Professional Scrum Master -II (PSM-II)

 I did a lot of research while preparing for PSM-II but to my disappointment there wasn’t much guidance available on how to prepare apart from the reading suggestions mentioned in Scrum.org which directs you towards Scrum guide and Nexus guide. So, I decided to pen down my journey for PSM-II preparation.

My Recommendations

1.     First and foremost, have a read at Overview of PSM-II provided by Scrum.org. It will provide you an insight on what to expect from the certificate.

2.     It is most important to get your basics right, so I would highly suggest starting with Scrum Guide and the Nexus Guide thoroughly. Don’t just know the concepts but try to understand them.

3.     Next step would be to validate your understanding of these guides by going through Scrum and Nexus Open Assessments. Make sure you practice them until you get 100% in back to back exams a couple of times.

4.     Understanding the importance of Scrum Values is a key. There’s value in the Scrum Values is a great article that explains the scrum values in a way that makes them relatable.

5.     To get a deep dive into role of a Scrum Master and the myths corresponding it, I would highly recommend having a go at The 8 Stances of a Scrum Master and Scrum Master anti-patterns.

6.     Questions related to Coaching & Facilitation form a big part of the assessment and therefore, I would recommend having a read at Scrum Master: The Master of the Art of Facilitation, The Scrum Master as a Facilitator , The Scrum Master as a coach and Scrum Master is the Master of Coaching

7.     I had to google a lot to find some practice test and here is my list of limited free test repository

a. Mikhail Lapshin offers 80 questions that would help you with your PMS-I concepts. Remember, you cannot pass PSM-II without having a strong Scrum foundation

b. Certbus offers 6 free PSM-II tests that are on similar lines with actual test

c. Dumpsout also lets you download a demo test that would give you a taster of what to expect in the main exam

d. Udemy ‘s PSM-II exam similar costs only £30 but gives you a feel of what real exam would look like. I would highly recommend doing it as this will help you identify your areas of improvement

8.     Personally, I would suggest taking this exam only if you have hands-on experience of Scrum Master role as no amount of reading can make-up for the working experience. If you still don’t feel ready enough to take the test attend one of the PMS-II training classes. I am afraid that I cannot recommend any as I did not attend one.

Hope these recommendations provides you with enough clarity to prepare for the exam.

I wish you good luck for your journey

All the best!

After working for several years as a Scrum Master, but without having opted for any certification, I decided to take the step that I was missing to complete my curriculum and strengthen my role, demonstrating to many people that my good work on a daily basis did not require a certification to justify my work (although many are determined to have it). I have also demonstrated to myself that experience and values are infinitely more important than knowing all the theory by heart.

Well, after this brief introduction, my preparation for the exam has consisted of taking the 3-day online course offered by Álex Ballarín Latre and ITNOVE (the company that offers the official Scrum.org courses). I followed all their advice and practised until I almost answered by heart the Open assessment of Scrum Master, Product Owner and Nexus. 

I have read the Scrum guide a couple of times more, as well as the Nexus guide and, above all, I have reviewed all the activities carried out during the course, as they have been based on real experiences and have helped a lot to understand the different scenarios that arise in the exam.

I took the exam at 9:30 am and only three days after the course ended.

The exam is demanding with questions and the answers can easily be confusing if not paid attention.

I wish good luck to all of you who apply for this Certification and I hope that I have helped with my experience.

PSM II needs one to be very strong in basics of Scrum and in application of these concepts in a real situations, as most of the questions are situational based. I completed by PSM I back in 2017 and had been practicing as Scrum Master for last couple of years (but not completely the way as Scrum preaches due to the limitations in my environment).  So, this was a strong reason for me to refresh my basics and I opted for the training session on Advanced scrum master conducted by tryscrum.org. It was very interactive and created an opportunity to share experience with other professionals.

After the training, I did the below preparation for 5days (spending about 2 to 3 hours per day) before I attended the exam.

1. Scrum Guide
2. Nexus Guide
3. Scrum Open, Nexus Open and Product Owner Open assessments few times
4. All 3 Scrum quizzes on https://mlapshin.com/index.php/scrum-quizzes/
5. Practice exams on udemy.com 

In a nutshell, very clear understanding of the scrum basics and practicing it the way Scrum preaches, will definitely make one clear PSM II on the first try. I got through with 97% 

1. Scrum guide

2. Lots of common sense on applying Scrum guide in real scenarios

3. All of the "Suggesting reading path" from Scrum.org

Thats it. Atleast, I didnt read anything else.

Step 2 is the crucial part!

Good luck.

I passed PSM-II with 94% in my very first try. There is a lot of hue and cry about folks not able to pass PSM-II in the very first try. But in a way that is fallacy. If you have practiced scrum in your career in a way the scrum principles suggest, you are good to go. I attended in class training in which we discussed a lot about liberating structures. The training was less powerpoint but more practical and scenario based training. Let's face it, if you have worked in Scrum for 2-3 years, you know the intricate details of what scrum actually stands for. Pay particular attention to minor details in the exam questions as they are sometimes to confuse you. Bring in agile principles and manifesto. If you can understand the scrum guide, you are more than half done. Practice the online scrum.org exams - all of it. Read through some of the blogs to understand the expert opinions on scenarios. In the exam, remember the correct answer is not what you think is right, but what the agile/scrum says is right.