Where do I start my career?
Something I hear a lot from our newer community members is “Who hires entry level people?”. The answer is: Everybody.
You just have to stop holding yourself back.
Job descriptions are wish lists not actual requirements.
I know it seems weird but hear me out. When companies list their job postings they aren’t actually describing what they are going to end up hiring. They are describing everything they want, while understanding that it's highly unlikely that any single candidate will have will possess all of these skills. It all ends up being about negotiation and compromise, so don’t cut yourself out of the running before you even have a chance. Let them say no to you, don’t just avoid applying just to avoid the possibility of being rejected.
(Check out my mini series “So you wanna be an admin” for more deets: Part 1 is all about deciphering job descriptions and Part 2 will be posted this week!)
I have never applied for a single job that I have been fully qualified for.
I have heard countless times from friends hiring developers and administrators that what they look for the most is potential and an eagerness to learn. If you can prove to them in the interview that you are amazing in every other way except your technical chops, and that you are going to get there and provide value to your team then I know you have a fighting chance.
The way I demonstrate this in interviews is by physically writing down what I don’t know and telling them I would get some reading done that day after the interview. I would explain what I knew about the concept and I would give examples of ways that I had either brushed against that specific topic or what I have heard about it. I always end with “But I will definitely pick up this skill/learn this aspect of ServiceNow if it is required”.
What types of jobs are there in ServiceNow land?
Something I value immensely in the ServiceNow job market is that there are so many different places that use the platform and they are all vastly different environments. To summarize it, the whole industry can be segmented in to two major categories of jobs: Working for a ServiceNow Partner or Working for a ServiceNow Customer. They are completely different experiences and both have their pros and cons.
When a company buys ServiceNow they now have a choice: Do they source, train, and invest in their own internal team? Or do they hire one of the hundreds of partners that ServiceNow has listed on their website? A lot of companies go with a little of both, but there are some customers who choose to have huge development teams in order to get the most out of their new shiny ServiceNow instance.
My experience working at Partners
The vast majority of my time working in the ServiceNow industry has been as a consultant. When you work for a ServiceNow partner, your experience will vary according to what type of partner you work for. There are partners that create applications on the platform and sell them through the store, there are others who provide implementation services and others who resell products and solutions. You can find the whole list over on the Partner Finder to familiarize yourself with companies that might be hiring and what their specialties are.
I’ve worked for several implementation partners and my experience has also varied according to the size of the company. At some places you might be the only ServiceNow contract that the entire company has, as they try to establish themselves as partners, and at others you might be one of thousands. The main thing that is the same though, is that you get paid more at a partner than at a customer.
Through working as a consultant with a ServiceNow partner, I’ve mostly worked with government contracts. It was an amazing experience to get to work at the Library of Congress, and working with the Virginia state agencies is an experience I will never forget. It has gotten me security clearances which are very valuable in the job market, and it has gotten me a lot of experience with a lot of different parts of ServiceNow.
As a developer at a consultant you basically go from contract to contract, executing upon what is already written out for you by the contract (or Statement of Work) and getting very little leeway and creative freedom on how you deliver requirements. It was a great place to learn and develop myself, as the requirements were typically provided to you by an architect or project manager who actually interfaced with the customer. Sometimes, if you work at a small enough place, you might end up interfacing directly with the customer though, and collecting your own requirements. It all depends on where you end up and what the contract requires.
One big drawback is that your job IS the contract. If, for any reason, your employer loses the contract, and they don’t have any bench time (aka when employees aren’t on billable projects) or other contracts to put you on, then you lose your job. It’s a bit safer to work as a w2 employee for a ServiceNow partner that has an entire department dedicated to acquiring contracts, than to just 1099 with a company directly and managing the contract yourself, but they both carry very similar risks to consider.
As a last note, Partners are directly graded by ServiceNow on the quantity and quality of certifications that their employees hold. Depending on the size of the partner, they can "allot" time for training. Larger partners can afford more bench time for training, but smaller partners I have found to not be able to do this as much. It all depends on your company’s culture to dictate what actually happens. Many places say they will do this and that, but most do not follow what they say and you have to do it on your own time. Official ServiceNow certifications will make you look like a great candidate for a partner, but may or may not make the difference for customers.
I was once told "You build your career outside of work" and it has rung true ever since.
My experience as a customer
My very first job was working for a ServiceNow customer. I got to take part in the (re)implementation of our instances after a merger and It was a blast. I got to work closely with the Partner that was hired to help us with it, and I got to learn from some brilliant individuals. Because your job is not dependent on keeping contracts and obtaining new ones, there tends to be a modicum of job security when compared to a contracting job, but the pay is typically lower when you work for a customer.
Additionally, working for a customer often means that you are a part of an extremely understaffed team. For some reason, there seems to be a trend where companies are extremely stingy on hiring talent to maintain the system that costs them hundreds of thousands of dollars annually. A friend of mine has a rule of thumb: You should spend as much on your team as you did on your platform. It’s very often the case that one or two administrators get hired when ServiceNow is implemented, and then when the partner leaves, they are expected to wear literally every hat required to run the system. You have to be an administrator, a project manager, an architect, a developer, a business analyst, a UI/UX expert, product evangelist, and much more. It’s a fantastic opportunity to really shape the processes around you and have more autonomy than you would at a partner.
On the one hand I hear endless horror stories of companies burning out their employees because they refuse to staff appropriately. On the other hand this is an amazing opportunity to really take the time to immerse yourself in ServiceNow. It’s not going to be fun and it’s not going to be pretty, but you can take advantage of this, put in a bunch of hours outside of work, and really make something out of it. You get the opportunity to run this ship how you want to, and you can make what you want of it. If you want to take advantage of the opportunity, it gives you access to all kinds of different tasks that you normally would not get as an admin or developer. You just can’t rely on your manager to guide you on this, and often times you won’t get the training you feel you need. You really have to decide you’re going to do this and then take off running by yourself. Sometimes you might luck out and they promise training, are actually supportive and properly staff their team. Other times, you might not get so lucky. If you find yourself in this situation and need any help or have any questions, come find us on slack and we can help out.
Wow that was a lot…
I honestly didn’t expect to have this much to say on the matter. What are your thoughts? Did I get anything grossly wrong or have you pretty much experienced about the same? Be sure to let me know in the comments or on LinkedIn - I’d love to get more people’s takes on this.
Too Long; Didn’t Read?
Apply for every job you want.
Yes, even that job that says 20 years experience.
Yes, even if you’re not qualified. Let THEM rule you out, don’t rule yourself out.
Working at a Partner makes more money than working at a customer, but you will be more siloed in your job duties. (Which is both good and not so great)
Certs matter for partners, not so much customers.
Working at a customer will likely require you to wear more hats, but it’s an amazing opportunity for growth and learning.
If you need help, reach out to the community. Learn how to ask good questions and you’ll get great answers.
