Delta exams, embrace them!

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Hi there,

Another release is coming soon: Orlando. With a new release, also the delta exams window will be opened again (March 26, 2020 through June 24, 2020). Again?! Yes, again 😀.

Delta exams

With the London release the delta exams where introduced. Basically "ServiceNow is an ever-evolving cloud-based product, certified individuals will be required to make sure they stay current with the latest and greatest features and functionality in a timely manner." Every mainline certification will require a short non-proctored delta exam which can be taken on NowLearning.

The delta exams are lightweight exams, non-proctored, and contain about 10 questions. Might one fail on the first attempt, the second attempt is free. You can take up to four attempts before having to take the full mainline exam all over.

Mainline certifications

Only mainline certifications will require a delta exam. For example Certified System Administrator (CSA), Certified Implementation Specialist IT Service Management (CIS-ITSM), Certified Application Developer (CAD). With passing the delta exams, Suite certifications will also be extended.
Micro certifications do not expire and are out-of-scope.

Embrace the delta exams

Say what?! Embrace the delta exams?! "I just like to complain!" "The frequency is too high!" "It costs too much time!"
And sure I also complained a bit when I passed my CIS-SAM mainline exam, and had to take the delta already 1.5 months later #$^*$*!

Though again, embrace the delta exams. These actually help you! You might be urged to have a look at the release notes, the delta exam often points out some areas you might think "hmm, not sure, let's look this up" (so they might even point out things you would otherwise miss), it might encourage you to look at the (early) release on your Personal Developer Instance, etcetera.

Or since my background is also within the sports, let's make a comparison.
An athlete could reach the National Team at some point in his/her career, become MVP in the league, etcetera. To stay on top of his/her game, he/she needs to stay healthy, fit, or even expand their skills as everybody around them is also improving. If doing nothing, a few years or even a few months(!) later… sure you used to be a National Team player, you used to be a league MVP... though because you didn't maintain or expand your skills, now you are actually nothing special or even of a poor level.

Take the exams yourself

Because the delta exams are non-proctored, there are multiple ways for a quick escape. If I look at our company Google Hangout, ServiceNow Community, LinkedIn a lot of delta exam questions are flying by. They are being shared greatly… unfortunately. Just because some of us don't want to invest some time in maintaining and expanding their own skills, or even with a 90(!) days window trying to do this in the last few days.
By doing so, you are actually giving a pretty strong signal to the company or the customers you work for...

Again, embrace the delta exams! Dig into the release notes, explore the (early) release on your Personal Developer Instance, follow some online webinars like TechNow, maintain your skills or even expand them! For yourself, the company or the customers you work for.

Certification Program FAQ

https://www.servicenow.com/content/dam/servicenow-assets/public/en-us/doc-type/other-document/servic...

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If any questions or remarks, let me know!

Kind regards,

Mark Roethof

ServiceNow Technical Consultant @ Paphos Group
1x ServiceNow Developer MVP

1x ServiceNow Community MVP

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