Show employers you are ready to excel in a customer-facing job with a nationally recognized Customer Service Certification

What is Customer Service?

Customer Service is defined as the assistance and advice provided by a company’s employees to those people who buy or use its products or services.

A Customer Service Certification from Indy Reads will show employers you are ready to excel in a customer-facing job, and that you have the skills to make a difference for their customers and their business.

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Enrollment for new students for 2024-2025 is OPEN.

Thank you for your interest in joining a Certification class at Indy Reads. 

Please complete this enrollment form to start classes with Indy Reads. After you complete the form, you will receive an emailed link to complete placement testing. Your test results will help us choose the best class option for you.

We look forward to meeting you soon!  

Become a student

Indy Reads’ adult learners have two ways to earn their Customer Service Certification:

A man faces a laptop while sitting at a desk near the window at Indy Reads

Online course

A shelf features local author books at Indy Reads

Online course +
experience working in our community bookstore

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About our free Customer Service Certification Course

(online course only)

This free, online course combines soft skills development, like problem solving, conflict resolution, and business email etiquette, with live training and career counseling with Indy Reads’ coaches. All this will help prepare students for the certification test from the National Retail Federation and job opportunities in retail, customer service, and any job that involves working with the public. 

Because soft skills gained during this course are universal, program graduates are not limited to one field or industry, and the experience gained can be foundational to any career or position. 

Employers across many different job types will recognize the certification on an applicant’s resume as a mark of a high-quality candidate.

Requirements

  • To enroll in Indy Reads’ certification classes, one must have a High School diploma or High School Equivalency (HSE) diploma. If you do not have a diploma, join our High School Equivalency class!
  • Students must have access to an electronic device for the online coursework.
  • Students may need a paper notebook and pen or pencil for note-taking. 
  • If needed, laptops and mobile hotspots are available for students from Indy Reads’ Technology Loaner Library for the nine weeks of the course.

Upon completion of the Customer Service Certification, Indy Reads will pay the testing fee for the participant.

Program Schedule

  • The program is nine weeks long. 
  • Online instruction averages 5-6 hours a week.

Customer Service Certification graduates are guaranteed an interview with our employer partner, Goodwill Industries of Central & Southern Indiana.

Goodwill of Central and Southern Indiana logo
Lay C. Customer Service Program Graduate

Get paid to learn and earn real-world experience in our
Customer Service Skills Program

(Online course + experience working in our community bookstore)

Students can also choose to participate in Indy Reads’ Customer Service Skills Program. This is an innovative program that combines the Customer Service online course with real-world experience working in our community bookstore at $15/hour. While getting paid customer service experience, students also receive mentoring and professional development from Indy Reads’ staff members.

Indy Reads’ Customer Service Skills Program combines our retail operations and adult literacy services programming into a single initiative to provide adult learners with education and training in a true workforce setting.

Through this program, students will be able to get hands-on experience, individualized attention when learning job readiness concepts, and an industry-recognized credential, all while building soft skills like problem solving, conflict resolution, and business email etiquette.

Program Schedule

  • The program is nine weeks long and consists of a mix of online instruction and in-person work shifts. 
  • Online instruction averages 5-6 hours a week. 
  • Students in the Customer Service Skills Program can work up to 10 paid hours a week in the bookstore. Students must work at least 4 hours a week.

Bookstore Hours of Operation for shifts

Wednesday – Saturday 11am-7pm
Sundays 11am-5pm

Location: 1066 Virginia Ave, Indianapolis, IN 46203

Earn your Customer Service Certification with Indy Reads!

For more information about Indy Reads’ Certification classes, call (317) 384-1496 or submit an enrollment form.

Become a student

We look forward to meeting you soon!

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