While the pandemic has put the world economy into a tailspin, there are some career paths that have seen an unprecedented increase in demand. Even as employment uncertainties are the new norm in the post-Covid environment, a career after Scrum Master Certification has never been more sought after. Scrum Masters are in demand for their ability to navigate the waters of a volatile economy that presents emergent requirements on a daily basis. And Scrum Masters who are able to prove their expertise are paid top dollar by leading organizations worldwide.
Companies all over the world are hiring Certified Scrum Masters as they are proven to deliver on challenging tasks faced by Agile teams.They have consistently shown that they can address complex issues that may crop up during the course of an Agile project, andare able tosteer the tasks through to completion on time and within budget. CSMs have demonstrated, time and again, that they are well worththe high salaries paid.
A salary survey conducted by ‘Age of Product’ (Stephen Wolpers and Sumit Mehta) in 2017, included Scrum Masters from 13 countries around the world. The salary of a Certified ScrumMaster varies from country to country.
Tabulated below are the annual salary rangesfor three important countries:
The hourly salary of Certified Scrum Master (CSM) is:
US: $48 – $60 UK: $29 – $34 India: $9.6 – $14
The diagrammatic representation of the above data is as shown below:-
Note: The figures mentioned here are in USD.
Additional compensations for this job
The certified scrum master can get additional compensations if he/she can take up a training for the community or get further certified in the line of his/her career.
Companywise Salary Listing
Here are some of the average salaries paid by the top companies to the certified Scrum Masters:
TCS: 11,11,500/year
IBM: 16,07,000/year
Amdocs: 14,00,000/year
JP Morgan: 16,52,000/year
Why do scrum masters get paid so much?
According to Glassdoor, Scrum Masters are among the 25 highest paid professionals in America, and with good reason too! In an era in which the world of software development is in constant flux, the ability to keep everyone connected and communicating face to face is critical. A breakdown in communications leads to a breakdown in software. And a breakdown in software leads to a breakdown of the business.
As companies are moving more towards Agile ways of working, they have realized that Scrum Master is the core role in making the team productive and self -organized and ensuring that the practices of Agile are diligently followed.
Let’s take a look at the job profile and the tasks that a Certified ScrumMaster carries out.
Guiding the team and organization on how to use Agile/Scrum practices and values to delight customers
Guiding the team on self-organizing to fill in the intentional gaps left in the Agile/Scrum frameworks
Assessing the Scrum Maturity of the team and organization and coaching the team to higher levels of maturity, at a pace that is sustainable and comfortable for the team and organization
Removing impediments or guiding the team to remove impediments by finding the right personnel to remove the impediments
Building a trusting and safe environment where problems can be raised without fear of blame retribution, or being judged, with an emphasis on healing and problem-solving
Facilitating the execution of work without coercion, assigning, or dictating
Facilitating discussion, decision making, and conflict resolution
Assisting with internal and external communication, improving transparency, and radiating information
Supporting and educating the Product Owner, especially on grooming and maintaining the product backlog
Providing all support to the team using a servant leadership style whenever possible, and leading by example.
Required Skills/Experience:
Experience in playing the Scrum Master role for at least one year for a software development team that was diligently applying Scrum principles, practices, and theory. (Adjust based on your necessity)
Good skills and knowledge of servant leadership, facilitation, situational awareness, conflict resolution, continual improvement, empowerment, and increasing transparency
Knowledge of various well-documented patterns and techniques for filling in the intentional gaps left in the Scrum approach (example: numerous Burndown technologies, various Retrospective formats, handling bugs, etc.)
Preferred Skills/Experience (Any of these is a plus)
Experience is playing the Scrum Master role for at least two years for a software development team that was diligently applying Scrum principles, practices, and theory. (Adjust based on your necessity)
Knowledge of other Agile approaches: XP, Kanban, Crystal, FDD, etc.
Awareness and experience with widely successful Agile techniques: User Stories, ATDD, TDD, Continuous Integration, Continuous Testing, Pairing, Automated Testing, Agile Games.
Applicable knowledge of the technologies used by the team.
Excellent communication and mentoring skills.
Tasks of the Certified Scrum Master
Helping the Development Team to create high-value products
Coaching the Development Team in self-organization and cross-functionality
Removing impediments to the Development Team’s progress
Facilitating Scrum events as requested or needed
Coaching the Development Team in organizational environments in which Scrum is not yet fully adopted and understood
Ensuring that goals, scope, and product domain are understood by everyone on the Scrum Team as well as possible
Finding techniques for effective Product Backlog management
Helping the Scrum Team understand the need for clear and concise Product Backlog items.
Understanding product planning in an empirical environment.
The Truth About Job Titles In Scrum
Companies that Prefer to Hire Certified ScrumMasters
According to the Scrum Guides, “Scrum has been adopted by a vast amount of software development companies around the world.”
Scrum has been used in education, manufacturing, marketing, operations, and other fields. If you have the skills in dealing with conflicts and you are an experienced facilitator, then these are the top companies in the world that hire skilled Scrum Masters like you. According to the latest data on Glassdoor, the top companies looking for expert Scrum Masters are:
Answer Financial Inc. – Encino, CA
Pegasystems – Cambridge, MA
Donnelley Financial Solutions – Glen Mills, PA
IntraEdge – Phoenix, AZ
Wipro Limited, Bengaluru
Zensar Technologies Limited, Hyderabad
JP Morgan Chase, Hyderabad
Barclays – Pune
Orange, Mumbai
Fiserv – Pune, and many more
Conclusion
Given the volatile world economy, it is not surprising that Scrum Master salaries are on the rise. Organizations are always keen to hire experienced Scrum Masters who can help to finish projects on time without compromising on quality. Skills of leadership, communications and facilitation help a Scrum Master become a vital cog in the Software development team of any organization. If you’re looking to take the first step on your Scrum Master journey, KnowledgeHut is your go-to training organization that will equip you with the skills you need to get certified.
Practice your skills; check out Scrum interview questions and answers here.
Mukundan Bashyam has more than 15 years of IT experience working in different roles such as Agile Coach, Scrum Master, and Product Owner. He is a certified Project Management Professional (PMP), Certified Scrum Master(CSM) and Certified Agile Coach from ICAgile. He is an accomplished Agile trainer for many organizations and a contributing author for KnowledgeHut. Mukundan has a Bachelor’s degree from Indian Institute of Technology (BHU)-Varanasi and a Master’s degree in Industrial Management from National Institute of Industrial Engineering (NITIE), Mumbai. He has worked with startups and large companies like Hewlett Packard(HP), Target Corporation India, Diageo, and Robert Bosch.
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