Top 21 Salesforce Admin Interview Questions to Prepare

Explore the most frequently asked Salesforce Admin interview questions for your next interview round!

The role of a Salesforce Admin (Salesforce Administrator) is primarily operational. Management skills such as business analysis, problem-solving, leadership, project management, product management, etc., are necessary, along with relevant specialisation in Salesforce. If you have completed a Salesforce course such as Salesforce administration on Trailhead, take advantage by preparing these Salesforce Admin interview questions. Read on. 

Q1. What are the different types of profiles in Salesforce?

Ans.  For this basic Salesforce Admin interview question, try explaining the definition of the profile first. 

A profile comprises settings and permission for a defined group of Salesforce users who perform specified business activities. In short, profiles determine how the users access data and objects. 

The Saleforce profile can control the following elements.

• Field Level Security
• Page Layouts
• Custom Apps
• Record Types
• Login
• Tabs

Following this definition with use case scenarios, explain the types of profiles. 

There are two types of profiles in Salesforce.

• Custom Profiles
• Standard Profiles

The difference between standard and custom profiles is that standard profiles are by default. In contrast, custom profiles are those which can be customised as per the requirements of the user. 

In standard profiles, the main permissions available are 

• System Administrator
• Standard Platform User
• Standard Platform One App user
• Standard User
• Customer Community User
• Customer Community Plus User
• Partner Community User
• Partner User
• Solutions Manager
• Marketing user
• Contract Manager
• Read Only (now converted to a custom profile after 2021)
• Chatter Moderator User
• Minimum Access Salesforce
• Site.com Only User

Q2. Explain permission sets and how they are different from profiles in Salesforce. 

Ans. Permission sets are those settings and permissions that give users access to additional functions and tools. 

The only difference between a permission set and a profile is that profiles are restricted from having other permissions. Permission sets, on the other hand, give users more tools. 

For this Salesforce Admin interview question, prepare an example to show the difference between permission sets and profiles. 

Q3. What do you know of page layouts in Salesforce?

Ans. Page layouts typically control the layout and how buttons, fields, etc., are organised. They are important from the user experience perspective. 

Also, provide the explanation of page layouts with what the user can control. 

You can say that the page layout can give you control to 

• The fields visible
• Appearance of blank spaces in the fields
• Different field properties
• Number of columns 
• Related lists

Also check: Salesforce Online Courses & Certifications

Must check: Free Salesforce Courses Online

Q4. Why is a public group used in Salesforce?

Ans. One can create situation-based users to share records and information as a Salesforce Admin. These users form the public group in Salesforce, and they are provided with specified validation statuses. 

Q5. Define a queue and explain its importance. 

Ans. Queues are a list of records without any owner, and they are used by teams that share the same work. The queues are used for prioritising, distributing, and delegating tasks to users in those teams. 

As a Salesforce Admin candidate, elaborate on this answer by mentioning the parts of a queue. They are queue members, record assignment rules, and quick actions. 

In terms of benefits, mention the following. 

1. They are necessary for users in the sales department. As the workload is shared, it makes for convenience when the capacities of users fluctuate. 
2. Queues add transparency to the team. 

Check out the difference between group and team. 

Q6. What are validation rules in Salesforce?

Ans. In Salesforce, validation rules are used for verifying the data that the user enters in a record and whether that data meets the criteria before they can save the record. The criteria are set by the organisation. If the data does not meet the criteria, it will show an error. 

Q7. How many types of flows are there in Salesforce?

Ans. This Salesforce Admin interview question is related to process automation. Flow helps Salesforce Admins create the most complex automation that does not rely on code but only on clicks. 

There are five different types of flows to consider. 

• Screen Flow
• Record Triggered Flow
• Auto Launch Flow
• Scheduled Triggered Flow
• Platform Event-Triggered Flow

Q8. How many flows should you have per object?

Ans. Flows are dependent on the situation and business. Earlier, Salesforce recommended that there should be one flow per object. But now, it is no longer the case. You can have as many flows as you prefer. 

Ideally, there are three record-triggered flows – 

• Before create/update
• After create/update
• Before delete

Q9. Name some of the top ways to share records in Salesforce. 

Ans. There are many ways to share records. Some of the top ones are 

1. Profile/Permission sets level object settings (CRED)
2. Profile level system permission
3. Organization-wide default (OWD) 
4. Role hierarchy
5. Profile/Permission sets level object settings (View All / Modify All)
6. Teams (Accounts, Case & Opportunity)
7. Queues
8. Territory Management
9. Super user access
10. Programmatic / Apex Sharing 

Related: Guide to Salesforce certifications

Q10. What do you mean by approval process?

Ans.  It is an automated process to approve records in an organisation.The criteria set for the approval process are 

• Condition
• Formula

Q11. Which are the actions in the approval process?

Ans. There are four automated actions in the approval process. 

1. Initial Submission
2. Final Approval
3. Final Rejection
4. Recall Action

Q12. What is an approval request?

Ans. It is the notification that record recipients get regarding the approval. It can be an email or notification on the Salesforce app.

Q13. What is the chain of approval called?

Ans. The chain of approval is referred to as approval steps. The approval steps are able to identify

1. The records that can move to the step
2. Who will be assigned approval requests
3. If the approver’s delegate is allowed to respond to requests

Q14. When is a process instance created?

Ans. Every time a record is submitted for approval, a process instance is created. There is always one process instance for each approval.

Q15. Name the main workflow components. 

Ans. There are five workflow components. 

• Workflow Rules
• Workflow Tasks
• Workflow Email Alerts
• Workflow Field Updates
• Workflow Outbound Messages

Q16. Define the Lightning Component framework. 

Ans. It is a UI framework for developing apps that uses JavaScript for clients and Apex on the server. 

Explore free JavaScript courses

Q17. What is a data loader?

Ans. For exporting or importing data in bulk for clients, you have data loaders. Data loading as an automated process removes manual errors, including duplicates. 

Some of the widely used data loaders 

1. Dataloader.io
2. Jitterbit Data Loader
3. Data Import Wizard

Q18. What are custom metadata types in Salesforce?

Ans. A custom metadata type is an object used for defining the structure for the application metadata. It is automatically available in sandboxes. 

Q19. What are field dependencies?

Ans. These are filters that help in changing the picklist’s content based on the value of another field. Controlling field and dependent field are two types of fields. 

Q20. What are change sets?

Ans. Change sets are native deployment tools in Salesforce for migration from one Salesforce org to the next. 

Q21. What do you mean by CRM?

Ans. CRM, short for Customer Relationship Management, is an application designed to assist companies in automating their systems and digitising various marketing functions.

This powerful software enables organisations to devise strategies to boost their profits and revenues efficiently. At the core of CRM lies the fundamental principle of emphasising customer value, which revolves around comprehending and fulfilling the genuine needs and desires of customers. By adopting CRM, businesses can streamline their operations, better engage with customers, and ultimately drive growth by delivering enhanced value propositions.

Parting Thoughts

These are among the most common Salesforce Admin interview questions. Hopefully, you find the answers easy and memorable for your upcoming interview. Also, do not forget to explore the free Salesforce courses.