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Zendesk works with local ecosystem and educational institutions to ensure its talent pipeline

(USA 2019)
With a presence in Melbourne since 2011, and operating in an industry where there is a known global shortage of talent particularly in the areas of new forefront technologies, Zendesk has needed to create a sustainable talent pipeline in the areas of engineering, marketing and project management.

Zendesk is a global software development company that operates a cloud-based customer service platform. The company supports more than 125,000 paid customer brands in over 160 countries and has 16 offices located across North America, Europe, Asia, Australia and South America.

The Melbourne engineering team collaborates with other teams in Singapore, Dublin, Poland, Montpelier, Madison and San Francisco, ensuring innovation is a round-the-clock focus for the company. As such, it is continuously on the lookout for top talent, both at home and abroad.

In order to attract the best talent, Zendesk works to offer a great place to work.  In 2018, Great Place to Work named Zendesk as the fifth best workplace in Australia.  It also won an Australian HR Institute Award for Leadership Development and was named a finalist in the CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) category.

To promote itself as an employer of choice in the local market Zendesk works with the local ecosystem in a range of ways:

  • Regularly hosts and participates in Melbourne based events. Zendesk’s engineering and recruitment teams have participated in over 90 events to date. This contributes to the wider ecosystem’s knowledge development, whilst promoting itself as a talent attractor.

Hosting events is a key initiative in helping us build a quality talent pipeline, for which we rarely have shortage or impressive applicants.

Amy Foo - Vice President Finance and Shared Services, Zendesk

  • Offers paid internships to marketing and engineering students through its program with Swinburne and RMIT.  This program aids the development of entry level talent by exposing them to leading practices and technologies.
  • Speaking at universities and industry events to provide students and job seekers with insight into what it is like to work for a tech company like Zendesk.
  • Leverages and values employee referrals to unearth relevant talent.

We love employee referrals as we trust that our people are best placed to understand how their peers and colleagues could add value to our organisation.”

Nicky Urban-Weiss - HR Manager, ANZ, Zendesk

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