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Key Findings from the Mason Frank’s Salesforce Salary Survey 2020/21

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On December 28, 2020

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2020 has been a year of change. The pandemic has had a devastating effect on many, and its side-effects have re-shaped the way we live, communicate, learn and ultimately, the way we work. The Salesforce ecosystem hasn’t been an exception. It’s hard to imagine what the future will look like, but it’s worth having a look at the trends that have shaped the Salesforce universe during these past months if we want to be as prepared as possible. This is why it’s a good time to have a look at Mason Frank’s Salary Survey – the largest independent Salesforce market report worldwide. Mason Frank International is a global leader in Salesforce Recruitment, and their yearly study gives us independent insights into the latest market trends and salaries across the ecosystem. The report delves into topics such as how professionals feel about their jobs and employers, work perks, certifications and diversity, and also looks at salaries in different roles globally. Here are some key findings from the report.

Experience vs education

Let’s start off with something of an eternal dilemma – when it comes to employability, which is more valuable, experience or education? If you’re looking to increase your earning potential as a Salesforce professional, experience seems to be deemed essential, with 90% of survey respondents naming it as the most important factor. That, together with exposure to large projects and Salesforce certifications, seem to be the top-ranked aspects that increase your earning potential. 

In contrast, having a university degree is considered important by just half of the survey’s participants. Formal education can lay the groundwork for a range of skills—communication and problem-solving just to name a couple—but with Salesforce being such a broad, evolving industry, experience and product knowledge seem to be better indicators of whether or not a candidate is suited to a particular post. 

Which Salesforce certifications will increase your pay? 

We’ve mentioned certifications being an important factor for career progression, but the real question is: which certifications are most likely to help with development and earning potential? The Technical Architect certification tops the Mason Frank Salary Survey list, with Salesforce professionals considering it to be the certification most likely to boost your pay for the second year in a row. 

This qualification is still very much a rare one within the ecosystem, making it highly sought-after by employers across the globe. This certification shows the depth and breadth of a candidate’s Salesforce knowledge and demonstrates the ability to deliver optimized solutions across the entire platform. The qualification is intense, and requires some serious commitment and investment, but as with any challenge, it’ll yield rewards if you put the work in. 

Let’s talk perks

We usually think of salary as one of the most significant factors affecting a candidate’s decision at that all-important offer stage. However, employers and job seekers alike should not underestimate the value of employee benefits. 

Many of the benefits enjoyed by Salesforce professionals, according to Mason Frank, are either the ones supporting employees outside of the workplace, such as health and medical insurance, and retirement savings plans, or perks aimed at improving that coveted work-life balance, such as homeworking or flexible working. Other perks topping the lists are training and development opportunities, and naturally, bonuses. The value associated to each of these perks depends on many factors—but making sure your employer offers a robust benefits package as well as competitive salary will truly pay off. 

Working from home 

What was previously considered a more of a perk has become more or less the default following the coronavirus pandemic. Pre-pandemic, 21% of permanent professionals who took part in the Mason Frank Salary Survey worked from home on a full-time basis, while 62% worked from home at least once a week. These both increased during the pandemic, with 84% working remotely full-time, and 97% working from home at least one day a week. 

Remote working definitely comes with its own set of pros and cons, and anyone currently experiencing it may have their own thoughts and concerns. However, what the remote working boom has surely done is open up roles to new, more diverse hiring pools, which is good news for anyone looking for a job and great news for employers looking to hire Salesforce talent in such a competitive market. 

Salesforce Salaries

We’ve spoken about how to maximize your earning potential, but how much are Salesforce professionals actually earning? Compensation benchmarking is beneficial to job seekers as it helps them gauge whether or not their salary is on par with their qualifications, skills, and experience, allowing them to make an informed decision when looking for fresh opportunities. 

It’s also interesting to look at salary benchmarking when considering re-location. Evaluating job proposals abroad can be quite tricky when you’re not sure if the salary on offer matches up to the standard of living, or whether it really is competitive in that country. For instance, a junior functional permanent consultant’s salary starts at an average of €23,000 in Italy, while that same role starts off at €48,000 in Germany, €35,000 in France and €47,000 in Ireland. It’s also worth looking at salary benchmarking if you feel like you haven’t seen a salary increase over some years, or if you’re not sure that increase matches up with your years of experience, qualifications, and ultimately, the current standard of living. For instance, the same junior functional permanent consultant salary started at €20,000 last year – an increase of €3,000 in the Italian market over just one year.

The Mason Frank Salary Survey 2020/21 is an excellent resource to learn all about the salary and benefits Salesforce professionals expect and receive today. It’s also packed with useful tips on how to maximize your earning potential as a Trailblazer, bringing you that one step closer to your dream job. Download the full report and get the most current snapshot of the Salesforce Ecosystem. 

[Salesforce] Mason Frank Salary Survey 2019 Edition: how to increase your earning potential in Salesforce

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On October 9, 2018

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Given the rate at which Salesforce has grown over the last five years, sometimes it can be difficult for professionals to get a measure of where they fit into the ecosystem and what they are worth. What’s more, it’s important to be aware of what Salesforce’s vast user base is saying about the technology, so you can decide how to move forward in your career based on product adoption and patterns in the market.

The Mason Frank Salary Survey is the largest annual independent study of the Salesforce community. It is an invaluable resource for Salesforce professionals, partners, and customers looking to gather insights into the working culture of the technology ecosystem, and to benchmark salaries, benefits and market trends.

Here is a selection of findings from the 2018/19 survey report, with context on what this means for you as a Salesforce professional and how you can use the information to better your career standing.

An Italian in Salesforce

While commentary on Salesforce usually focuses on the USA and UK, the ecosystem extends all across Europe. Professionals working in Italy will be pleased to learn that their salaries are in line with the industry standard and, in some cases, are higher than one would expect in other major European countries.

For example, a junior-level technical/functional consultant in Italy can expect to earn around €34,000, which is the same as in the Netherlands, but €1,000 more than in Spain. However, it’s substantially lower than in Germany, where a junior technical/functional consultant can expect to earn around €62,000. If you’re willing to travel to find a new permanent contract, Germany would be a good place to look!

Specialist roles are very well paid in Italy. A junior-level Technical Architect can expect to earn around €40,000, which is €6,000 higher than in France. Solution architects are also clearly in high demand, as a junior-level profession of this specialism can earn up to €76,000. For perspective, a junior-level solution architect in the UK earns in the region of £60,000, which converts to around €68,000.

Which Salesforce product is the most in-demand?

One of the more exciting elements of working with Salesforce technology is the way the platform keeps evolving by developing new and innovative solutions for businesses around the world. The downside of this for Salesforce professionals is that if you don’t catch wind of industry trends, you can soon be left behind.

Salesforce is ultimately a sales-centric platform, so it may come as no surprise to learn that the most popular standalone Salesforce product is still Sales Cloud—82% of respondents to the Mason Frank Salary Survey reported proficiency in Sales Cloud, compared to Service Cloud (63%), Community Cloud (44%), and Marketing Cloud (31%).

The popularity of Sales Cloud shows no signs of dwindling, with 52% of respondents indicating that Sales Cloud was the most in-demand product over the last year. Despite being the least prominent of the major Salesforce products, Marketing Cloud was predicted to be the most in-demand product over the next 12 months. This could be attributed to Salesforce’s recent acquisition of Mulesoft, which will make it easier than ever to harness and utilize customer data across multiple Salesforce products.

Where do Salesforce professionals work?

With Salesforce being a cloud-based CRM, the ability to access data online makes it far easier to find remote permanent and contract roles. Despite this, 89% of respondents to Mason Frank’s salary survey were employed on a permanent, full-time basis. It’s an interesting finding given the value and accessibility of the contract market in Salesforce.

Salesforce is the world’s number one CRM for a reason, and there is a substantial number of businesses around the world now utilizing products from the Salesforce business suite. In fact, 50% of all respondents indicated they work for an end user/Salesforce customer, with 41% working for a partner.

What is the experience level of the average Salesforce professional?

Experienced Salesforce professionals are in high demand, with employers always on the hunt for skilled and experienced pros to lead projects and implementations. The majority of professionals working in the ecosystem have between zero and six years of experience; 37% reported 0–3 years’ experience, while another 37% reported 4–6 years of experience. Only 6% of respondents to the Mason Frank study have over 10 years of experience on the Salesforce platform. If you are one of these professionals, you are part of a very exclusive group!

Are you a Trailblazer? If so, what rank are you? Did you know that around 22% of Salesforce professionals hold more than 100 Trailhead badges? This demonstrates the success and growth of Trailhead, given that just 9% of respondents to Mason Frank’s salary survey last year reported holding over 100 badges.

As well as Trailhead, Salesforce professionals have also embraced the technology’s certification structure, with 77% of respondents to the survey now holding at least one certification. As you would expect, the most popular certification is the entry-level Salesforce Certified Administrator credential, while just 6% were a Marketing Cloud Certified Email Specialist.

If you are not yet certified, you may be interested in learning that 39% of respondents reported an increase in salary after gaining certification. This could be a fantastic way to increase your earning potential, particularly as 75% of certified respondents reported that their employer contributed to the cost of certification—it’s an even better investment if you’re not paying for it!

What to take from this information

We can take several things from these findings. Firstly, becoming a Sales Cloud expert is a safe bet—it’s the most popular standalone Salesforce product by far, and given its dominance in the CRM market, it’s never going to go away.

By contrast, Marketing Cloud is predicted to be the most in-demand product over the next 12 months, and given that only 6% of respondents were a Marketing Cloud Certified Email Specialist, this could well be a niche worth exploring if you haven’t yet settled on a specialism.

If you are already deep into your Salesforce career, always be mindful of how much your experience is worth. Download Mason Frank’s 2018/19 Salesforce salary survey in full for a detailed exploration of salaries, sorted by location, role, technology, and level of experience.

Mason Frank 2018 Salesforce Salary Survey is OPEN!

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On August 3, 2018

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Have your say on the Salesforce community!

The annual Mason Frank salary survey is now open and waiting to hear from Salesforce professionals like you.

The survey examines the salaries, benefits, market trends, and developments across the entire ecosystem, combining the anonymous thoughts and input from members of the Salesforce community, as well as info from Mason Frank’s customers.

For anyone working with Salesforce, this is a valuable resource, and your input helps to make the survey as accurate and reflective of the community as possible. Last year just under 4,000 people responded to the survey, further proof that Salesforce professionals care about the community their part of!

It takes about 15 minutes to complete, and there’s a chance to win an iPad, a Nespresso Pixie, or a Google Home device too.

The results of the survey will be released at Dreamforce 25–28 September 2018, but if you can’t make it, the full report will be available to download shortly after the event.

Have a read at last year Italian Salesforce market analysis post for 2017 MasonFrank Salary survey.

5 ways to command a higher salary in the Salesforce ecosystem

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On July 30, 2018

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Are you looking to increase your Salesforce salary? Chris Thompson from Salesforce recruiter Mason Frank International gives his top five tips to maximize your earnings in the Salesforce ecosystem.

Salesforce is the number one CRM platform in the world, powering small and large companies with its expansive suite of business products. Given the popularity of this technology, the demand for qualified Salesforce professionals has never been higher and, as a result, the Salesforce Ohana has never been more valuable.

But how do you go about getting that all-important pay rise?

As a specialist Salesforce recruiter, Mason Frank knows exactly what employers are looking for on a resume, what makes you a stronger candidate at face value, and what you can do to increase your salary in your current job role.

Here are our five tips for commanding a higher salary in the thriving Salesforce ecosystem.

Become an expert in a niche or focused industry

Salesforce is a technology that services a huge range of industries, and branches even further when taking into account the many individual Salesforce products and modules. One way to make yourself an in-demand asset, and a high earner as a result of that, is to refine your skillset to such a degree that you are considered the authority in a specific niche.

Who does a toothpaste manufacturer go to when they need someone to manage their email marketing campaigns? Who does a large energy supplier go to when they need to train their huge workforce to navigate a custom Sales Cloud build? Everybody has an area of focus and expertise, and if you can find yours, you could earn a lot of money out of it.

Get Salesforce certified

Salesforce certifications not only endorse you as a talented Salesforce professional, but also offer the opportunity to enhance your knowledge of a specific area of the Salesforce platform. Some employers have unique build projects, and as such require specific certifications when recruiting. Others won’t even consider a candidate unless they have at least an ADM201 Salesforce Admin Certification.

The only downside of Salesforce certification is that the training and exam fees can be somewhat costly. If you’re fairly new to the Salesforce ecosystem and are looking for a way to gain three fully funded Salesforce certifications, you should check out our Mason Frank Tech Academy. We offer expert training to prepare you for your certification exam, and even give you hands-on experience working for Salesforce Partners—a great route into the Salesforce ecosystem that will automatically increase your potential earnings.

Compare your salary to the industry average

One of the simplest ways to highlight that you deserve to be paid more is to compare your wage to the industry average. Find an independent study on Salesforce salaries and use it in your next performance review to leverage a pay rise. Our Salesforce Salary Survey contains remuneration statistics from major countries across the globe, and even breaks some countries down by region and state, so you can see what you should be earning based on your local economy.

Become a contractor

Given the scope of Salesforce implementation and development projects across the globe, sometimes it makes no sense for a business to take on a permanent staff member to administer its CRM; this is where it pays to be a contractor.

If you are an expert in your field, geographically flexible, and have excellent project management skills, becoming a contractor is a serious option for you. Not only is the complexity of your work taken into consideration with your salary, but also the need for you to pick up and temporarily relocate, and all the rigmarole that comes with it. This equates to huge earnings. Check out our salary survey to compare permanent and contract rates for your job role—some Salesforce daily rates are eye-watering.

Grow your personal brand and become an influencer

Salesforce is a very community-driven ecosystem, and there is a lot of merit in sharing your knowledge to enrich your peers. This will not inherently increase your billable value as a Salesforce professional, but the networking element of this is invaluable, especially if you use your position of influence to work with partners and ISVs to develop, release, and promote new Salesforce products.

Your motivation should always be to enhance the Salesforce community, and you may even be given recognition for your hard work by being awarded Salesforce MVP status. The Salesforce Ohana is set up in such a way that the more you pay into it, the more you will get out of it, which is a great deal for dedicated Salesforce professionals who plan on enjoying a career in the ecosystem.

So to leave you with five simple things you can do today to increase your earning potential:

  • Identify a focused career path and work to become the go-to professional in that niche.
  • Pursue Salesforce certification, utilizing free training and support.
  • Use independent salary research as a benchmark when negotiating.
  • Become a contract worker.
  • Leverage your blog or social media to increase your visibility in the Salesforce community.

[Salesforce / Ecosystem] Salesforce Jobs: What’s Italian Salesforce really like?

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On January 24, 2018

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I’m humbled and honored to present you the latest Mason Frank’s salary survey results related to the italian market.

Few days before Dreamforce 17 I asked Maria Baranowska and Alan Ferrari (managers at Mason Frank) if they could send me the raw data about Italy’s market of Mason Frank’s annual salary survey and, surprise, they gave me a fantastic article with all the details and insights from the data.

Unfortunately at this time Italy market cannot compete with more developed ones, such as U.S.A, U.K, France or Germany, but the number of company that are adopting Salesforce and the number of Salesforce addicted nerds is rapidly incresing, and I really hope we’ll see a lot of italian trailblazers coming out and invading the web!

Before leaving the proper space to this amazing article, I want to say again thank you to two great Mason Frank’s trailblazers:

  • Alan Ferrari [Manager at Mason Frank INternational] who wrote the final version of this post and gave it a true italian market value!
  • Maria Baranowska [Outreach Executive at Mason Frank International] who I contacted first, granted me access to the draft italian data through a first draft of this post

Alan Ferrari

Focused on makes candidates’ lives better since 2009, I’ve started my career as an HR Assistant & Internal Recruiter Specialist. After a couple of experiences in our beautiful country as an HR&Talent Acquisition Manager I’ve decided to move out and try to expand my knowledge in UK moving deeper in the mysterious world (at that time) of Salesforce.com.
My adventure started with the opening of the Italian Market for the Frank Recruitment Group, and during my “years of service” I’ve contributed in the opening (and currently managing) of several foreign markets like Spain, Portugal, Central East Europe and Nordic Regions.
Passioned about IT and “Human Capital”, I’m trying to challenge myself everyday more and more in order to stand out from other recruiters bringing Mason Frank International to another level and keeping the standards as the world leader recruitment company in SFDC and Marketing Automation.

Salesforce is the leader of the CRM market and one of the most successful technologies available today. Unlike many other tech companies who may parallel in innovation within their own field, Salesforce has cultivated a unique ecosystem (including but not limited to the Ohana) which makes it stand out from the rest.
That being said, what’s it like to be part of the Ohana in different parts of the world? In which countries can Salesforce professionals earn most and expect the greatest growth in the coming years?

Let me present myself first…

My name is Alan Ferrari and I am a Manager at Mason Frank International, the world’s leading Salesforce recruiter company.

Over the last few years, I’ve been learning about what it’s like to work in Salesforce.

Today, I’m going to share some of the most relevant insights I’ve picked up and help you understand one Salesforce market where I specialise most, Italy.

As you might know, every year, Mason Frank release their salary survey, where people working with Salesforce can find information and salaries for different positions, both technical and functional.

For the first time this year, due to popular demand, we’ve decided to include Italy in our research. Releasing the data exclusively here on Enrico’s blog, we will explore salaries in this growing market and speculate what the future may hold for professionals living here.

Needless to say, demand and salaries are not close to that of other countries where the technology has been active for a decade. This is clearly evidenced in the Salesforce salary survey report.

The good news is that in the last three to four years, the average salary in Italy has increased by more than the 60% in functional positions and more than the 80% in the technical professionals.

This is likely the result of the investment in the South of Europe over 2016/2017, managing to substantially increase the demand of professionals in this technology.

Here you can find the average Italian Salesforce salaries for each of the main positions:

Roles Junior (0-3 years) Mid (4-7 years) Senior (8 years+)
Salesforce Manager 55,276 58,387 62,443
Project Manager 48,976 49,246 50,266
Technical Architect 55,298 57,147 60,527
Solution Architect 43,194 44,624 45,626
Technical Consultant 33,225 39,556 45,886
Functional Consultant 25,313 32,739 40,165
Developer 30,287 34,376 38,464
Business Analyst 28,773 32,349 35,924
Administrator 22,377 24,758 26,575
Marketing Automation Manager 40,179 41,878 43,967
Marketing Automation Specialist 30,112 32,453 35,249

Oh, the good old times!

I can’t forget the moment I completed my first placement in Salesforce.

I was working with a man who studied and worked in Salesforce for three to four years in the UK and was dreaming of coming back in Italy, so badly in fact, that was ready to accept a big cut in his salary in order to return.

He was soon hired as a Senior Developer for the incredible salary of 24,000€. If you look at the table above, the average salary is now about 10,000€ more. Incredibly, this didn’t happen 10 years ago, but the market has shifted so quickly this increase has happened in a fraction of time.

If you take a look at the rest of Europe, you will find different ranges of salaries in different countries, most of them being higher than in Italy.

That being said, what I’m often explaining to the job seekers I work with is:

  1. The Italian ecosystem is fairly new.

    There are countries such as UK, Germany or France where Salesforce has been growing for more than seven or eight years and is established as one of the most important players in the CRM world.

    In Italy, only in the last 5 years (excluding our pioneer) has the technology been taken in the right consideration. This means the demand for people still isn’t the same as in other countries.

  2. Cost of living. I’ve heard so many times people asking me to help them go to other countries because of the ‘unbelievable salaries’. What people don’t often realise is that the cost of living in a different city could be higher and what you take home at the end of the day might be less than what you have elsewhere. This is very relevant in Italy in particular.

So, what can we expect in the upcoming years?

As a recruiter, I can tell that the demand for SFDC professionals will reach sky-high levels during 2018. We are constantly looking for an increasing number of people and over the last three years, this demand has increased by a huge 160%.

New companies are adopting Salesforce and creating jobs every month.

Typically, the average Manager or Senior Manager in Italy is aged around 45 to 48 years old. In Salesforce, people are excelling to these positions around aged 32 to 35 years old. This is largely due to the fast growth and understaffing in this geographical market.

Skills and education

Another great asset of working with Salesforce, in Italy and beyond, is the lack of demand for a strict IT or technical background.

Furthermore, there is a general belief that formal, higher education isn’t a must. This year’s Salesforce salary survey revealed two-thirds of respondents don’t believe a degree is important to pursue a career in Salesforce (has been confirmed by most companies as well).

This means professionals can start climbing the corporate ladder sooner, often straight out of school. This is likely to give a greater of people the platform to enter tech careers and breakdown any previously existent stigmas.

Throughout my career as a Salesforce recruiter, I’ve learned that the average duration of a career in this field is around 12 to 18 months for junior positions, increasing to a longer term – otherwise known as tenure – with more senior positions. This could be due to the project-driven style of working within Salesforce.

This is a trend we’re seeing across the world. In developing Salesforce markets like Italy, this can be a great asset to workers as it gives flexibility and can allow people in a range of positions, from Admins to Developers, to experience a wide range of projects and products. It makes the market more dynamic, interesting, and challenging.

Inclusivity and gender diversity

Finally, Salesforce sets an example for their inclusivity and gender diversity. Since the boom of Salesforce, the number of women in IT has increased from 2.8% to 12%. Their own internal encouragement of coding for women, and accommodation of parental rights, sets an example to other businesses, especially those in their own ecosystem.

This attitude is particularly refreshing in developing markets, like Italy.

It could pave the way for drastic change in the representation of women in technology across the country.

What does this mean for you?

If you are working in Salesforce, or considering a career in it, there has never been a better time to do so, particularly in a country where the technology’s growth is high.

If you’re unsure of what you should be earning, consult resources like Mason Frank’s salary survey and compare your earnings against others.

If you need any advice on your Salesforce career prospects, don’t hesitate to get in touch with me directly and I’d be happy to do what I can to help.

You can find me on LinkedIn.

Good luck!

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