Within the Slack ecosystem, there are a number of different certifications to prove your skills. You can become a Slack Certified Admin, Consultant, or Developer.
In this guide, we will be focusing on what it takes to become a Slack Certified Consultant by reviewing the candidate requirements, key topics, and taking a look at different preparation strategies.
Who Is the Ideal Candidate?
As someone looking into becoming a Slack Certified Consultant, you should have the knowledge and skills to implement Slack for a client.
Since the system is geared towards Enterprise Grid, it is aimed at consultants with 12 months of experience in implementing and supporting this edition of Slack.
Although not a prerequisite, it may be helpful to consider the Slack Certified Admin first.
Slack hosts its own learning platform to help you prepare for the exam, and you will specifically need to complete the Slack Certified Consultant Prep Course beforehand. You can buy the course as a bundle with an exam voucher or take the course without an exam attempt.
You should be familiar with how to translate business requirements into a solid solution by understanding a client’s pain points. You’ll be expected to know about the typical project lifecycle and be experienced in managing a Slack launch, including getting involved in user enablement.
Key Topics
The Slack Consultant certification will test your knowledge on:
- Delivery and Migration
- Discovery
- Grid Design
- Policies and Settings
- Channel Strategy
- Governance Structure (Owner and Admin Roles)
- Learning and Enablement
Delivery and Migration: 17%
This part of the exam focuses on how a typical Slack project runs and the various phases within it. A candidate is expected to know who is responsible for different activities, including tasks during migration to Enterprise Grid, and how to resolve any user email and role conflicts should they arise.
Discovery: 10%
This section is about understanding how to unlock and articulate the ROI that a Slack implementation can bring. Perhaps unsurprisingly, this is about comprehending the client’s organization and future goals and ambitions. An important part of this process is understanding security policies that may need to be implemented, including features like domain claiming.
Grid Design: 15%
When designing an Enterprise Grid strategy, you should adhere to best practices, such as creating the minimum number of workspaces to meet user’s needs.
Remember, there are different models for system design that could apply here. A consultant is expected to know when to go for a centralized design with one workspace versus a distributed design with workspaces based on departments, utilizing multi-workspace channels.
Policies and Settings: 22%
As with any system, it is important to understand the required settings and roles in the system. Roles within Slack include Org Primary Owner, Org Owners, and Admins.
As Enterprise Grid is targeted at larger organizations, you will need to understand which user provisioning option works best and what terms such as SCIM and SAML stand for.
This may extend to controls around Slack Connect invitations and what apps should be pre-approved for users.
Remember, this potentially involves different workspaces with the option for settings at both workspace and org level.
Channel Strategy: 10%
When designing for Slack, channels can be set as default for users, and you can set prefixes too (e.g. #announce #ext). This section will also expect you to know the different visibility options for channels and how to define a naming convention.
Governance Structure (Owner and Admin Roles): 8%
Once Slack is delivered, efforts transition into ongoing support and management of the system to ensure that users are getting the support they require and channels are being used over DMs for maximum collaboration. There are different stakeholders involved here, so you will need to know about key personas and responsibilities that are typically part of this.
Learning and Enablement: 18%
When Slack goes live, it is important that users understand how to use it. As a consultant, you will need to develop a plan to train admins and users. The suggestion from Slack is to make these sessions as interactive as possible by introducing hands-on practices to help users get to grips with the system. Other best practices include having a channel for questions, e.g. #slack-help.
Study Strategy
To prepare to become a Slack Consultant, I used the resources as part of the Slack Certified Consultant Prep Course, which is available on slackcertified.com.
This online course is broken down into sections, with each section representing an exam topic. The advantage of this was being able to break down my learning into manageable chunks and make notes that are constructed by each exam area.
Salesforce often runs promotions for Partners to become Slack Certified; however, if you are not entitled to such promotions, then the Slack Certified Consultant Prep Course + Exam is currently available for $200.
Unlike Salesforce Learning via Trailhead, which is available for free, Slack Learning materials are paid resources. However, they tend to go into more depth than Trailhead modules, so for me, it was worth the investment!
As you are likely to have access to Slack already, be sure to familiarize yourself with different parts of the system to help you get prepared, ideally using a sandbox environment where available.
You can also sign up for a free plan, but bear in mind that this will have fewer features/functions than a paid plan.
In terms of exam strategy, I prepared my notes using the prep course. You can also dive into the Slack Community where necessary and attend Slack Community chapters to network with other Slack professionals.
It’s best to lean into exam prep approaches that have worked for you in the past – whether that involves notes, flashcards, or something else!
Exam Strategy
The exam consists of up to 60 multiple-choice questions. You will have 90 minutes to complete the test and need to get at least 66% to pass. If things don’t go as planned, you will get one free retake unless using a partner voucher.
Even if this is your first time taking a Salesforce exam, this guide can help you familiarize yourself with how a Slack exam works.
Slack exams are taken online, so test out your setup beforehand and make sure you meet the technical requirements.
Summary
In this guide, we’ve explored the Slack Consultant exam and reviewed some of the key topics. Be sure to tailor your study approach to whatever has worked for you in the past and perhaps set a target date to keep on track with your goal!
Try going into the exam with a clear, well-rested mind for the best chance of passing, and be kind to yourself if you have to guess a question – you can’t know it all!
Resources
- Slack Community
- Slack Events
- Slack Community Chapters
- Slack Certified Consultant Prep Course
- Slack Certified Consultant Exam
- Exam Registration and Policies Guide
