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The RiseUp adventure starts

This is Amanda (and me). Amanda is 33 years old and has never worked in the IT industry before - but has had time to try several different industries and acquired a lot of practical and theoretical knowledge and experience. She is also self-employed and is generally very creative and solution-focused. Amanda is very intelligent, analytical and empathetic. A big challenge for Amanda in professional life is to be sufficiently challenged and stimulated; she quickly becomes great at things, and can then just as quickly get tired and find the work a bit monotonous and boring. Amanda currently works part-time as a subway driver for MTR and part-time she runs her private beauty salon. Amanda is looking for a new existence in life and wants to try a new industry. ServiceNow is currently running the RiseUp program, which aims to meet the crying need for ServiceNow developers/configurators, with the goal of having 1 million certified individuals by 2024. With Rise Up, even non-technical people, ...
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Recent posts

Live on Stage in Las Vegas

We did it! Today Amanda and I held our session on Knowledge 2024 on stage in Las Vegas. I'm very proud of both of us - we did a great show. Afterwards, we both received great feedback from the audience, and we were also interviewed by ServiceNow. We were both very exhausted afterwards - but it was a great feeling standing on that stage, sharing our story together.
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Mission achieved - partly

Mission completed!? Good things come pouring in. Amanda just landed her very first ServiceNow job - so I guess she can now be considered to be a ServiceNow professional. In a near future, Amanda is starting a position as Junior ServiceNow Developer at the ServiceNow partner organization Axians in Stockholm, Sweden. Amanda's efforts haven't passed without notice - and she is now rewarded for all the time and energy she has put in learning the ServiceNow platform. Congratulations Amanda! And congratulations Axians!
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We're going to Las Vegas!

Good things eventually come to those who never give up! With the spring bringing warmer weather and brighter longer days (winter is long and dark in Sweden), Amanda found the energy to pick up the ServiceNow studies again. And shortly after that we received unexpected and very existing news Amanda and I just now received an email from ServiceNow inviting us both as speakers at ServiceNow Knowledge 2024 conference in May in Las Vegas, USA. We will be live on stage in Las Vegas sharing our story of creating a new ServiceNow professional of Amanda (with no prior IT background) with the support of ServiceNow RiseUp, ServiceNow Now Learning, and the mentorship of me (a very seasoned and experienced ServiceNow Certified Master Architect (CMA)). We are so excited about this - and we are so happy to share our story. Naturally, this is the first time for Amanda - but for me it is the second time I'm a speaker at ServiceNow Knowledge. Last time was Knowledge 2019 - last Knowledge before the ...
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Status update

Several people have been asking me about Amanda, and how she progress in learning ServiceNow. Unfortunately, I must confess that we both have lost momentum a little bit. Since Amanda failed the second attempt at becoming a Certified System Administrator (CSA), back in January, I've had so much on my plate. I've been so busy at work that I haven't been able to support Amanda properly, and help her find new energy to progress. At the same time, Amanda has had a low period in both her jobs. Things have felt dull, and she has had a bit of a struggle finding the energy to pick up full speed again. But we will both do our very best. We haven't given up - we will come back, even stronger! I hope I can report back really soon.
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Second attempt at the Certified System Administrator (CSA) exam

A month after the first attempt at the Certified System Administrator (CSA) exam, Amanda decided it was time to have another go at the exam. Over christmas and new year, Amanda had studied hard to become more proficient at the areas she performed less at during the first attempt. Amanda defied a heavy snowstorm to make her way to the test center - but unfortunately the weather conditions reflected how Amanda felt afterwards. She didn't reach a passing score this time either. In fact, the result was much worse than at the first attempt. Why? Amanda witness that the questions were much different than the last time. Much, much harder - and also covering topics she couldn't find in the study material at Now Learning. She think it feels very unfair - because she had studied hard. And I agree. I'm very upset too, because in my opinion Amanda knows everything one can expect from a ServiceNow System Administrator.
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First attempt at the Certified System Administrator (CSA) exam

Only three months after starting her studies, Amanda decided to have a go at the exam for Certified System Administrator (CSA). Even though she didn't feel entirely prepared, she reasoned that she had an honest chance att receiving a passing score. But more importantly, she needed to know what the exam questions really looked like - so she would know how to study more efficiently, if not passing the exam. Unfortunately Amanda didn't reach a passing result, but I must say that I was very, very impressed of the result. She excelled in many areas, and missed out only slightly in the areas of Database Management and Integrations - two very technical areas, and two areas we haven't worked with so much. Even though failing the exam, Amanda still feel very optimistic - after all it was close, so the CSA exam feels reachable. A chocking discovery when registering for the exam, was the exam fee. $300 + VAT which equals to $375. This seems extremely expensive for a single mother with...
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A sharp task! Amanda exceeds expectations...

 Last week I gave Amanda a sharp task to practice the new skills and test herself. The task focused on the Service Catalog and contained the following elements: Create a new category in the Service Catalog to order pizza. Create subcategories for different types of pizzas, for example Italian, American, etc. Each orderable pizza must contain: Description Price Image When you order a pizza, you should be able to choose extra ingredients - which should also affect the price. Price must be given in Swedish currency (kr). Certain pizzas in each category can only be ordered by VIP customers, and thus not be visible/selectable for "regular" customers. (Note that the instance was not pre-configured for Swedish currency - only US currency.)
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