Salesforce Developer Interview Questions: 30+ Powerful Picks

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Integration & Deployment – Connecting the Dots
A Salesforce Developer rarely works in isolation. Understanding how Salesforce communicates with other systems and how code moves through environments is vital.

Explain the difference between REST and SOAP APIs in Salesforce.

REST (Representational State Transfer): Lightweight, stateless, uses standard HTTP methods (GET, POST, PUT, DELETE). Often uses JSON or XML. Simpler to implement, preferred for mobile and web applications. Salesforce’s preferred integration method for new development.

SOAP (Simple Object Access Protocol): XML-based, more structured, uses WSDL (Web Services Description Language) for contract definition. More rigid, but offers strong typing and enterprise-level features. Often used for integrations with legacy systems or when strict contract adherence is required.

How do you make an HTTP callout from Apex? What are Named Credentials, and why are they important?

You use HttpRequest to define the request (endpoint URL, method, headers, body) and HttpResponse to receive the response.

Named Credentials: An authentication ...
... setting in Salesforce that specifies the URL of a callout endpoint and its required authentication parameters (e.g., OAuth, API Key, password).

Importance: They simplify callouts by abstracting authentication details, preventing hardcoding credentials, and centralizing endpoint management. They also simplify Test.setMock() for testing callouts.

What are External Services in Salesforce?

External Services allow you to declaratively integrate with external web services without writing Apex code. You register an API specification (e.g., OpenAPI/Swagger) and Salesforce automatically generates Apex classes and Flow actions, making the external service invocable from Flow, Apex, or other declarative tools.

How would you compare Change Sets with Salesforce DX (Source-Driven Development) for deployments?

Change Sets:
This is Salesforce’s native, UI-based deployment tool. It’s great for smaller, straightforward deployments between connected orgs, like moving changes from a sandbox to production.

Drawbacks: No integration with version control, tricky to use for complex projects, can’t easily handle destructive changes (like deleting components), and is limited to orgs that are directly connected.

Salesforce DX:
A more modern, CLI-driven, source-focused approach to development. It revolves around scratch orgs (temporary orgs you spin up as needed), local source control (like Git), and supports CI/CD automation.

Benefits: Perfect for team collaboration, integrates seamlessly with Git for version control, enables automated testing and deployments, handles destructive changes, and supports headless operations.

This is considered the future of Salesforce development, and it’s what most employers expect for larger projects.

What are the different types of Sandboxes, and when would you use each?

Salesforce Developer Sandbox:
Smallest, with limited storage. Doesn’t copy production data. Best for building and unit testing new features.

Salesforce Developer Pro Sandbox:
Similar to Salesforce Developer but with more storage. Still no production data. Useful for bigger development tasks.

Partial Copy Sandbox:
Includes your metadata plus a sample of production data. Great for integration testing, QA, or user acceptance testing (UAT).

Full Sandbox:
A complete replica of your production org—metadata and all data. It’s the most expensive and takes the longest to refresh, but it’s essential for final UAT, performance testing, and staging before going live.

Why is version control (like Git/GitHub) so important in Salesforce development?

Version control is a must-have for teams working on Salesforce projects. It lets you:

Track every change made to code and configuration.
Collaborate without overwriting each other’s work.
Roll back safely if something breaks.
Manage multiple feature branches.
Automate deployments through CI/CD pipelines.
At a minimum, you should be comfortable with basic Git commands—like clone, add, commit, push, pull, branch, and merge.

Soft Skills & Problem Solving — Beyond Just Writing Code
Technical chops alone won’t land you the job. Interviewers also want to see how you think through problems, debug issues, and work with a team.

A user says a custom field on the Account object isn’t showing up on their page layout, even though they have access to the object. How would you troubleshoot this?

Take a step-by-step approach:

Check Field-Level Security (FLS): Is the field visible to their profile or through a permission set?

Check Page Layout: Is the correct page layout assigned to their profile? Is that field actually on the layout?

Check Record Types: If record types are used, does the page layout for that record type (assigned to their profile) include the field?

Accessibility Settings: Rare, but sometimes overlooked. Worth a quick check.

You’ve encountered a Governor Limit error in a Batch Apex job. How would you debug and resolve it?

Debug: Check the debug logs (Apex Code, Workflow, Callouts). Look for LIMIT_USAGE_FOR_NS messages or the specific error. Identify the line of code causing the issue (e.g., SOQL query in a loop, excessive DML).

Resolve:

Bulkify: Ensure all SOQL queries and DML operations process collections, not single records.
Reduce SOQL/DML: Optimize queries, combine DML operations.
Asynchronous Processing: If the limit is due to large data volumes, ensure the process is suitable for Batch Apex or Queueable Apex.
Conditional Logic: Add checks to avoid unnecessary operations.
Efficient Algorithms: Review your logic for inefficient loops or data structures.
Describe a complex Salesforce project you worked on. What were the challenges, and how did you overcome them?

This is your chance to showcase your experience. Talk about:

The business problem.
Your role and responsibilities.
The solution architecture (Apex, LWC, Integrations, etc.).
Specific technical challenges (e.g., large data volume, complex integrations, governor limits, tricky UI requirements).
How you used your skills to overcome them (e.g., implemented a trigger framework, used Queueable Apex for chaining, optimized SOQL, designed a custom LWC component).
The positive impact of your solution.
What tools do you use for debugging Apex code?

Salesforce Developer Console: The primary IDE in Salesforce. Use for viewing debug logs, executing anonymous Apex, and inspecting data.
Debug Logs: Set log levels for different categories (Apex Code, Database, Workflow, Callouts, etc.) to capture detailed information about transaction execution.
System.debug(): Your best friend for printing variable values and flow of execution within Apex code.
Checkpoints (in Salesforce Developer Console): Set breakpoints in Apex classes for more interactive debugging (though less common for real-time production issues).
Communication & Collaboration
How do you explain technical stuff to non-technical people?

Honestly, it’s all about keeping it simple. I like to use real-world examples or little stories so it actually makes sense. I might draw something out on paper or a whiteboard. I skip the deep code talk and focus on what the thing does and why it matters. It all depends on who I’m talking to—if it’s a sales exec, I frame it around revenue; if it’s support, around customer impact.

What’s your experience with Agile or Scrum?

I’ve worked in teams that use sprints, daily stand-ups, and all that. I’ve helped groom backlogs, been part of sprint reviews, and retrospectives. The main thing is staying flexible. Priorities change all the time, so I try to keep the team’s bigger goals in mind and figure out how I can pitch in to keep delivering.

How do you handle code reviews?

For me, it’s not about nitpicking. It’s about helping the whole team improve. I look for stuff like: is it bulkified? Will it blow up governor limits? Is it clear? Tested? I try to give suggestions, not just point out problems. I also expect people to do the same for my code.

A Few Tips That Go Beyond Just Prepping for Questions

Actually learn it: Don’t just memorize answers. Try to get why things work. That way, even if they twist the question, you won’t freeze.

Build stuff: The best way to answer “Have you done X?” is to say, “Yeah, here’s what I built.” Set up your own Salesforce Developer Org. Play. Break things. Fix them. Put it on GitHub.

Use Trailhead: The badges and superbadges show you can do the work, not just talk about it.

Do mock interviews: Sit with a friend or someone from a community group. It’s awkward at first, but it helps a ton.

Ask smart stuff back: At the end, don’t just say, “Nope, I’m good.” Ask what the dev process is like, what big problems they’re solving, or how they keep the team learning.

Be real: Show that you’re excited. If you don’t know something, say that—and then say how you’d figure it out.

Stay on top of new stuff: Salesforce moves fast. I read blogs, do Trailhead, keep an eye on new releases, and I’m always working on the next cert.

Wrapping It Up: Your Path to Becoming a Salesforce Developer
Look, interviews are tough. But they’re also your shot to show you’re more than just a resume. Show them how you solve problems, how you work with people, and why you’d be fun to have on the team.

And remember, every “no” just means you’re one step closer to that “yes.” Keep learning, keep building, keep tweaking your approach. That Apex summit? It’s waiting — and there’s no reason it can’t have your name on it.

Salesforce Developer Interview Questions
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