Excited to Join the ServiceNow Community – Looking for Guidance and Connections

[I_Sayali]

Hello everyone,

I’m new to the ServiceNow Community and excited to be here! My name is Sayali, and I’m currently pursuing my Master’s in HCI. I also have a background in software development and recently started exploring ServiceNow with the goal of building my career as a ServiceNow developer/consultant.

I wanted to take a moment to introduce myself and also ask a few questions:

1. Networking & Groups: What are the best ways to get involved in local or virtual SNUGs, meetups, or Slack/Discord communities where developers and admins share knowledge and opportunities? I’m based in Chicago and would love to connect with others here.

2. Career Opportunities – For someone starting out, what resources or certifications would you recommend to strengthen my profile for ServiceNow developer/consultant roles? 

(for reference: I have also worked as a support engineer in ServiceNow)

3. Volunteering – Does the community offer volunteering opportunities (such as contributing to events, supporting SNUG meetups, or getting hands on experience on projects) that I could join to learn and give back?

I’d really appreciate any advice or direction you can share. Looking forward to learning from all of you and hopefully contributing as well!

Thanks,

Sayali.

[GlideFather]

Hi @I_Sayali,

Welcome to the Platform of platforms! You are at the right place for all what you asked for.

For networking, check whether there's any ServiceNow User Group (SNUG) in your area and join it, some are more active some are less... Connect with others on LinkedIn — follow creators and join SN groups to learn even more. On this very page, there's "Connect" tab in the top menu, there you can also check for Developer meetups or other Events. You will find there blogs and other content. Or you can just visit this Community forum here and there to read about other fellow's struggles to learn from that.

Go through all these:

For volunteering, I cannot really tell you as I don't know anything about it - check for some events (one called Creator Con is running until the end of this month) or there's ServiceNow Jobs thread but I cannot find it 😄

For career opportunities I recommend to never stop learning, there are two great places to start:

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.

 Career Journeys:

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

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 Plans

• New to ServiceNow
• Citizen Developer
• ServiceNow Administrator
• Learn admin skills to move into app development.
• Includes short self-paced modules.

TL;DR

ServiceNow University = Learn and earn badges or certifications.

Developer Portal = Practice and explore the platform hands-on.

Good luck!