Salesforce Integration Interview Questions check how you connect Salesforce with other systems, and how much code-level knowledge you have as an admin. This is Part 13 of our 25-part series.
In Part 8, we touched on APIs. Here we go deeper into authentication, events, middleware and the basic SOQL and Apex that admins are now often asked about. Our External Client Apps guide is a good start.
How to Use These Salesforce Integration Interview Questions
You do not need to code to answer most of these. First, learn the words: API, OAuth, integration user, event and middleware. Next, learn what admins set up versus what developers build. Then practise the scenarios, naming the tool and the security step in every answer.
Salesforce Integration Interview Questions on Integration Basics
Study with Salesforce Connect.
- What is an integration?
- What is the difference between real-time and batch integration?
- Explain the difference between pushing and pulling data.
- What is middleware?
- What is an ETL tool?
- Briefly, what is point-to-point integration, and why can it be risky?
- Who owns an integration: admin or developer?
- What questions do you ask before starting an integration?
- What is an integration pattern?
- Define request and reply.
- What is fire and forget?
- What is data virtualization?
- Define a system of record.
- What is master data management, at a high level?
- Scenario: two systems both update customer phone numbers. How do you avoid conflicts?
- Scenario: the business wants live stock levels from an ERP inside Salesforce. What do you suggest?
Salesforce APIs Questions
Study with Salesforce Connect.
- What is an API?
- What is the REST API?
- Define the SOAP API.
- What is the Bulk API?
- When do you use Bulk API instead of REST?
- What is the Metadata API?
- What are API limits?
- Where do you check API usage?
- Which editions include API access?
- What is a composite request, at a high level?
- What is the Pub/Sub API?
- Define the Streaming API.
- What is the Tooling API, at a high level?
- What is Bulk API 2.0?
- Briefly, what is the User Interface API, at a high level?
- How do API calls count against limits?
- Scenario: an integration hits its daily API limit. What do you do?
- Scenario: a vendor asks for an API user with full access. What do you say?
Salesforce Integration Interview Questions on Authentication and Security
Study with External Client Apps.
- What is OAuth, in simple words?
- What is an External Client App?
- Briefly, what happened to creating new connected apps?
- What is a named credential?
- What is an external credential?
- Define an integration user licence.
- Why should each integration have its own user?
- What is a client secret, and how do you protect it?
- What is IP whitelisting for integrations?
- Briefly, what is OAuth 2.0 JWT bearer flow, at a high level?
- What is the client credentials flow, at a high level?
- What is the difference between authentication and authorization?
- Define a refresh token.
- How do you revoke an app access token?
- What is a certificate in Salesforce, at a high level?
- Scenario: an integration still uses a former employee login. How do you fix it safely?
- Scenario: an app needs read access to two objects only. How do you set it up?
Events and Real-Time Data Questions
Study with Advanced Flows.
- What is a platform event?
- What is Change Data Capture?
- Explain the difference between them.
- What is an outbound message?
- Can a flow publish a platform event?
- Can a flow subscribe to a platform event?
- What is a pub/sub model, in simple words?
- How long are platform event messages kept?
- What is a high-volume platform event?
- How do you monitor platform event usage?
- Can Change Data Capture track custom objects?
- What is an event channel?
- Scenario: the ERP must know right away when an order is activated. What do you suggest?
- Scenario: a flow must react when an external system sends an event. What do you build?
Salesforce Integration Interview Questions on Middleware and Tools
Study with Data Migration.
- What is MuleSoft?
- What is MuleSoft Composer, at a high level?
- Define an iPaaS.
- What are common data loading tools besides Data Loader?
- What is External Services, at a high level?
- Define an HTTP callout from Flow.
- What is Salesforce Connect, and what is an external object?
- What is Zapier or similar tools, and when are they acceptable?
- Explain what Data Loader command line is used for.
- What is an API gateway, at a high level?
- How do you choose between MuleSoft and a simple tool?
- What is Heroku Connect, at a high level?
- Scenario: the HR system can only send a nightly file. What is your approach?
- Scenario: marketing wants form data from a website tool. What are your options?
Monitoring Integrations Questions
Study with Event Monitoring.
- How do you know if an integration failed?
- What logs can admins check?
- What is the API Usage report?
- How do you alert someone when an integration fails?
- How do you test an integration in a sandbox?
- What happens to integrations after a sandbox refresh?
- What is an integration error log object?
- How do you retry failed records?
- What is a dead letter queue, at a high level?
- How do you report on integration errors?
- What is a health check for integrations?
- Scenario: duplicate accounts come from an integration every night. How do you find the cause?
- Scenario: an integration stopped after a password change. How do you prevent this?
Salesforce Integration Interview Questions on SOQL Basics for Admins
Study with Data Loader.
- What is SOQL?
- Where can admins run SOQL?
- What is the basic structure of a SOQL query?
- How do you filter records with WHERE?
- How do you sort with ORDER BY?
- Explain how you limit results.
- How do you query fields from a parent record?
- How do you query child records?
- What is SOSL, and how is it different from SOQL?
- What is a relationship query?
- Explain the difference between WHERE and HAVING.
- What is COUNT() in SOQL?
- What is GROUP BY?
- Define a date literal like LAST_N_DAYS.
- Where can admins run SOQL safely?
- Scenario: export all open cases with the account name. Write the query idea.
- Scenario: find contacts with no email. Write the query idea.
Apex Basics for Admins Questions
Study with Order of Execution.
- What is Apex?
- What is an Apex trigger?
- Explain the difference between a trigger and a flow.
- What is a test class, and why is 75% coverage needed?
- Can admins deploy Apex to production directly?
- What is a governor limit in Apex?
- What is bulkification?
- Describe before and after triggers.
- How do you read an Apex error in a debug log?
- What is a trigger context variable, at a high level?
- What is a test class used for?
- Define a code coverage report.
- What is an Apex class?
- What is an invocable method, and why do admins care?
- Define a custom setting bypass for triggers.
- Scenario: a developer asks you to switch off a trigger in production. What do you do?
- Scenario: a flow and a trigger both update the same field. How do you decide which one to keep?
Salesforce Integration Interview Questions FAQ
Do admins need to write code?
No, but many interviews now ask basic SOQL and what a trigger does. Knowing the basics helps you work with developers.
What is the most important integration topic for admins?
Security: a dedicated integration user, least access, and monitoring.
Official Resources
Quick Recap
- These Salesforce Integration Interview Questions cover APIs, authentication, events, middleware, monitoring, SOQL and Apex basics.
- Give every integration its own user with least access.
- Pick real-time or batch based on the business need.
- Know basic SOQL and what a trigger does.
- Monitor and alert on failures.
What’s Next?
Continue with the next part. Read Agentforce Interview Questions: AI for Salesforce Admins (Part 14).
