Mentoring / guidance: Is there any from Scrum Masters for people looking for gaining real world experience, and who may be outside the door?
Are there any opportunities for people who want to gain Scrum Master experience (aside from certification) but who may not be currently working in this role... e.g. shadowing / short term internship?
The principles of scrum are concerned with collaboration, courage, openness and others and while I have attended some good Meet Up Groups, so far it seems these roles are only really open to those working in certain positions. This would mean there are certain people who could be great in the roles, but who cannot get entry. I'd like to mention here that the role of servant leader is very close to ideas about how educators should be in the modern world.
In short, are any current scrum masters or scrum teams willing to give opportunity for those on the outside to become more experienced in the day to day workings of the scrum team, even if for shadowing or limited period of time?
i see a lot of scrum masters but nobody really willing to give insight on how beginners can gain real word experience. this happens to be a major issue facing the scrum master role as beginners find it extremely difficulty to start up. most companies are looking for experienced hires so how did they experienced one get hired in the first place when the started???
Thanks for your reply Chimaobi
It is not uncommon for this kind of thing, I.e retaining the barriers of entry can be a conscious or unconscious motivation for those already in positions.
However, it does not really seem to be in alignment with agile values.
Wondering if anyone from Scrum.org would like to comment, being as it is involved creating and administering exams.
If there are no clear examples of people getting into these roles on a fair playing field that might facilitate help for people with its certifications, Should there be more caveats presenred to candidates considering investing their time and energy into getting them Meanwhile?
Meanwhile, would welcome any other perspectives on this.
I'd suggest that this isn't true and that you misunderstand the barrier to entry.
There are very, very few companies who are genuinely looking for experienced Scrum Master hires. They might think they are, and they might very well claim they are in their job specifications, but in truth they are not.
In most cases a buck has been passed down a corporate hierarchy, change is perceived as being threatening and dangerous, and so they are not in the market for a clearly experienced agile change agent.
What companies typically do want is someone who is demonstrably experienced in providing agile mood-music while succumbing to organizational gravity: someone who is likely to keep their head down and their mouth shut. That"s the barrier to Scrum Master entry.
Thanks for your reply Ian. It may very well be the case that I've misunderstood.
I think what I'm getting from this is that there is often a disparity between Scrum and Agile values, and the context in which they are often sought - the appearance doing things the agile way (yet unwillingness to fully embrace it) from the hirers.
This is the kind of thing that needs to be discussed, a grey area that is often not considered by various frameworks and methodologies - which often present a 'best practice' or even utopian idea on things.