Legions of workers find themselves “volunteered” to become Workfront Admins within their companies, while others seek seasoned experts to guide their investment. This article shares experiences and perspectives of two product users as they journeyed from volunteer to top-tier knowledge experts through Workfront Certifications.
My name is Kurt Jones, I’m a Workfront and Fusion Administrator for a large financial services company where I help support the work management and automation needs of close to 350 marketeers. My journey began over 6 years ago before my current company where I was “volunteered” to become the Workfront Admin of an instance when the current resource moved on; sound familiar. Today, I hold the Adobe Workfront Core Developer Professional and Expert certifications, and the Fusion Developer Professional certification.
I’m Skye Hansen, the product owner for Workfront at a retail corporation, where I oversee the platform roadmap and advocate for my users in collaboration with Adobe. Since 2014, I’ve configured and managed Workfront across four different companies, gaining deep insights into its evolving role in business operations. I hold four Workfront certifications and actively contribute as a Subject Matter Expert in the Certification Program, helping define industry standards for Workfront. These certifications not only validate expertise but also play a critical role in driving efficiency and innovation within organizations leveraging Workfront.
Why we chose to get certified
Kurt Jones
Workfront was our system of record, and I began to learn and see how the platform could provide and connect to many of our marketing processes. That spark led me to start my journey toward certifications so I could help connect, automate, and optimize our work management processes. I did not come from a programming background, never worked with an API, and didn’t know the foreign language known as textmode. However, I learned about the Certification Program and the Experience League Community and saw first-hand how experts from all over the world were using their expertise to help answer questions for others. I was hooked and wanted to be able to help my teams and others as well; that began my journey to my first certification.
Skye Hansen
Workfront presents a steep learning curve. After a year or two, I noticed that some users believed that “anyone” could do my job, or that training a Workfront admin would be simple. This mindset raised concerns about how companies would value this role, and the challenge of maintaining platform governance - especially as more admins were added. I recognized this need to establish credibility and led by example for my team by becoming a strong proponent of certifying early and getting certified as soon as exams became available. Since my team was responsible for managing the platform, I have pursued the rest of the certifications over time, so that I can be knowledgeable and confident with the standards established by the exams.
The Adobe Workfront certification journey
Kurt Jones
I lobbied my leadership for training dollars to allow me to take the Admin and Fusion classes on Adobe Learning with the understanding that that I would use the knowledge to make our marketing processes more efficient. The training gave me a good foundation of the products, but the deeper tips and tricks that helped me become more creative with my solutions came from certified experts in the Experience League Community. The number of experienced experts willing to help me with questions, scenarios, ideas, and solutions were unprecedented. I learned how to do things that were not documented anywhere, found creative ways to use features and functions, and developed a connection to a tribe looking to help people.
Skye Hansen
Long before Adobe’s certification exams, I already developed internal training courses based on the curriculum I was trained on. By the time the exams became available, I was already familiar with the materials through work experience and company training initiatives. For the Fusion exam, I was fortunate to leverage my company’s Adobe Digital Learning Subscription, retaking the class several times. Working in a team that had real-world scenarios further strengthened my understanding. The exam prep guides were invaluable for targeted study, and while the practice test didn’t contain real exam questions, it helped me grasp the question format and structure.
How certification helped us
Kurt Jones
I came into my current role based on my expertise as my employer needed a strong resource to help move their Workfront adoption and planning forward across the organization. This trust and confidence helped me improve training, processes, and efficiency across the environment, growing from one automation to more than 40 all helping to make things simpler for our marketeers. I dove into the Experience League Community to help others and share knowledge that so many experts gave me. These activities led to being recognized as a Community Advisor as well as several speaking opportunities to share learnings with others in our Workfront tribe.
Skye Hansen
Certification became a crucial factor in shaping our team structure. At one of my previous employers, we established certification as a baseline requirement for anyone with admin-level access to Workfront. Because certification set standards of expertise, we had confidence that those admins with high-level permissions understood how to safeguard our investment – not just in terms of financial commitment but also in terms of stored work. This shared standard made collaboration among admins smoother and improved trust in hiring decisions, ensuring new team members had some knowledge before stepping into a role.
Additionally, we were able to recommend that our workflow SMEs — those individuals responsible for understanding their team’s processes — to pursue the Workfront PM certification. This helped set clear expectations and gave them a solid foundation in project functionality in Workfront.
Advice to anyone considering becoming certified
Kurt Jones
Lobby your leadership to attend Adobe Summit every March as you can take certification tests (as many as you want) at no cost. This structure gives you a timeframe to be ready, saves on exam costs, and provides a great chance to connect with folks you chat with on Experience League to develop and grow those personal connections.
Skye Hansen
Workfront certification is valuable at any stage of your career. For established admins and team SMEs, it highlights the depth of expertise required for the role, giving companies greater appreciation for their skills. For job seekers, it services as a clear signal of proficiency to potential employers. In large organizations, certification provides a framework for elevating users, fostering collaboration among admins and evolving the platform. In smaller companies, where admins often work alone, certification ensures you’re getting the most value out of your Workfront investment without needing a large support team.