Those who have completed Academic Work Academy’s popular ServiceNow training take control of one of the hottest business technologies right now. Experts in this fast-growing technology are highly sought after in the IT industry, and a future-proof career full of endless opportunities awaits the career changer.
After the Academic Work Academy intensive training, alumni Alisa Konovalova and Besart Kaza, who moved to work at Sofigate, talk about their journey to the fascinating intersection of technology and business.
Read why Alisa and Besart chose ServiceNow specifically? And what does a new IT career as a ServiceNow consultant involve?
A dental technician’s passion for technology led to a career change
Besart Kaza, who completed the Academic Work Academy ServiceNow training in Sweden, has always been excited about technology. Having previously worked as a dental technician, Besart’s dream of moving to the IT industry had been in mind for several years before the actual launch of his new career.
“The Academic Work Academy training immediately seemed perfect for my needs – an intensive and practical training program that leads directly to employment in the IT industry,” Besart describes.
Alisa Konovalova, who conquered a similar training in Finland, also admits she dreamed of more technical work.
“Before Academic Work Academy, I studied linguistics at university. I also worked as a part-time teacher and project manager at a translation agency. Eventually, I realized I needed new challenges in my life.”
The slowly burning spark only turned into a full fire when Alisa studied the basics of programming at an open university. Through self-study online, she noticed she especially liked problem-solving tasks that required concentration, and the guidelines for a new career began to clear up.
An experience full of lightbulb moments
Alisa and Besart thought the 12-week training was a great experience with all its emotions – on the other hand, the intensive period of life was over quickly. Besart says that in addition to challenging moments, there was also exciting joy of realization – “aha, I understand this!” Fortunately, fellow students brought support to both Besart and Alisa. Both praise the encouragement received from other group members and the close-knit team spirit that formed.
“It was incredible how the support of the group made studying such a communal experience. When I felt that something was beyond my understanding, a fellow student always knew how to help,” Besart describes the benefits of studying.
Alisa thought it was great that during the course, they already got to meet employees of the future employer Sofigate, who acted as course week leaders and visitors.
“From the beginning of the training, you got to see what Sofigate is like as a workplace and what the work would be like. It increased the motivation to learn quickly and turned the learning goals into something very concrete.”
ServiceNow won over coding
Many considering ServiceNow training might wonder why they should choose ServiceNow as their path in the IT industry instead of something more familiar-sounding, like coding. Alisa was also initially more interested in so-called “pure” coding but decided to apply specifically for ServiceNow training anyway.
“I am happy with my choice. The work has proven to be varied, challenging, and diverse.”
Problem-solving is part of a ServiceNow consultant’s workday. Alisa describes problem-solving as very comprehensive. In addition to concretely figuring out why a piece of script is not working, the goal is to form a bigger picture of the whole and help the customer solve business-related challenges and problems.
“Working at the interface of business and technology is actually much more exciting than it sounds at first,” Alisa evaluates.
Besart also praises the versatile job description of a ServiceNow consultant.
“Working with ServiceNow is a perfect balance of coding and working on a software platform. You can do many things even without coding, but the work also includes plenty of Javascript coding – especially with functionalities that are customized for a specific need,” Besart describes.
Choosing ServiceNow as the starting point for your IT career does not exclude other IT industry opportunities, like coding. On the contrary, ServiceNow is a versatile platform where you can develop your career in many directions – for example, deeper into business development or towards a more technical direction if you wish.
“A ServiceNow developer can, for example, get to work with integrations and the customer portal, in which case you get to code almost full-time,” Alisa describes career opportunities.
Alisa has noticed in her work that acting as a ServiceNow consultant requires several meta-skills in addition to technical skills, such as communication skills, passion for problem-solving, fast learning ability, organizational skills, self-direction, and information retrieval skills. In addition, working with ServiceNow gives a broad view of aspects of the IT industry and teaches general practices of the field.
There is currently a shortage of ServiceNow experts. In Alisa’s opinion, the training is a perfect opportunity for a career changer to quickly get hold of a new career.
“Even though at the beginning of the studies the learning curve for technical matters feels steep and there is a lot to learn, in ServiceNow training you get to utilize your own strengths from the start. Previous work experience is also a lot of help,” Alisa reminds.
The best part is when values reflect the work culture
At the end of the training, both Alisa and Besart were employed as ServiceNow consultants at Sofigate. The alumni praise the smooth transition from the classroom to working life after graduation, as well as Sofigate's work culture that encourages self-development and professional growth.
“Dare, care, grow – Sofigate’s values are not just empty words, but actually reflect our work culture. Responsibility and independence are available from the start, and you really get to learn and grow in the job,” Alisa describes.
The alumni praise Sofigate’s work atmosphere as immediate and warm. You always get support and sparring from colleagues in challenging situations. Alisa emphasizes that especially the Academy group that became familiar during the studies is still a wonderful resource.
"For me, the initial challenges were made much easier by the fact that other Academic Work Academy alumni also started in the same job.”
Besart, on the other hand, especially appreciates Sofigate’s size as a company.
“Sofigate is the leading company in ServiceNow in the Nordics without being a giant corporation. This is a clear advantage for the employee, as it is much easier for an employee to get to know their colleagues and also grow with ServiceNow.”
Alisa warmly recommends ServiceNow training for people who want to accelerate to a new career, enjoy learning new things, and are not deterred by potential challenges.
“The best thing about ServiceNow is its versatility. If some area of the platform does not feel exciting enough, you can always study more and move on to do something else with ServiceNow. Sofigate also offers diverse career paths for its employees,” Alisa points out.
“I cannot imagine a better, faster or more efficient way to jump into a new career than Academy’s ServiceNow training,” Besart agrees.