Seeking Guidance on ServiceNow Career Path

[MasthanRedP]

Hello ServiceNow Community,

I am Masthan Reddy Pagadala. I am reaching out for guidance as I begin my career journey with ServiceNow. I have a background as a Sales Operations Analyst, where I worked extensively on data analysis, reporting, and process improvement. Now, I am very motivated to transition into the ServiceNow ecosystem and become part of the ServiceNow family.

I would love to get advice from this community on:

• Which certifications are most valuable to start with?

• How someone with a Sales Operations/Analytics background can best position themselves for ServiceNow roles.

• Any beginner-friendly projects, resources, or learning paths that can help me gain hands-on experience.

My goal is to grow into roles like ServiceNow Business Analyst, Consultant, or Reporting/Analytics Specialist while building a strong foundation on the platform.

Any tips, shared experiences, or recommendations from this community would mean a lot to me.

Thank you in advance for your guidance!

Best regards,
Masthan Reddy Pagadala

[Rafael Batistot · Accepted solution]

Hi @MasthanRedP,

Welcome to the ServiceNow journey!

It’s great that you already bring strong data, reporting, and process improvement skills from Sales Ops those translate really well into ServiceNow, especially for roles like Business Analyst, Consultant, and Reporting/Analytics Specialist.

Here are some suggestions based on your questions:

Certifications to Start With

1. ServiceNow CSA (Certified System Administrator) – this is the mandatory foundation cert. It covers the platform fundamentals, navigation, data schema, users/roles, tables, forms, lists, workflows, and reporting basics.
2. After CSA, you can branch depending on your career goals:
   
• CAD (Application Developer) if you’re interested in scripting and building apps.
• CIS – ITSM if you want to go toward consulting/BA roles in IT Service Management.
• Performance Analytics Micro-Certifications if you want to focus on reporting/analytics.

How to Position Your Background

• Emphasize your analytics and process improvement skills. ServiceNow is heavily about improving processes and building actionable insights through data.
• Highlight experience with data governance, reporting, and stakeholder communication, since those align with ServiceNow roles in reporting and business analysis.
• Frame your move as “I want to take my skills from analyzing sales processes and apply them to enterprise processes on ServiceNow.”

Beginner-Friendly Projects & Resources

• Now Learning (official) – start with the ServiceNow Fundamentals course. It includes a personal developer instance (PDI) where you can practice hands-on.
• Developer Portal (developer.servicenow.com) – free sandbox instance + exercises to build apps, workflows, and reports.
• Try mini-projects in your PDI:
  
• Build a custom table for “Sales Requests” or “Lead Management” to mirror your SalesOps experience.
• Create a report/dashboard from that table.
• Automate a simple approval flow.
• YouTube channels like ServiceNow Dev Program and community webinars are beginner-friendly.

Career Growth Path

1. CSA → Build small apps/reports in your PDI → Share in Community.
2. Network on ServiceNow Community + LinkedIn groups.
3. Explore freelance/admin roles or BA roles that don’t require deep coding to enter the ecosystem.
4. Gradually expand into Consultant / Specialist roles as you build confidence.

[Dr Atul G- LNG · Accepted solution]

Hi @MasthanRedP 

I’m a ServiceNow trainer and happy to share my thoughts on this. ServiceNow is becoming increasingly broad and deep these days, and the best way to kickstart your journey is by earning the CSA (Certified System Administrator) certification. The CSA provides a solid understanding of the platform, its terminology, and core modules. Once you get hands-on experience with the platform through CSA, you can decide on your next path.

Employers value professionals with experience across multiple modules, so it’s important to expand your knowledge and add more products to your portfolio. Consider focusing on areas like ITSM, GRC, HRSD, CSM, or SecOps.

Currently, the training is free, which is a fantastic opportunity. However, the real challenge is gaining hands-on experience. To overcome this, the ServiceNow community is an excellent resource. Dedicate at least 1-2 hours a day engaging with the community — read questions others are asking and contribute your own responses. Over time, this will improve your skills and boost your confidence.

Additionally, mastering scripting is essential if you want to become a developer. There are many courses and exercises available on developer.servicenow.com to help you practice and enhance your scripting skills, which will strengthen your portfolio.

Start with the CSA certification and then choose your next step based on your interests — whether that’s development, becoming a Business Analyst, Change Manager, or Project Manager. A solid foundation will give you the flexibility to pursue any domain you prefer.

[Rafael Batistot · Accepted solution]

Hi @MasthanRedP,

Welcome to the ServiceNow journey!

It’s great that you already bring strong data, reporting, and process improvement skills from Sales Ops those translate really well into ServiceNow, especially for roles like Business Analyst, Consultant, and Reporting/Analytics Specialist.

Here are some suggestions based on your questions:

Certifications to Start With

1. ServiceNow CSA (Certified System Administrator) – this is the mandatory foundation cert. It covers the platform fundamentals, navigation, data schema, users/roles, tables, forms, lists, workflows, and reporting basics.
2. After CSA, you can branch depending on your career goals:
   
• CAD (Application Developer) if you’re interested in scripting and building apps.
• CIS – ITSM if you want to go toward consulting/BA roles in IT Service Management.
• Performance Analytics Micro-Certifications if you want to focus on reporting/analytics.

How to Position Your Background

• Emphasize your analytics and process improvement skills. ServiceNow is heavily about improving processes and building actionable insights through data.
• Highlight experience with data governance, reporting, and stakeholder communication, since those align with ServiceNow roles in reporting and business analysis.
• Frame your move as “I want to take my skills from analyzing sales processes and apply them to enterprise processes on ServiceNow.”

Beginner-Friendly Projects & Resources

• Now Learning (official) – start with the ServiceNow Fundamentals course. It includes a personal developer instance (PDI) where you can practice hands-on.
• Developer Portal (developer.servicenow.com) – free sandbox instance + exercises to build apps, workflows, and reports.
• Try mini-projects in your PDI:
  
• Build a custom table for “Sales Requests” or “Lead Management” to mirror your SalesOps experience.
• Create a report/dashboard from that table.
• Automate a simple approval flow.
• YouTube channels like ServiceNow Dev Program and community webinars are beginner-friendly.

Career Growth Path

1. CSA → Build small apps/reports in your PDI → Share in Community.
2. Network on ServiceNow Community + LinkedIn groups.
3. Explore freelance/admin roles or BA roles that don’t require deep coding to enter the ecosystem.
4. Gradually expand into Consultant / Specialist roles as you build confidence.

[Dr Atul G- LNG · Accepted solution]

Hi @MasthanRedP 

I’m a ServiceNow trainer and happy to share my thoughts on this. ServiceNow is becoming increasingly broad and deep these days, and the best way to kickstart your journey is by earning the CSA (Certified System Administrator) certification. The CSA provides a solid understanding of the platform, its terminology, and core modules. Once you get hands-on experience with the platform through CSA, you can decide on your next path.

Employers value professionals with experience across multiple modules, so it’s important to expand your knowledge and add more products to your portfolio. Consider focusing on areas like ITSM, GRC, HRSD, CSM, or SecOps.

Currently, the training is free, which is a fantastic opportunity. However, the real challenge is gaining hands-on experience. To overcome this, the ServiceNow community is an excellent resource. Dedicate at least 1-2 hours a day engaging with the community — read questions others are asking and contribute your own responses. Over time, this will improve your skills and boost your confidence.

Additionally, mastering scripting is essential if you want to become a developer. There are many courses and exercises available on developer.servicenow.com to help you practice and enhance your scripting skills, which will strengthen your portfolio.

Start with the CSA certification and then choose your next step based on your interests — whether that’s development, becoming a Business Analyst, Change Manager, or Project Manager. A solid foundation will give you the flexibility to pursue any domain you prefer.

[Nikhil Bajaj9 · Accepted solution]

Hi @MasthanRedP ,

Welcome to this amazing Journey. Yes you can start your journey and can become Functional consultant, Business Analyst (BA) or Business Process Consultant (BPC). 

Starting point should be from Servicenow University:-

1- Welcoem to Servicenow Course

2- Welcome to ServiceNow Micro Certification (Free)

3- ServiceNow Admin fundamentals (Required for CSA- Training is free but for voucher you need to pay - If you are in India, you can get 50% discount- go through the below article)  - https://www.servicenow.com/community/training-and-certifications/only-for-indian-students-csa-at-50-...

Free resources for your journey - 

1. developer.servicenow.com -- > Learn

2. Serviecnow University

3. Servienow Community - read answers given by experts and ask your queries here

4. Youtube channels like- Learn&GrowtogetherwithAtulG (CSA Batch 16) , SAASwithservicenow, Basico Servicenow etc

5. Once CSA is done - you can start Business Ananlyst (BA) Training from Learn&GrowtogetherwithAtulG channel.

Good luck and if you have any further query (Once you start definitely you will have multiple queries) so you can ping any of us. Being a servicenow Trainer, will be happy to assist you.

[Dr Atul G- LNG]

Hi @MasthanRedP 

• Which certifications are most valuable to start with?

Atul: CSA is the first place to start — it’s the foundational and most important course and certification. It gives you a comprehensive overview of the platform, its components, building blocks, and much more, which will be helpful anytime in the future.

https://developer.servicenow.com/dev.do#!/learn/learning-plans/zurich/servicenow_administrator

• How someone with a Sales Operations/Analytics background can best position themselves for ServiceNow roles.

Atul: I’ve trained people from different backgrounds, and I can say it’s not easy—but it’s also not that tough. What’s required is dedication and continuous learning. There are many roles you can choose from based on your interests.

• Any beginner-friendly projects, resources, or learning paths that can help me gain hands-on experience.

Atul:

The Community is the best place to learn for free. Spend 2–3 hours daily browsing the community—see what questions members are asking and how others are replying. Learn from their knowledge, use cases, and experiences.

But don’t just stop at reading—start answering questions too! Even if you’re late to the game, try to answer 5–7 questions daily. It’s one of the fastest ways to grow your skills and confidence.