How to prepare for servicenow admin Job?

[RasiP]

Hi All,

I am new to servicenow and please help me with the process of preparing for the jobs and help me if there are any recent topics that I should focus more on.

[GlideFather]

Hi @RasiP,

First of all, welcome to this amazing Community, you have selected the Platform of platforms!

There's no universal answer or suggestion. However, to extend your knowledge and learn more, please find these resources below. You can combine between them as your time allows you, the journeys, paths, and credentials are trainings predefined by ServiceNow, some of them are just to watch a video or read a documentation, others are simulators. Some are recommended some are required. Navigate there and oyu will soon understand the concept. 

There are two great places:

1. ServiceNow University 

• Get Started with ServiceNow University
• Learn about ServiceNow and earn badges, points, certificates, and improve your rank.
• Most courses are free, only a few are paid.
• Start with the "Welcome to ServiceNow " training, it's fun and gives you your first certificate!
• The most important first certificate is  Certified System Administrator (CSA), useful for almost any ServiceNow role.
• Trainings at the SN University provide temporary lab instances with pre-installed plugins and apps.

Scroll to select your Career Journeys:

• System Admin
• App Developer
• Platform Owner
• Implementer
• Technical Project Manager
• Business Process Analyst
• Support Specialist

Scroll and select your ServiceNow credentials:

• App Specialist
• Architect
• Developer
• Implementer
• Pre-sales Expert
• Sales Expert
• System Admin

To learn more about trainings:

[ServiceNow University] - Vouchers eligibility, Free Trainings, Paid Exams and Payments | FAQs

2. Developer Portal

• Request your Personal Developer Instance (PDI) — your own ServiceNow sandbox to practice safely.
• You can try almost everything for free (except a few advanced features like AI).
• Explore guides, tutorials, blogs, and documentation to learn more.

Learning Plan ServiceNow Administrator:

• Learn admin skills to move into app development.
• Includes 13 short, self-paced modules.

[TejasSN_LogicX]

Hi @RasiP ,

Welcome to the ServiceNow ..

It’s great that you’re getting started — ServiceNow is a powerful platform with lots of career opportunities. Here’s a roadmap to help you prepare for jobs and focus on the right topics:

 1. Start with the Fundamentals

• Understand the Platform: Learn about the ServiceNow architecture — tables, forms, lists, and how data flows through the platform.

• Get Familiar with Core Applications: Incident, Problem, Change, Knowledge, and Service Catalog.

• Complete the ServiceNow Fundamentals course (available for free if you sign up on the ServiceNow Developer site).

💻 2. Hands-On Practice

• Create your own personal developer instance from the developer portal.

• Try building simple catalog items, UI policies, client/server scripts, and flows.

• Experiment with Business Rules, Script Includes, and Glide APIs.

🔍 3. Key Topics to Focus On (2025 trend areas)

• Flow Designer and IntegrationHub – automation and low-code development are highly in demand.

• Service Catalog & Record Producers – essential for Service Portal development.

• Scripting (JavaScript on both client and server sides) – core skill for developers.

• UI Builder & Workspace – modern UI frameworks replacing classic UI Pages.

• App Engine Studio (AES) – building and deploying custom applications faster.

• Data model and CMDB fundamentals – useful for ITSM and ITOM roles.

• Service Portal / Next Experience (UI Framework) – for front-end customization.

4. Certifications (When You’re Ready)

• Certified System Administrator (CSA) – your first goal; validates your foundational knowledge.

• Then move to Certified Application Developer (CAD) or specialized certs (ITSM, ITOM, HRSD, etc.).

5. Community & Practice

• Stay active here on the ServiceNow Developer Community – ask, answer, and learn.

• Follow Now Learning, ServiceNow Docs, and YouTube channels for latest releases.

• Explore the Tokyo, Utah, Vancouver, and Washington DC release notes to stay updated.

You’re already on the right track by asking the community! Keep practicing regularly — ServiceNow rewards hands-on learning.

Good luck with your journey 

[Sarthak Kashyap]

Hi @RasiP ,

🧭 1. Understand the Career Path in ServiceNow

There are three main roles you can target:

Role Focus Area Core Skills

System Administrator	Manage users, forms, data, configurations	ITSM, UI Policies, Client Scripts, ACLs
Developer	Custom apps, automation, scripting	Glide APIs, Business Rules, Flow Designer
Business Analyst / Process Consultant	Process design & documentation	ITIL, requirements gathering, reporting

👉 Since you’re new, start with Admin → Developer path.

---

🎯 2. Start with the Foundations

Goal: Build a solid understanding of the ServiceNow platform structure and interface.

Learn these first:

• Navigation & Tables: How data is stored (tables, records, fields, sys_id)

• Forms & Lists: Personalize lists, form layouts

• Dictionary Entries: Field attributes and data types

• Relationships: Reference fields, dot-walking

• Basic ITSM modules: Incident, Problem, Change, Request, and Knowledge

🧩 Hands-on Practice:
Create your free Developer Instance at developer.servicenow.com — this is your personal playground.

---

⚙️ 3. Intermediate Topics (What Recruiters Expect)

Once you know the basics, move to platform configuration and automation:

Area What to Learn Why It Matters

UI Policies & Client Scripts	Control form behavior	Core skill for customization
Business Rules	Server-side automation	Key for backend logic
Flow Designer	Low-code automation replacing legacy workflows	High demand in 2025
Data Policies	Enforce rules on all forms	Keeps data consistent
Notifications	Email/SMS triggers	Every admin uses this
Access Controls (ACLs)	Restrict who sees/edits what	Security & governance

---

🧠 4. Developer-Level / Advanced Topics

When you’re comfortable with admin tasks, dive into development:

• GlideRecord & GlideForm scripting

• Script Includes, UI Actions, UI Pages

• Integration (REST, SOAP, MID Server, API imports)

• Custom Apps and Scoped Development

• Performance tuning and data cleanup

🧩 Practice: Build a small app — e.g., “Asset Tracker” — with a form, list, approval flow, and reports.

---

🔥 5. 2025-Trending Topics (High Demand Areas)

These are recent and emerging topics employers focus on right now:

Trend Description

Flow Designer & IntegrationHub	Replacing old workflows — build automation with REST APIs
GenAI & Now Assist	AI capabilities introduced in recent ServiceNow releases
CMDB & Discovery	Managing IT assets and relationships — crucial for large companies
Security Operations (SecOps)	ServiceNow modules for vulnerability & incident response
ITOM / ITAM / ITBM	Expanding beyond ITSM into operations & business management
Virtual Agent & Automation Engine	Chatbots and conversational AI for request handling
Performance Analytics / Dashboards	Visual reporting and data insights
ServiceNow Tokyo → Washington Releases	Know the key changes in recent versions

---

🧩 6. Certification Roadmap

Start here:

1. 🎓 Certified System Administrator (CSA) – your entry point.

2. Then choose a path:

   • Developer → Certified Application Developer (CAD)

   • ITSM focus → Certified Implementation Specialist (ITSM)

   • Platform focus → Flow Designer / IntegrationHub courses

🧠 Tip: After CSA, recruiters take you more seriously — it’s often the minimum requirement.

---

🧰 7. Interview Prep Strategy

Prepare to answer questions like:

• Explain difference between UI Policy and Client Script.

• What’s the use of setWorkflow(false) in GlideRecord?

• How do you restrict visibility using ACLs?

• When to use before/after Business Rules?

• How would you design a catalog item with dynamic visibility?

🔹 Hands-on experience + explanation ability matters more than theory.

Please mark my answer correct and helpful if this works for you

Thanks and Regards,

Sarthak

[GlideFather]

Hi @Sarthak Kashyap,

can you please share your motivation why you mentioned Tokyo (2022) release in a section of 2025 trending topics? Or Washington (2024)...

In my understanding, trending topic for 2025 would be Yokohama, Zurich and already expecting what Australia brings... if it was written by you, maybe you want to update it for the latest versions. if not by you, it could be helpful to validate the outputs given from genAI. The OP is a newcomer to ServiceNow and claiming that Tokyo is 2025 trending topic is just not right...

When you give particular examples - Script Includes, UI Actions, UI Pages, perhaps it would be good to mention business rules, or (catalog) client scripts.

What do you think about this?