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Looking for what to work on after obtaining my CSM, PSM-I, and PSPO-I / Looking for Scrum Master opportunities

Last post 10:23 pm April 1, 2021 by Thomas Owens
1 reply
04:27 pm April 1, 2021

Good afternoon everyone,

My name is John Erickson and I've been meaning to message the community for some time now. So that I don't make this post unnecessarily long a little bit about me:

  • I have experience working in an Agile environment as part of the Development Team where we did not have a full-time Scrum Master, so myself and other developers filled in the role.
  • I have several years of experience as a Developer, which I believe heavily will benefit my ability to work with developers and communicate between Stakeholders, the Product Owner, and the Development Team.
  • I introduce the fundamentals of working with Agile and act as a Scrum Master facilitating Scrum ceremonies for students learning web development.

After getting laid off in late January from a full-time web developer role, I decided to fully commit to learning more about Agile in hopes of transitioning from a developer to a Scrum Master.

Over the past month plus I've obtained the following:

  • CSM
  • PSM-I
  • PSPO-I
    • I obtained the PSPO-I so that I could better understand the Product Owner role and in turn become a better servant leader

Over the past month plus I've applied so likely a little shy of 100 roles, being in the greater Pittsburgh market or remote, but more often than not fall quite short of the desired experience; typically 3 years plus.

And finally comes the question:

My question is there any certification the community would recommend for someone who has Agile experience, but not acting as a full-time Scrum Master outside what I've already obtained which will help lend credibility and help differentiate me from other new Agilist? 

Any help and/or feedback would be greatly appreciated!

 


10:23 pm April 1, 2021

I don't think what you need is more training or certification. I'd look at networking, especially through local Agile meetup groups. Connecting with local practitioners who work at companies that may be hiring may be a good opportunity to get a referral, which would differentiate you from other applicants. I'm not sure about your area, but in my area, meetup groups have gone virtual, but they are still trying to do networking and breakout sessions, so the same may be true where you are.

Another possibility would be to approach this from a different angle. Instead of going for the Scrum Master role, consider going for a developer position at a growing organization. This is similar to my track - I had a very extensive background in different process models and process improvement, but it's easier to get in as a developer and grow into a more suitable role. Not all companies have dedicated Scrum Masters, so going down technical leadership or management paths could also benefit from your development experience and education in Scrum through your PSM and PSPO training and certification. Either way, it could be a foot-in-the-door at a company. However, I'm not sure what this looks like in your area.


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