Etch a successful career with this leading ITSM tool. Prepare these top ServiceNow interview questions and answers to ace the interview to your dream job!
ServiceNow commenced as an IT service management (ITSM) tool that has today spread to other fields as well. Founded in 2003, its quick and steady growth gives us a good idea on how bright its future can be. It provides services in fields like business applications, HR service delivery, customer service, security and of course, IT.
A career with ServiceNow can yield highly beneficial results for future growth. There are plenty of job opportunities that can be pursued and made the most of. To get a good job, it's important to prepare well for the interview.
This blog has the top ServiceNow interview questions and answers for different associated job titles and experience levels.
ServiceNow Interview Questions And Answers for Beginners
These top ServiceNow interview questions and answers for beginners are best for those who are just starting out in this field. These questions are often asked during beginner interviews.
Q 1. What's CMDB?
CMDB is the acronym for Configuration Management Database. It's a repository that's often utilized as a data warehouse in relation to IT installations. CMDB accumulates data around IT asset collections as well as the details of the relationships between these assets.
Q 2. What does Coalesce mean in ServiceNow?
In ServiceNow, Coalesce is the field property employed in a transform map to match records from the source to their target. The target record is found faster with the coalesce field, leading to improved data load operation's performance.
Q 3. Explain dictionary override in ServiceNow.
With dictionary override, a field on an extended table can be defined in a distinct manner from the field of the parent table. Many different aspects can be overridden. These include -
Calculations
Reference qualifiers
Mandatory & read-only status
Dictionary attributes
Field dependencies
Default value
Default column display values
Q 4. Explain UI policies in ServiceNow.
UI policies in ServiceNow act as alternatives to client scripts and change a field on the form dynamically. The field can be set as visible and mandatory by using UI policies.
Q 5. Explain domain separation.
In ServiceNow, domain separation works as a beneficial method used to separate data into different logically defined domains. It's also capable of separating administration.
For instance, a client with two businesses has only one ServiceNow instance. If they do not want users of business one to view data of business two, they can make use of domain separation.
Q 6. What is meant by the onSubmit client script?
onSubmit client script refers to a scripting feature that is mostly used in web development. It has been crafted in a way that a specific function or action is executed when a form is submitted by the user. It aids developers in validating and customizing the form data prior to sending it to the server for further processing.
Q 7. Which function is used to find out the row count in a glide record?
The - getRowCount() - function can be used to find the row count in a glide record.
Interview Questions for ServiceNow for Intermediates
Having a few years of experience can help in getting a job faster. Mixing that experience with the knowledge from these interview questions for ServiceNow will be highly beneficial.
Q 8. Explain HTML sanitizer in ServiceNow.
HTML sanitizer in ServiceNow is used to clear the entire HTML markup in all the HTML fields automatically. This also leads to elimination of unwanted code and high protection against security threats (such as cross-site script attacks). HTML sanitizer is available for all instances after Eureka release.
Q 9. Explain record producer.
A record producer refers to a highly specific kind of catalog item. It enables end users in creating task-oriented records (like incident records) from the service catalog. Developers use record producers instead of regular task-oriented form to create records. This helps in providing better end-user experience.
Q 10. What does an import set mean here?
Import set here is a tool that is used for importing data from many different data sources. Once imported, this data is mapped into tables with the use of a transform map.
Q 11. What is understood by foreign record insert?
It's said that a foreign record insert happens for a specific import when an import modifies a table other than the target table. This particularly happens when an attempt is made to update a table's reference field.
Q 12. Throw light on change management in this tool.
Change management provides an organized approach to control the life cycle of the complete change. This application offers plenty of useful changes that can be made without any major interference to IT services.
Q 13. Explain record matching and data lookup.
Record matching and data lookup are key ServiceNow features. Both aid in setting the field value as per certain conditions rather than writing scripts.
Q 14. What's the function to disable attachments from a certain specific ServiceNow table?
Attachments can be disabled from a specific ServiceNow table with the - Add no_attachment - function. You may also like- ServiceNow Tutorial
Top ServiceNow Interview Questions And Answers for Experienced
Here's a list of the most frequently asked ServiceNow questions for experienced professionals.
Q 15. Explain the benefit of the setWorkflow(e) function.
The setWorkflow(e) function can both enable or disable the execution of business rules, which are subsequent actions triggered. This happens in two ways.
If the parameter 'e' is set to true, only auditing will be done.
If the parameter 'e' is set to false, the update/insert operation does not get audited.
Q 16. How can invalid queries be set into empty result sets?
By default, the queries that have invalid field names are executed but invalid conditions are ignored. By enabling the - glide.invalid_query.returns_no_rows property - statement, a stricter query control. This will ensure an empty result set is produced for invalid queries.
Q 17. What are the different report types in this tool?
There are various different report types in this tool.
Pie & Donut Reports - Relationship between entire data and parts is visualized with different pie-like shapes.
Scores - Single data points are visualized as across or single value ranges.
Bar Reports - Scores are compared over data dimensions.
Multidimensional Reports - Data is visualized across various dimensions in a graph or a table.
Statistical Reports - Data is visualized with statistical values such as means or medians.
Time Series Reports - Data is visualized over a period of time.
Q 18. Explain sys_id.
Sys_id is the abbreviation for system identified. It's an exclusive alpha-numeric code that's tagged along with every single record in this platform. It gives each record a unique identity, making it easy to identify every record. It gets generated when the record is created and does not change throughout the life cycle of the record.
There are many reasons why it's utilized. It helps in efficiently retrieving, operating and manipulating data, among other perks.
Q 19. What is the async rule?
The asynchronous or the async rule is a mechanism that promotes non-blocking code execution. This can be better understood with an example. Using the async syntax in Java triggers asynchronous running of the functions. This enables concurrent execution of different tasks that are in the line.
Q 20. What do you know about a catalog item?
A catalog item (sc_cat_item) pertains to a preconfigured service, operation or product that can be requested by users through a service catalog. It's the place where the information about something that's wanted by a user is laid out. It's reflected in the service portal.
Q 21. Explain gauges.
A gauge refers to a widget that has a specific purpose. It enables making a report available to be used on a homepage.
ServiceNow Admin Interview Questions
Read these ServiceNow admin interview questions to impress the hiring managers with your knowledge.
Q 22. What are the different types of searches in ServiceNow?
There are five search interfaces in ServiceNow. These are -
Search a list - Enables searching in a particular field, particular column or all fields.
Live feed - Enables searching, sorting or filtering messages in live feed.
Global search - Enables finding records in various tables.
UI pages - Enables creation of a custom UI page to look for records in a certain table.
Knowledge base - Enables finding knowledge articles.
Q 23. What's the use of impersonation in ServiceNow?
Impersonation in ServiceNow is a practice wherein the code is executed on behalf of another user. This tool provides the - gs.impersonateUser() - function that enables switching context to a particular user. This enables the developer to simulate as well as test scripts as if those were executed by the impersonated user.
Q 24. How can a form be edited in ServiceNow?
Take these into consideration to edit a form in ServiceNow -
Load an incident record
Right click on the form header
Go to configure
Click on form layout/ use the form designer
Drag field from left to right
Q 25. How to change the instance banner logo in ServiceNow?
Here's how to change the instance banner logo in ServiceNow -
Go to 'All' > 'System Properties' > 'My Company'.
Upload the company logo by clicking on 'Update'/ 'Click to add' near UI16 Banner Image.
Q 26. How is deleteRecord() different from deleteMultiple()?
As is clear with their names, deleteRecord() will delete a single record whereas deleteMultiple() will deleter various records at once.
Q 27. What are Metrics here?
Metrics here are used for measuring and evaluating the effectiveness of ITSM processes. It can be evaluated from the data.
Service Now Developer Interview Questions
Wondering which are the most frequently asked Service Now developer interview questions? Find them here!
Q 28. What is meant by LDAP?
LDAP stands for Lightweight Directory Access Protocol . It's employed for user authentication and user data population. ServiceNow's integration with LDAP directory is to help streamline the process of user login. It also helps in automating the creation of users and assigning roles to them.
Q 29. What happens in the scenario wherein a user has made certain changes to the homepage?
In case a user makes certain changes to the homepage, that page version gets saved as their personal homepage. The actual homepage does not get updated. For instance, the name of the homepage is incident review. Now, when a makes any adjustments, it'll get saved as my incident review and will only be visible to them.
Q 30. What role is needed to create or update an ACL?
The role of a security admin is needed to create or update an ACL.
Q 31. Explain an installation exit.
Installation exits are employed to insert customized actions in different events as per what's listed in the ServiceNow doc. These events could be password change, login, logout, etc. There are plenty of use cases for these exits.
Q 32. What are the best practices for impersonation?
Some best practices for impersonation are-
Exception Handling - It identifies and addresses all issues without having any effect on the overall system.
Revert Impersonation Safely - Using the- gs.impersonateUser(null)- statement at the end to go back to the primary user. This is to make sure the system is no longer in an impersonated state.
User Identification - Clear definition of the user via their username/ID.
Permissions & Security - Ensuring that the user behind the background script has all necessary permissions for impersonating the user.
Logging & Debugging - Using the - gs.error() - and - gs.info() - functions to log errors and information respectively. It makes it easy to track execution flow & diagnose any problems.
Q 33. Define client transaction timing.
Client transaction timing offers additional details about the duration of the transactions between the server and the client. For this, the - client transaction timing plugin - plugin has to be activated.
Final Word for ServiceNow Interview Questions
These top ServiceNow interview questions and answers cater to people from different experiences and job titles. This blog is apt for beginners, intermediates and freshers, along with those interviewing for developer and admin roles. Keep yourself updated with the changing tools and versions to stay relevant.
