How to Get a Job as a ScrumMaster - #24
5 Hard Steps
Since I do monthly ScrumMaster courses, I am often asked how one becomes a ScrumMaster. Iβve helped place over a hundred ScrumMasters over my decade+ of working as a Certified Scrum Trainer and Agile Coach. My help isnβt fancy, I merely supply my clients with people Iβve trained when they ask. The alignment makes sense.
For all the rest, Iβve received over 45 data points of individuals who have followed my guidance on how to get a job as a ScrumMaster. Thank you for sending me feedback!
Letβs hop to it. Frankly, you should be employing as much Scrum as you can where you are NOW, this is the first part of learning by doing!
Here are the five steps to get a job as a ScrumMaster (or any job for that matter):
1 - Add CSM or Certified ScrumMaster behind your name in LinkedIn, emails, blogs, and any other social media system you use. Simply put, you must begin attaching the agile/scrum world to your name. The googlebots are listening. Example: Joe Smith, CSM or Joseph Smith - Certified ScrumMaster
2 - Change your resume to reflect agile & scrum language. No, Iβm not asking you to fake the funk. Iβm asking you to really consider how much scrum and agile stuff youβve already done and been doing for the past however-many-years.
Have you facilitated workshops, classes, trainings, or meetings?
Have you helped break down work into smaller parts and worked collaboratively with others to do so?
Have you liaised with business and development teams in cross-functional means?
Have you helped improve processes, systems, and people?
If you are a Certified ScrumMaster, A-CSM, have deep project management experience and market experience, you can find a role as a ScrumMaster with the knowledge you have now. Donβt cheat yourself. You got this. Who cares if you βdonβt have the experience.β - Go and do.
Also, recruiters are submitting your resume documentation to systems. These systems are proliferated throughout the internet. You want more scrum and agile language associated with you anyway!
3 - Join every single google group, yahoo group, meetup group, stack exchange, quora, reddit, linkedin, etc that you can. Why? Because networking is the way. Also, there are recruiters in those groups too. The game is a numbers game. You must join them all.
One example and feedback I got from a woman I helped get a SM role, she told me she had joined over 150 online agile/scrum/kanban/systems thinking groups!
4 - Sign up for every single free webinar on agile/scrum/kanban/design/product/startups/leadership/etc - You must go to these webinars. You must network. You must learn. Oh, and recruiters are generally in the crowd as well.
One example was that one person told me she was averaging 12 webinars a week!
Itβs a numbers game. Hell, I even know of a ScrumMaster who is remote, living in Florida. He works for a German company as a ScrumMaster, from Florida. What?! Amazing. He loves it.
5 - Begin creating content. You must have the internet know who you are and the career/work information it needs to feed on. It is what it is my friends. The more prolific you are in creating content around your goals, you manifest it to the world.
I often ask my students at the end of a workshop or class whether they saw any of my videos before they signed up and whether it helped them make a decision. Donβt be surprised. People are searching video now more than ever before the meet someone. My %βs are large.
Not into social? Hereβs your first LinkedIn post: βI love scrum as it allows us a framework to break complex work down into simpler parts allowing us to deliver faster and get feedback faster!β - Boom. There you go.
Not into posting? Hereβs your first Twitter post: βAgile is a great philosophy as it grounds us in the realities of building products and services. The world changes, our mental models must be open to change too.β - Boom shakalaka.
Do this for 90 days straight (weβve talked about the value of this). Your grind will be rewarded.
All the best,
ps
Update from September 2024 β People have given me feedback on not being able to get a job. I donβt believe people. I believe data. So, Iβve begun applying for jobs to see for myself!
Here is part 1 of my experiment in getting ScrumMaster or Agile Coaching jobs:
I'm committing to putting myself out there, but as I've also heard put another way, do what you can, with what you can, where you are.
Great points. I would add one more: Just start acting like a scrum master in your current role. I am not in a scrum master role officially but use the techniques and mindset often to drive forward towards team goals. No one "hired" me. I just did it.