It is an entry-level exam specifically designed for professionals who want to pursue their career as Scrum practitioners. Candidates must have a general interest in project management along with a good knowledge of Scrum values and the agile platform.
Average Salary Range of a Certified Scrum Master (CSM)
USA: $1,412k per year (
Source)
India: 1,237,857 INR
per year (Source)
Who Should Apply for Certified Scrum Master (CSM)?
Although this exam has prerequisites, it is advised that one must engage in this field only if they have a knack for project management and want to learn more. A candidate must complete a 2-day course (16 Hours) and pass the exam to get certified.
Benefits of Certified Scrum Master (CSM):
Career Expansion: A Certified ScrumMaster (CSM) Certification is not only reputed and well-recognized, but ScrumMasters help a Scrum team to function at the highest level, both internally and externally. Therefore, it boosts career opportunities for the candidate.
Advanced Knowledge: Apart from a career boost, the certification holders demonstrate attainment of core Scrum knowledge needed to ensure continuous improvement in Agile practices. It can be said that with this certification, a candidate becomes highly competent to perform well.
Following steps are involved in the Certified Scrum Master (CSM) certification process:
- Understand the Scrum framework and lifecycle.
- Attend the two-day CSM training course conducted by a certified trainer.
- Pass the CSM online test conducted by Scrum Alliance.
CSM - Beginning of the journey
With most of my experience in Waterfall projects, Agile and Scrum were foreign terminologies for me, and I had decided it was time to master it. Started the journey by talking to friends and family who had experience to familiarize on the framework, went through some training videos and materials, and of course, the Scrum guide. Signed up for CSM certification, a 2 day workshop, ending in an extremely simple open book certification exam.
This next paragraph is not about certification, but my experience post certification. You may have heard this before, but being Agile is a journey and everyday you learn to overcome new challenges. I started with following simple techniques on the project - Transparency, Standup, Kanban boards, and implemented feedback loop to improve each of these techniques. To succeed project-wide, you rely completely on leadership support, so started socializing some of the team's success stories with that group. Luckily there was a push from clients at the same time, and we entered into a Hybrid Agile methodology. Attended a separate 2 day workshop for that, although it was very similar to the CSM workshop, but it did address some of the challenges with Agile transformation for the traditional teams. Based on my experience, I would highly recommend PMI-ACP, SAFe as well as some of the product owner certifications. Time to work on some new certifications for me.
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Vikram Iyer
Scrum Master Certification
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Ravi Tuggudem