Dreaming of becoming a Trailhead Ranger? Director Trailhead Evangelism Megan Petersen shares her advice and tips on achieving Ranger status. It’s more attainable than you think.
Salesforce’s online learning platform Trailhead has long been loved for its bite-sized content, badges and points. It’s gamified learning at its best, on a platform that anyone can use to build their skills. Trailhead is full of opportunities to ‘level-up’ — Trailhead Ranger is the highest rank.
It doesn’t matter if you’re starting from zero or already have 50 badges, becoming a Ranger is a fun way to learn, gain new skills and even help educate others.
To become a Trailhead Ranger you need to earn 100 badges and 50,000 points. It’s no easy task and not something you should try to do in a day or a week — the point is to learn and embed the knowledge gained, not simply to earn points and badges. If you’re keen to equip yourself with skills for in-demand jobs, make time for learning and plan your path, the #RoadToRanger program will help get you there.
Reskill for a changing world
Amid great change Trailhead’s focus remains steady: breaking down the barriers to learning and empowering everyone to learn the skills needed for the jobs of today and tomorrow. With many people now working remotely and an increased business need for digital transformation, skilling up is more important than ever. That’s where the #RoadToRanger program steps in.
#RoadToRanger: the Trailhead Trailmixes that will help you level up
If you’re after a tried-and-true way to achieve Trailhead Ranger status, the #RoadToRanger program will help you achieve your goal.
The #RoadToRanger program consists of three trailmixes (like learning playlists) with the perfect blend of badges and points that take the guesswork out of how to reach Ranger status.
- Trailmix 1 — Get started with the basics about Trailhead, Salesforce and important guiding principles.
- Trailmix 2 — Take a look at technology.
- Trailmix 3 — Get hands-on and earn points.
Complete these and Ranger status will be yours ‒ I’ve done the maths!
Saying that, if you’re interested in certain topics or focused on certain roles I highly recommend you choose your own adventure. You can narrow your Trailhead search by applying filters based on roles, products and your learning level. Or if you know exactly what you’re looking for, type a relevant word into the search bar to find suitable Trailhead content.
Slow and steady always wins
It’s not a race. You want to make sure you’re retaining what you’re learning. If you find yourself fading or losing motivation in the face of a tough module, don’t give up! Step away and do something you’re good at. Your positive mindset will quickly return and you’ll be much more motivated to tackle a module or unit you’re struggling with.
Aim for a mixture of fun and informative content, such as the Camp B Well Trail, as well as the more product-focused Trails like Building Apex Coding Skills, to keep your mind engaged.
The benefits of becoming a Trailhead Ranger
Taking the initiative to build skills shows you’re committed to self-improvement and giving back to the business model — a great attribute in any employee. That’s part of why 25% of Trailblazers find a new job or score raises and promotions!
But the biggest benefit is to you and your ability to continuously learn. By the time you hit Ranger status, you’ve created a new, useful habit that makes learning part of your everyday life — some people even use it as a reference tool. And if you’ve ever thought of becoming a Salesforce administrator, architect or developer, a business analyst or consultant, or to build a career in sales, service or marketing, whatever your role, earning Trailhead Ranger status empowers you to develop the in-demand skills that lead to top jobs, paves the way for your certification journey and enables you to help others along the way.
That Trailhead Ranger feeling
Wondering what it feels like to finally reach Ranger status? I’ll leave it to the experts to explain.
Ready to start your Road to Ranger journey? Sign up to Trailhead and complete the #RoadToRanger quest.
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