The battle for Senior ServiceNow Consultants
September 4, 2024
Experience required to gain Experience
The current state of the ServiceNow consultancy market reminds me of 2013. This was the year I graduated from university and a year when the unemployment rates were relatively high in the Netherlands. With my limited work experience, my interest in the role of an account manager (AM) in the technology sector grew. With a master's degree, a good attitude, and whole bunch of ambition I decided to apply for multiple vacancies. The feedback was usually similar to: companies were looking for somebody with at least x years of experience as AM. When I applied for a sales traineeship at a large enterprise: I was not even selected for the second round. The feedback baffled my mind: they had a lot of applicants with massive experience and a few even had owned businesses. Needless to say I could not compete.
Lack of local Senior Consultants
The challenge the ServiceNow market currently faces is local companies wanting experienced senior ServiceNow consultants to help them with their implementation. Ideally a local who understands the work culture and speaks the language. The challenge is that these senior consultants are scarce and companies are all fishing for them in the same pond. Also, not enough initiatives are taken to solve this matter. This makes ServiceNow implementations not only more expensive but also decreases the chance of successful implementations.
Hiring junior consultants with no ServiceNow experience
As all local seniors are bombarded every day with job offers, it is reasonable to think companies have to hire juniors and educate new ServiceNow consultants. When hiring a consultant with no ServiceNow experience, you can guide them through the certification process. You can even provide them access to an instance and give them some tasks for gaining practical experience on the Now platform. However, in an interview with a potential end client, your consultant will have to answer how many implementations they worked on. In my experience this causes clients to reject your consultant and ask for one with more practical experience.
Selling a service, not a consultant
In many cases when a client approaches you, they will want you to provide them with an experienced ServiceNow consultant in the module they need help with. What if instead of offering them a consultant, you offer them a service that fulfills their needs? Make sure their list of requirements is formulated and taken care of within the mutually agreed timeline. Now there is the freedom to make this work with a junior consultant, under the guidance of a senior. As long as you deliver quality work on time, it will not matter how you did it.
Author: Shayan Ghavam (Managing Partner at NowNation)
