Domain Grilling Question Banks

AI-Generated Content — Use for Reference Only

This content is AI-generated and has only been validated by AI review processes. It has NOT been reviewed or validated by certified Salesforce CTAs or human subject matter experts. Do not rely on this content as authoritative or completely accurate. Use it solely as a reference point for your own study and preparation. Always verify architectural recommendations against official Salesforce documentation.

These are practice question banks organized by CTA exam domain. Each bank contains 15-20 realistic judge questions designed to simulate the grilling you will face during the CTA Review Board Q&A session.

How to Use These Question Banks

1. Read the question out loud as if a judge is asking it
2. Pause and think before looking at the model answer (use the STAR-A framework from Q&A Strategies)
3. Formulate your own answer using the “Considered X, chose Y because Z” pattern
4. Compare with the model answer — your answer does not need to match exactly, but it should demonstrate the same depth of reasoning
5. Practice draw-on-the-spot questions with a whiteboard or paper

Question Banks by Domain

Domain	File	Questions	Key Focus Areas
D1 System Architecture	D1 Questions	18	Org strategy, licensing, mobile, reporting, platform limits
D2 Security	D2 Questions	18	OWD, sharing, role hierarchy, identity, encryption
D3 Data	D3 Questions	18	Data model, LDV, migration, archival, external objects
D4 Solution Architecture	D4 Questions	18	Declarative vs code, AppExchange, build vs buy
D5 Integration	D5 Questions	15-20	Patterns, middleware, APIs, error handling
D6 Dev Lifecycle	D6 Questions	15-20	CI/CD, environments, testing, governance
D7 Communication	D7 Questions	15-20	Presentation, Q&A, stakeholder management

The Five Judge Question Types

Every question in these banks is categorized into one of five types, based on Praneel Pidikiti’s framework (see Q&A Strategies for full details):

Type	What the Judge Is Doing	Your Response Strategy
Type 1: Invalid	Challenging a flaw — “Your solution won’t work because…”	Acknowledge the error immediately and revise
Type 2: Missed	Pointing out a gap — “You haven’t addressed…”	Don’t panic; address the requirement and tie to existing design
Type 3: Suboptimal	Suggesting a better approach — “Have you considered…?”	Evaluate honestly; stand firm or adapt with reasoning
Type 4: Rationale Missing	Probing reasoning — “WHY did you choose…?”	This is a gift — your answer is right, just explain the why
Type 5: Cascading	Testing cross-domain awareness — “If you change X, what happens to Y?”	Trace the impact chain across your entire architecture

Questions marked with the paint palette icon require you to draw a diagram on the spot — practice these with a whiteboard or paper.