Zendesk Training and Certification

Zendesk is a deep product, with a real learning curve for admins and almost none for agents. Spend the Zendesk training budget accordingly.

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Who needs what

Agents. An afternoon with a colleague and a good macro library. Formal training isn't usually the constraint on agent performance.

Admins. This is where training pays. Triggers, automations, macros, views, SLAs and business rules all interact, and you genuinely can't reason about that from the interface alone.

Support leads. Reporting, specifically Explore. Most teams use a fraction of it, because nobody's ever shown them the model.

Zendesk training formats

Zendesk offers free on-demand training, paid instructor-led courses, and certification exams for admins and specialists. The certifications cost money, and they don't last forever.

The free on-demand material covers more than people expect. Work through it before you pay for anything. It often answers the exact question you were about to buy a course for.

What no course teaches

How to staff for your arrival curve. How to set a first response target you can hit on your worst week. Which of your tickets should never have existed.

That last one is the largest gap. No certification covers duplicate handling, and it's a tenth of the queue. A trained admin will configure that tenth beautifully and never once question it.

FAQ

Frequently asked questions

Is there a Zendesk tutorial for learning how to use Zendesk?

Yes, and the free ones are the place to start. Zendesk's own learning platform has a guided Zendesk tutorial path for agents and another for admins, which covers how to use Zendesk day to day before you pay for anything.

Is Zendesk certification worth it?

For admins and consultants, yes. For agents, you'll get more out of an afternoon of shadowing.

Is Zendesk training free?

A substantial amount of the on-demand training is free. The instructor-led courses and the certification exams aren't.