Updated August 2024
Introduction
The ServiceNow Certified System Administrator Exam Specification defines the purpose, audience, testing options, exam content coverage, test framework, and prerequisites to become Certified System Administrator certified.
Exam Purpose
The ServiceNow Certified System Administrator exam certifies that a successful candidate has the skills and essential knowledge to contribute to the configuration, implementation, and maintenance of the ServiceNow system.
Successfully passing this Certification exam also establishes a set of skills necessary to continue on additional ServiceNow Certification paths. It is a prerequisite for advanced courses.
Exam Audience
The ServiceNow Certified System Administrator exam is available to ServiceNow customers, partners, employees, and others interested in becoming a ServiceNow Certified System Administrator.
Exam Preparation
Exam questions are based on official ServiceNow training materials and the ServiceNow Product documentation. Study materials posted elsewhere online are not official and should not be used to prepare for the examination.
Prerequisite ServiceNow Training
ServiceNow requires completion of the following training course(s) and certification(s). The content in these courses covers the exam learning domains and will help you prepare for the exam.
Upon completion of the ServiceNow Administration Fundamentals course, the candidate will be eligible to obtain or purchase a nontransferable voucher code to register for the ServiceNow Certified System Administrator exam.
Additional Resources
In addition to the above, the candidate may find the following additional resources valuable in preparation for the exam.
- Credentialing Program Guide – a resource to guide you through the entire certification process
Additional Recommended Experience
- Industry experience with database concepts and system management.
- System administrator role and/or access to ServiceNow administrative applications and modules.
- Some knowledge of IT Help Desk processes and the incident, problem, and change workflows are also helpful.
- Three to six months of experience using and/or maintaining a ServiceNow instance.
- General familiarity with industry terminology, acronyms, and initialisms.
Exam Scope
Learning domains are the key topics and specific objectives included in the exam. Exam content or exam items are divided into learning domains.
The following table shows the learning domains for both the Welcome to ServiceNow and ServiceNow Administration Fundamentals courses, weightings, sub-topics, and the percentage of questions represented in each domain. The listed sub-skills should NOT be considered an all-inclusive list of the exam content.
Number of Domains |
Learning Domain |
Percent of Exam |
1 |
Platform Overview and Navigation
|
7% |
2 |
Instance Configuration
|
11% |
3 |
Configuring Applications for Collaboration
|
20% |
4 |
Self Service & Automation
|
20% |
5 |
Database Management
|
27% |
6 |
Data Migration and Integration
|
15% |
Total |
100% |
Exam Registration
ServiceNow partners with Kryterion using its Webassessor platform for exam registration. Our mainline exams are offered at Kryterion Test Centers or can be taken anywhere online while a Kryterion proctor monitors the exam appointment.
To register for an exam, you will need to create a Webassessor account and then link it to your Now Learning account.
For individuals with a disability or English as Second Language (ESL), ServiceNow does offer reasonable accommodation while taking the certification exam.
Exam Structure
Number of Items
The exam consists of sixty questions.
Multiple Choice (single answer)
For each multiple-choice question on the exam, there are at least four possible responses. Select the one response that most accurately answers the question.
Multiple Select (select all that apply)
For each multiple-select question on the exam, there are at least four possible responses. The question will state how many responses should be selected. Select ALL responses that accurately answer the question. Partial credit is not provided.
Exam Result
The exam result is immediately displayed as a conditional pass or fail result after completing and submitting the exam. Additional scoring information can be found in the Obtain the Exam Result lesson in the Credentialing Program Guide.
Pass Result
A pass result indicates that the certification has been earned. The only information shared is the pass result. The pass result is conditional, meaning the exam at any time can be audited, reviewed, and the certification may be revoked after investigation if it is found that the ServiceNow Test Security Policies have been violated.
To maintain a ServiceNow Certification, you will need to pass delta exams and pay the annual Certification Maintenance Program (CMP) Fee.
Fail Result
A failed result indicates that the certification was not earned. The percent earned for each learning domain is shared. For the next exam attempt, focus on the learning domains with the lowest percentage scores.
Sample Questions
Sample Item #1
Which one of these applications is available to all users?
A. Change
B. Incident
C. Facilities
D. Self Service
Answer: D
Sample Item #2
Which module displays a list of tasks assigned to a user’s group, but not yet assigned to an individual user?
A. My Teams Work
B. My Groups Work
C. My Groups Tasks
D. My Teams Tasks
Answer: B
Sample Item #3
Which one of the following is a definition for transform maps in ServiceNow?
A. A map that is used to store the history of the incident records
B. A map used to add data to encrypted fields
C. A map used to trigger Business Rules before the data is queued in the outbound Web Service
D. A map to determine relationships between fields displaying in an Import Set to fields in an existing table
Answer: D
Sample Item #4
Multiple Choice, Single Line Text, and Select Box are what type of elements in ServiceNow?
A. Order Guides
B. Request Types
C. Variable Types
D. Related Lists
Answer: C
Sample Item #5
What is the language used for scripting in ServiceNow?
A. Java
B. AngularJS
C. JavaScript
D. Jelly
Answer: C