Seeking Guidance on ServiceNow Career Path

[RathanK]

Dear Community Members,

I am reaching out to seek your valuable guidance regarding my career path within the ServiceNow ecosystem. I initially began my journey in development; however, coming from a non-technical background with no prior programming experience, I have found coding to be quite challenging.

Over time, I am good with functional and business aspects of ServiceNow. I genuinely enjoy working on interpretation, analysis, and communication—areas where I believe my strengths lie. 

I’m now aiming to build a career as a ServiceNow Tester, focusing on functional testing and user-centric workflows or a ServiceNow Functional Analyst or ServiceNow Business Analyst also wanted to know the scope of each roles so that I will make sure to put my full efforts for transition. Given the vast expertise within this community, I am hopeful that I can receive direction and support to align my career with my capabilities and interests.

Any advice, resources, or mentorship would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you in advance for your time and support. I look forward to learning from your experiences and insights.

Best Regards.

[harishk07 · Accepted solution]

Hi Rathan,

Well done for recognizing where your strengths lie! Your strengths in analysis and facilitation are well-aligned with both Functional Analyst and Tester roles.

If testing appeals to you, build some hands-on experience with ATF—ServiceNow’s Automated Test Framework—and try writing a few test suites.
If you lean toward functional work—configuring workflows, collecting requirements, translating business needs—you’d thrive as a Functional Analyst. Explore Free courses on the Implementation Specialist path, and consider volunteering for small projects to practice turning needs into flows and catalog items.
Whatever route you choose, you’re already standing on a strong foundation—just keep building that taste for business-focused impact, and you’ll do great!

• Upskill through Certifications & Learning

  • For testers: Explore the ServiceNow Certified Tester path and work through ATF training.

  • For analysts: The Implementation Specialist (CSM/ITSM) certifications are ideal.

  • For BAs: There are also ServiceNow BA-specific learning paths—consider Business Analyst Training and certifications in Agile/Requirements.

• Practice Hands-On

  • Use the ServiceNow Developer Site to build mini-projects:

    • For testers: Create test suites and reusable test steps via ATF.

    • For functional analysts: Build workflows or catalog items based on mock business scenarios.

    • For BAs: Simulate "as-is / to-be" process mapping and script configuration comparisons.

• Shadow, Volunteer, or Mentor

  • Offer to help on real projects: shadow testers, assist BAs during sprint planning, or help functional analysts gather requirements.

  • Join local or virtual SNUG (ServiceNow User Groups) to connect with mentors.

• Highlight Your Strengths

  • On your profile, detail your communication, business analysis, and functional configuration strengths.

Best Regards,

Harish

If you found my response helpful, please mark it as solution accepted.

[RathanK]

Hello @harishk07 ,

I really appreciate your valuable response, I will make sure to learn as much as possible and Thanks for being with me today 🙂

Regards,

Rathan K

[Nikhil Bajaj9]

Hi @RathanK ,

My POV not against any field or Role:-

For long term growth i will not suggest - Testing Role, Better try BA/BPC and later on try towards - Platform Owner Role.  Here is the career journey towards Platform Owner -

https://learning.servicenow.com/lxp/en/pages/journey-overview?id=journey_overview&journey_id=3f92eb6...

Your learning from different roles will be utilized properly here. Check this Article:- https://www.servicenow.com/community/platform-owner-resource-center/platform-owners-wear-many-hats/b...

Think many times before changing your career path and choose wisely.

if my answer helepd you, please mark it- solution accepted. 

Regards,

Nikhil Bajaj

[Shashank_Jain]

Hello @RathanK ,

I think it’s great that you’ve taken the time to reflect on your strengths and challenges. As you mentioned, development hasn’t been your strongest area, and you’re considering transitioning into either Testing or a Business Analyst role within the ServiceNow ecosystem

From my perspective, the Business Analyst role could be an excellent fit for you. Since you already have some hands-on experience in development, you’ll naturally have a better understanding of how requirements translate into technical solutions. This background will allow you to bridge the gap more effectively between clients, business stakeholders, and the technical team. Additionally, you’ve highlighted your strong communication and analytical skills—both of which are crucial for Business Analysts. This role would also allow you to focus more on documentation, requirement gathering, process mapping, and ensuring that business needs are clearly translated for developers. To build a stronger profile in this direction, I’d recommend gaining familiarity with areas such as:

• Agile and Scrum practices (especially sprint planning and requirement grooming sessions).

• Requirement documentation (writing user stories, acceptance criteria, and process flows).

• Stakeholder communication (learning how to ask the right questions and manage expectations).

On the other hand, the Testing role in ServiceNow also has good potential, especially if you enjoy working on validating functionality and ensuring quality. ServiceNow offers Automated Test Framework (ATF), which is more aligned toward the development/technical side. However, functional testing is also widely used, where you would focus on validating workflows, forms, and user experiences from a business perspective. While this is a good option, it may have slightly narrower growth opportunities compared to a Business Analyst role—unless you combine it with automation expertise over time.

Lastly, I’d strongly suggest doing some market research specific to India.

Just a personal suggestion—if you don’t have much experience yet and are mainly feeling demotivated, I’d encourage you to give yourself some more time with the ServiceNow platform. As you gain more exposure, you may find that development becomes easier and more manageable.

It’s very common in the IT industry, especially at the beginning of our careers, to feel overwhelmed or discouraged. That’s completely okay. Sometimes all it takes is dedicating a specific period of focused effort before reassessing your comfort level and interests.

Btw good luck mate!

Hope it helps!