Where to start with Trailhead

You're feeling motivated. Inspired. Lit up from inside with a raging fire for improvement.  Ready to dive into the world of Salesforce for the very first time! ...right? Not quite. If you're like me, when I start something new I always feel a mixture of excitement, fear, and overwhelming uncertainty. Where to begin? How to start? Am I good enough? Is this too hard? The whole experience reminds me a lot of this graph on the four stages of learning by Richard Step:

  

  

  

In the first stage of unconscious incompetence, you're filled with excitement. "What a grand adventure this will be!" you think. How exciting! It's at this stage that you're looking at average salaries ("No way!"), amazing success stories ("I could definitely do that"), and exciting new tech ("Ooohhh AI"). You can't believe the rest of the world isn't already doing this. How lucky you are to have found Salesforce now, before everyone else!  This will be your life changing moment.

  

Unfortunately, directly following this is the dreaded phase of conscious incompetence. This is about when you realise how much you don't know. In a typical Salesforce journey, this phase often coincides directly with a first look into the world of Trailhead (https://trailhead.salesforce.com/) . Trailhead is a fantastic resource. It's filled to the brim with everything you'd need to know about Salesforce. The guides are well explained and easy to read. It's fun and encouraging to earn new badges. But with so much to choose from, it can be overwhelming to a newbie. Incredibly so. Which is why we created this guide for the 3 best places to start with Trailhead for beginners.

  

  

The Quick Look Modules are a great place to get tiny tasters of a range of different Salesforce topics. These modules are extremely short, ranging from 5-15min, and are an overview/introduction to some pretty massive Salesforce areas. If you're under some time restraints or don't want to invest a whole lot of time into a topic you're not sure you'll love, the Quick Look modules are for you.

  

This module is a must-do for anyone who is new to Salesforce. It explains a lot of what Salesforce is and how you can get started with it. It's significantly longer than the Quick Look modules, but an easy read and worth the time. It is more suited more towards people who want to know the benefits of Salesforce rather than the technical "how-to", but I would still highly recommend it for developing a contextual understanding of why Salesforce is useful in business.

  

  

Like the Salesforce User Basics module, this module provides a great overview of the Salesforce platform. While the User Basics module is suited to prospective Salesforce customers, the Platform Basics module is more suited to those wanting to learn how to use Salesforce or become a Salesforce Admin. It also includes hands-on challenges for getting stuck into actually using Salesforce, so is a great introduction to actually using Salesforce rather than just reading about it.

  

  

  

  

This article is dedicated to all those starting their Salesforce journey who have found themselves in the pit of conscious incompetence. You can move on from that phase to the hopeful phase of conscious competence, and then ascend (as we all aspire to do), to the final glorious phase of unconscious competence. I hope that these three small tips will help push you forwards and give you that little nudge to keep learning. You've got this.