Best "study for exam" source: CSA?

[Drew Dennis]

Over the weekend I have failed my first attempt at the CSA.  Took the online Fundamentals course with 18 pages of notes.  Effectively memorized 3 online practice exams I found.  Spent 1-3 hours per day for 2 weeks studying.  When I sat down to take the exam it was like I taking something I'd never seen before to the point I admit I was guessing for ~1/2 of the questions.  It wasn't "harder than I expected" or anything like that, it simply wasn't in a form that anything I studied prepared me for; especially not the Fundamentals class.  

I've been using the SN platform for 6 years.  Have been the Admin at my job and working with an offshore for code-help for 3 years.  Already making notifications, managing groups and roles, inbound actions, modifying forms, helped configure and test the CMDB, wrote the entire Knowledge base for my current company, etc.  As far as practical knowledge I had confidence going into this exam.

But I didn't learn the material in a hard-vocabulary format.  I'm not mad at myself for failing the exam because I honestly felt very prepared and wouldn't have changed my way of studying because it works.  I know how to do the job and have put in the hours.  But I DON'T know how to take the test to prove that.  The CompTIA tests are the same in a way; written in a specific format people need to intentionally study for. 

How do I do that for ServiceNow?  Where is the testing material that will prepare me for the specific, vocab-only testing format?  I'm getting licensed on my own so this is money out of my pocket and if I can't complete the exams to prove my knowledge it might be a smarter idea to stop going down the SN Paths altogether and focus on mastery of other things.    

[Drew Dennis]

Life got busy and this fell by the wayside for a few months, but I've just had the opportunity to retake the exam and after much studying went in feeling very confident.  

Failed.

Again.

There is actually a survey that has been added to the end of the exam you take before you get your pass/fail now.  So that's progress I guess.  But now I legitimately am thinking this is just the wrong path for me.  I really enjoy the platform, again have been BEEN my company's acting Admin for 3 years now, but if I can't even get Cert#1....

Does any reader know someone who works for ServiceNow I can go to for advice?  

[Snehal13]

I have 3+ years of admin/dev experience with the platform and here’s what I did to pass:

1. Read and reread the fundamentals book. A lot of the questions came directly from the book and focused on more nuanced details ex:

   With admin role, user will have access to all features on ServiceNow platform with what exceptions. Choose any 2

   - What catalog toll will you use to create a catalog item or record producer ?

   - What are the examples of core ServiceNow tables ? Choose 3

2. Use the labs at the end of each chapter to understand where all the UI action buttons are, what’s the correct way of doing process x, and learning multiple ways of doing the same task. Your PDI is a great way to tackle the labs and having a visual diagram of where the modules/applications/tables are located will help you immensely when taking the test.

3. If you are good with steps 1 and 2 and can confidently answer for example: what information is not included in an update set by default then move on to the Udemy Practice Tests. Try to understand the process or the documentation behind each answer choice instead of memorizing the correct answer choices.

4. Think on your feet - Most Q/As are asked such a way like you are at your desk and solving tasks and face challenges. use cases and more use cases. Twisted wordings and confusing answers. Fret not and drill down by removing the wrong alternatives.

See you certified sooner ! 

[samsam1]

Hey Snehal where can I find fundamental book.

[Drew Dennis]

I also would like to know this.  I did the "video" version of the online class, not the live instructor version.

Near the end of 2021, I attended a CMDB class and got in touch with someone at SN who got in touch with their Training/Teaching department on my behalf.  Apparently, there is a whole practice test and set of documentation for the Live Instructor version of the exam that is not present for the Video version?  

Two people I have spoken with who passed in say it took 3 months of studying 500+ flashcards and they had to take BOTH the video and Live version of the courses before they had all the information to turn into said flash cards.  

[Ann Salfen]

I'm having the same issue as others passing the CSA Exam.  I have gone through the On Demand course twice as well. Where would I locate the "fundamentals book" you mention for this course so I can see if that helps.

Best wishes,

Ann