Today, the Agile methodology is taking the world by storm, and Agile practitioners are a dime a dozen. What is it that can set you apart in the Agile space, and make you more noticeable than your peers? The Certified Scrum Master credential from Scrum Alliance may be the answer.
As a CSM, you will be recognised as part of an elite group of Scrum specialists who are proven to guide their project teams to agile success. The CSM credential sets you apart as a leader who is able to provide knowledge and expertise far beyond what a typical project manager could contribute, using powerful agile practices.
Agile software environments have created a flow in demand for professionals with expertise in agile methodologies and who can properly manage and perform agile projects. By getting a Scrum Master Certification, one can get trained in these techniques and at the same time this certificate acts as a tangible proof for employers who are looking for employees with these skills.
Scrum Master certification concentrates on the importance of ‘self-organization’, which can result in the following: you can easily participate in the team activities and also, members can feel a sense of self-ownership; employees can be self-motivated, which can help escalate team performance; can let you create a work environment which is useful for the company's growth; the knowledge and skills garnered can make the team immune to internal and external distractions.
A Scrum Master Certification will show that you possess the required dedication that companies are looking for in Scrum Masters. There is a great demand for Scrum Masters because every team needs a dedicated person who can manage and perform different Agile projects. When you have this certification under your belt, it shows that you have mastered the best practices of helping various project teams that are working within a scrum environment. It allows you to learn and easily identify what needs to be kept and what needs to be adjusted based on the needs of the project.
Along with a CSM certificate, you will have your own profile page on the Scrum Alliance website with a specially designed logo, and can have your achievements ratified.
Top Job Designations For Scrum Masters
1. Entry Level Scrum Master
With an experience of less than a year, you can make it as an entry level Scrum Master. This would give you smaller responsibilities to deal with while still following all the Agile practices.
2. Scrum Master
After over a year experience in this level, you can be promoted to a Scrum Master, and will be required to implement the servant-leader style of operation. You’ll have to play the roles of a facilitator, a coach, motivator, and remove any obstacles that your team is likely to face during the process of production.
With added responsibilities and experience, you can easily expect a higher salary from your organisation. You also get the benefit of continuing your Scrum Master education for 2 days each year on your Scrum Score Card.
3. Senior Scrum Master
Along with the qualities of a Scrum Master, you will be appended with the responsibility of handling many teams and maintaining harmony among all the members as well as the teams. You get to demonstrate your increased experience and in-depth knowledge on the practices and frameworks.
4. Coach Scrum Master
As a coach Scrum Master, you’ll be required full-time and will be booked on a regular basis to train teams, sites, and groups about Scrum practices. It is your responsibility to keep teams informed about new updations in the Scrum Guide, and about the latest techniques and technologies that can be implemented for faster results.
5. Product Owner/ Manager
With all the knowledge and experience in handling teams and pressures of the organisation and deadlines, you will be qualified to be a product manager or an owner.
Why should you become a Scrum Master?
In reality, we know that certifications provide an additional value once we acquire some experience. The CSM certifications act as an add-on to your career. Listed below are the reasons to get your Scrum Master Certification and the advantages of pursuing the CSM training:
1. Certified Scrum Masters earn more
CSM certified individuals earn more on average than their non-certified peers.
Salary in different cities in the US:
| Popular Cities | Salary |
| New York, New York | $70,685 – $1,37,957 |
| Seattle, Washington | $71,907 – $1,31,710 |
| San Francisco, California | $81,894 – $1,46,277 |
| Washington, District of Columbia | $68,885 – $1,36,149 |
| Atlanta, Georgia | $57,929 – $1,22,558 |
Comparing Salaries among different companies:
| Popular Companies | Salary |
| Amazon.com Inc | $96,958 – $1,38,725 |
| Capital One Financial Corp | $73,830 – $1,20,355 |
| Booz, Allen, Hamilton | $67,117 – $119,230 |
| Cognizant Technology Solution Corp | $69,531 – $1,04,559 |
| General Electric Co (GE) | $83,763 – $1,26,111 |
Entry Level Salary for Scrum Master:
| Job Profile | Salary |
| Software Engineer | $70,398 |
| Software Developer | $59,701 |
| Mechanical Engineer | $60,001 |
| Electrical Engineer | $62,209 |
| Financial Analyst | $50,950 |
Senior Level Salary for Scrum Master:
| Job Profile | Salary |
| Operation Manager | $75,310 |
| Office Manager | $49,941 |
| Executive Assistant | $58,975 |
| Director of Operations | $106,933 |
| General/ Operation Manager | $75,639 |
| Administrative Assistant | $42,095 |
| Chief Financial Officer | $146,171 |
2. Have a strong knowledge of Scrum
If you are not familiar with Scrum, knowing about the certification will educate you with the required skills to utilize it effectively. If you are in the initial stages of using Agile methodology for your project, the CSM certification will provide you with the basic knowledge.
Even if you don’t know much about Scrum, the CSM certification will definitely help you build a solid base of Scrum knowledge and understand the concepts of Scrum framework.
3. Update your mindset
To work with the Agile methodology with Scrum effectively, we need to develop an Agile mindset. The Agile mindset is a key factor for the teams to achieve successful Agile and self-sustaining approach. Industry-oriented certification and training will benefit this kind of mindset. As a member of the Scrum team, you will think in an Agile way, that will lead to a decrease in disagreements, more successful projects and better team collaboration.
4. Knowledge of Scrum Artifacts
This certification includes concepts like the product backlog, sprint backlog, burndown charts etc. which are the pillars of a Scrum project. These Scrum concepts will be an advantage for the organizations to deliver the project in iterations.
5. Be admissible and catch your market
The certifications will provide youwith an in-depth practical knowledge to improve your career. It makes you relevant and marketable in your field. CSM certifications will improve your career growth across any organization or industry that engages with Agile values. This certification proves that you have an Agile mindset and knowledge of Agile concepts.
6. Certified Scrum Masters are added advantage for organizations
It is difficult for any organization to adopt a new methodology as it affects the entire structure of the organization including:
- Processes
- Management
- People
- Clients
In this regard, it is quintessential for all the customers to achieve some tangible and real benefits in the early stage with self-managing teams and incremental iterations. If you are not a certified member, you might miss the opportunity to establish yourself as a Scrum master in your organization.
7. Strengthening teamwork
We have a few organizations that consider Scrum master certification for different departments over different people. This certification generally has a positive result when it comes to working with your peers. As a certified Scrum Master, you will have the potential to build and strengthen the core understanding of Scrum while working together with your peers. With multiple Scrum experts along with all departments, the organization gets benefited with Scrum experts in all departments with an instance of knowledge that can lead to the successful execution of Agile and Scrum methodologies.
8. Establish your basic Scrum knowledge to peers
The Certified Scrum Master (CSM) certification shows your efforts and knowledge of Scrum that makes you capable of working within the organization. You don’t need to waste your time to show your credibility in your workplace, your certification speaks about that.
9. Qualified employees get success in projects
If your Agile project is successfully done then a team member of certified Scrum Master will benefit from a huge reward. And also, the clients would recognize the potential value of a Scrum team that work together to apply Scrum in a productive way.
10. One more feather to your career cap
Certification indicates a sign of honor. If you are being a part of the management, allowing employees to get certified proves your acumen and commitment to enhancing their skills.
11. Succeed as a servant leader
As a Certified ScrumMaster, you have the ability to motivate and lead your teammates. You will guide them and help the team work together smoothly.
12. A badge of honour
Along with the improvement in your marketability towards potential clients, a Scrum Master Certification also comes with the added benefit of being something that can be flaunted with pride- a badge of honour. Your employees never doubt your suitability towards being a mentor, and are becoming more open towards your ideas. Scrum is not a static methodology in any sense- it is a living, changing and continuously evolving framework which has to be understood in depth, before implementation. A Scrum Master Certification helps you do just that, all the while improving your position in the organisation.
13. Be apart from the crowd
The CSM credential demonstrates to your employees that you have the experience and skills to lead an agile team to success. It serves as a differentiator showing potential employers that you have an edge over your non-certified counterparts.
It shows that you know your goal—The ScrumMaster knows the goals to be achieved and has a clear vision of what it will take to succeed. You know the quality that is needed to be delivered, and ensure that the team works towards it, ensuring project success and client satisfaction.
14. Iron out glitches in your project
In case there are any impediments in the way of project progress, the CSM will negotiate, address any such challenges and build a positive work culture.
15. Ability to judge risks
Scrum teams are known to release better products at lower risks, and as the CSM you can be the first to spot any red flags that could lead to potential disaster.
16. Ability to prioritize
Prioritizing is the first step towards Scrum success; a CSM will be able to prioritize tasks efficiently.
17. Be a team player
A CSM is, above all, a good team player. You will listen to your teammates, accept their suggestions and address any challenges they may be facing.
18. You will communicate well
By keeping channels of communication and collaboration open, you will share all relevant reports, calendars and deadlines with the team so that you can work together towards project success.
19. Adopt Agile mindset
Scrum being an Agile methodology, training and certifications will help people in your team embrace the Agile practices. And having a consistent Agile mindset in a team will lead to lesser disagreements, better team collaboration and ultimately delivering successful projects.
20. Stay marketable
All industries adopting Agile practices will have excellent career opportunities for candidates with Scrum certification. This certification will prove that you have an Agile mindset and core knowledge of Agile practices.
21. A plus for your organisation
If there are skilled and proven Agile professionals in an organisation, the management might benefit from it by adopting Agile methodology as it will effectively influence all the aspects of business like people and processes.
22. Learn a range of Skills
The Scrum Master Certification helps you to focus on your actual experience and skill set because you have shown that you completely comprehend the principles important for managing a scrum team.
Many companies are constantly looking for ways to become more Agile and there are not enough people out there with the required experience to compete with the high demand for scrum masters. If you have a Scrum Master certification, than you not only stand a greater chance of getting a job, but you also have an opportunity to earn higher salary and excel in your career.
23. Support system
Another big benefit of getting a Scrum Master Certification is the support system — you join a select community of recognised Scrum experts. These experts have been working to improve all the areas of Scrum implementation, including its methodology, and you can avail their advice when you find yourself in a tight spot.
Once you are a Certified Scrum Master (CSM) you will earn the stature to mingle with a society of authorized Scrum experts committed to ensuring continuous improvements with an Agile approach. Scrum Alliance is an official site that has Scrum Masters features across the global. This community will actively provide knowledge in a way to discover events and provide instructions.
Being a certified Scrum Master, you can join a community of recognised Scrum experts, practitioners and trainers. This global network will give you exposure to deepen your Scrum knowledge, acquire guidance whenever necessary and also enable you to provide solutions to other problems.
An example is Scrum.org, which actually features a global network of Scrum trainers as well as practitioners. There are few things in the Agile this community cannot help you with, and a Certification helps you gain the privilege of their guidance.
24. Influence your organization to adopt Agile
If your organization has well-trained Agile professionals, the management would be more comfortable to invest in adopting the Scrum methodology. The CSM certification shows the management that you have the knowledge to work with Scrum and implement its approach.
A professional study of Scrum means that you have to study its methods from all angles: this can help you gain a fresh perspective, along with a strong working knowledge of the implementation of Agile methods. You will be able to implant the Agile mindset you gain among your teammates; this increases the cohesion and cooperation of the team by leaps and bounds. The team’s unity, as we all know, is in direct proportion to the success of any project.
Getting a Scrum Master certification can help you present yourself in a more attractive fashion, to any prospective employers. A Scrum professional knows how an organisation works, and since the framework is used in almost all industries, your career options expand considerably. If you’re already employed, you have a great shot at improving your organisation- with the requisite knowledge you receive, you can turn yourself into a company asset.
Summary:
If you have any certified Agile workers among your colleagues, a certification helps you improve your working relationship with them. Even if your peers have studied or adopted a different Agile methodology, the underlying ideas do not change. You will be able to converse and exchange ideas with them, and in the process strengthen the organisation within your company. The work environment is improved, since you can understand how your colleagues work, or even think, to some extent.
Passing a Scrum Master examination is no mean feat — it requires you to study and have expertise in various aspects involved in implementing a Scrum methodology.
All the things we discussed above are very compelling reasons to explore this certification further. Advance your career with the Scrum Master certification from Scrum Alliance, and sign up for a CSM training workshop led by the best minds in the business.
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