platform App Builder June 13, 2016
Salesforce Certified Community Cloud Consultant July 22, 2016
Salesforce Certified Integration Architecture Designer November 30, 2016
Salesforce Certified Development Lifecycle & Deployment Designer January 3, 2017
Salesforce Certified Identity and Access Management Designer February 6, 2017
Salesforce Certified System Architect February 6, 2017
Salesforce Certified Data Architecture & Management Designer March 2, 2017
Salesforce Certified Sharing and Visibility Designer March 28, 2017
Salesforce Certified Application Architect March 28, 2017

If you’ve been inspired by Eric's story, learn more about how you, too, can become a Salesforce Certified Professional.