What Is Trailhead? Free Online Learning

According to a recent IDC report, the Salesforce ecosystem will create 9.3 million new jobs and $1.6 trillion in new business revenues worldwide by 2026. And demand for Salesforce skills is skyrocketing as companies need Trailblazers’ skills and their focused mindsets to drive success now and in the future. 

But according to a recent global Salesforce study, 76% of respondents reported they don’t feel ready to operate in a digital-first world when looking at the next 5 years. 

This is where Trailhead comes in to help meet the growing demand for Salesforce skills.

What is Trailhead? 

Trailhead is the fun way to learn. As a gamified online learning platform, Trailhead allows individuals, teams, and companies to skill up for the future by learning Salesforce skills, from CRM to Flow Builder along with crucial interpersonal and business skills like data literacy and emotional intelligence. 

On Trailhead you’ll find two types of badges to earn: bite-sized conversational modules and step-by-step instruction-based projects. As you complete modules and projects, you earn points and badges while climbing the Trailblazer ranks making learning fun along the way.

Let’s dig into some details:

• Modules are made up of bite-size units that guide you through specific topics. Each unit tests your knowledge with a hands-on challenge or quiz.
• Hands-on challenges are the secret sauce of Trailhead because one of the best ways to learn is by doing. In these challenges, you get hands-on with Salesforce technology in a safe practice space called Trailhead Playgrounds. This means you can learn, and even make mistakes, without fear of breaking anything in production.
• Quizzes are multiple-choice or true-false questions that test you on important concepts. Successfully ace the quiz and celebrate by earning a badge.

With Trailhead, we like to say you can learn, earn, and connect: 

• Learn how to use Salesforce products and develop in-demand skills to help your company succeed.
• Earn points and badges as you continue learning, unlocking Trailblazer Ranks along the way, while building towards resume-worthy credentials—like Salesforce Certifications and Superbadges.
• Connect to opportunity, from mentorship to employment, with the global Trailblazer Community, an amazing network of over 19 million people who help each other on the journey of learning and succeeding with Salesforce.

With over 1,500 badges ranging from Artificial Intelligence to leadership development, Trailhead empowers anyone to be a Trailblazer with Salesforce.

Another element of fun and motivation are Trailhead Quests. Quests run each month and combine the challenge of gaining new skills with the chance of scoring fun prizes like community badges, swag, gift cards, Salesforce Certification vouchers, and more.

Can’t be at your desk? You can take all of this learning with you anywhere on our free mobile app, Trailhead GO.  Love to learn in a classroom setting? You also have the opportunity to learn with virtual and in-person learning through Trailhead Academy.

Trailhead has also personalized learning with Career Paths that help individuals identify the best career to match their skills and ambitions. With over 10 different career paths to choose from, anyone can find their entry-point into the Salesforce ecosystem and learn the skills needed to deliver success now.

How does Trailhead help people and companies succeed? 

Trailhead empowers anyone, from individuals to entire companies, to learn the skills necessary to succeed in today’s digital-first world.

People from all over the world are using Trailhead as the front door to the Salesforce ecosystem. After fleeing her home country for safety reasons, Sima Samara had to restart her career. As a refugee with no prior technology training, Sima found Trailhead and fell in love with learning new skills. She became Salesforce certified after just four months and landed her first job in the ecosystem.

Tony Nguyen was managing a sandwich shop and was laid off when the pandemic forced the shop to close. Tony began skilling up on Trailhead and learning from the Trailblazer Community which empowered him to earn two Salesforce certifications and become a Salesforce Consultant.

Monica May Davis was a 311 operator for the city of Chicago. Monica learned about Salesforce through a course at City College of Chicago and started to skill up through the Pathfinder Training Program. Today, she’s a Double Star Ranger working as a Business Analyst

Companies are driving Salesforce adoption and increasing productivity by encouraging their employees’ continued learning on Trailhead. Companies like Salesforce partner, Uptima, are challenging teams to complete 30 badges within 30 days. This initiative has grown to include over a third of the company, collectively earning over 3,000 badges to date.

“The collaborative effort and the amazing platform that Trailhead provides makes it easy to support our employees with continued learning,” shares Marei Draper, Principal Consultant at Uptima. “Trailhead and Trailhead GO have enabled our organization to grow the breadth and depth of our knowledge of the Salesforce platform.”

Anyone who’s ready to take their skills to the next level can easily sign up for a free Trailhead account (no Salesforce CRM account needed) at Trailhead.com. Many of Salesforce’s customers use Trailhead to help skill up their teams, but you don’t have to be employed by a Salesforce customer to use Trailhead.

Since Trailhead offers free learning available to everyone, it helps create new pathways into tech for diverse talent. This levels the playing field to shape a more inclusive future.

Can anyone use Trailhead? 

Anyone who’s ready to take their skills to the next level can easily sign up for a free Trailhead account (no Salesforce CRM account needed) at Trailhead.com. Many of Salesforce’s customers use Trailhead to help skill up their teams, but you don’t have to be employed by a Salesforce customer to use Trailhead.

Since Trailhead offers free learning available to everyone, it helps create new pathways into tech for diverse talent. This levels the playing field to shape a more inclusive future. 

Through our workforce development programs, we extend the power of Trailhead to empower anyone—regardless of their background—to build a thriving career in the Salesforce ecosystem. These programs include:

• Trailhead Coach, which provides a guided pathway into the Salesforce ecosystem with personalized Trailhead learning content aligned to career goals, free certification vouchers, and access to automatic job interviews.
• Trailblazer Connect, which helps people connect to Salesforce training programs, mentorship, and career fairs.
• Salesforce Military, which offers online training and certification exams at no cost to active-duty military, veterans, and military spouses. 

More than just a learning platform

If you’re brand new to Salesforce or have never heard of our company, you might not know what a Trailblazer is, or what makes our community special. Our Trailblazers are innovating with Salesforce and using our platform to transform their companies. The best part? Anyone can be a Trailblazer! And many attribute their success to the support of the Trailblazer Community.

The Trailblazer Community is where Trailhead learners connect with Salesforce customers, partners, product specialists, and employees to learn together, find mentors, and connect to career opportunities. There are currently 1,300 Trailblazer Community Groups across 90 countries. 

Discover how Trailblazers are achieving more in their professional lives with Trailhead and the Trailblazer Community.

Ready to start your learning journey? You can kick things off by signing up and completing the Beginner’s Quest: Start Your Trailblazer Journey. See you on the trails.