The growing demand for Scrum Masters has created an influx of new Scrum Masters into the role. And while most of those Scrum Masters have loved their new career, many have found themselves wondering what’s next? Even if you’re happy in your role it’s normal to wonder what opportunities might exist beyond that role. In fact, you may find yourself wondering if there even is a Scrum Master's career path. If this sounds familiar then you’ll be happy to know that there is a career path for Scrum Masters…it just might not look quite like you expect.

Skilled Scrum Masters show an incredible amount of versatility, often adjusting their approach to meet the specific needs of their teams. This versatility makes the Scrum Master role an ideal jumping off point to a myriad of other career opportunities. But finding the right career path for you primarily depends on what facet of the Scrum Master role appeals to you most.

Becoming An Agile Coach

Often Scrum Masters are so pleased with the positive effect that an agile approach has had on their teams that they want to bring this approach to their entire organization. If this sounds like you and you’d like to be catalyst for changes inside of your broader organization than becoming an agile coach may be the right path for you.

To be successful, you’ll need to develop the ability to coach at higher levels in the organization than you do as a Scrum Master…often at the executive level. You’ll also want to familiarize yourself with concepts such as business agility to better explain how an agile approach can benefit even the non-technical functions in your organization as well as become well-versed in change management strategies since introducing a significant change to a large organization is not for the faint of heart. Finally, it can also be beneficial to broaden your exposure to agile methodologies beyond Scrum so you have a wider variety of tools at your disposal in your agile toolbox.

Making The Move to Product Owner

Sometimes Scrum Masters find what really appeals to them about the Scrum framework is how it enables them to deliver better products to their users. If you find yourself most fascinated by the end product your team is creating as well as understanding whether that product is actually meeting your users’ needs then the Product Owner role may be the right move for you.

Product Owners who have a background as a Scrum Master can be incredibly empowering to their teams. This is due not only to their deep knowledge of the Scrum framework, but also to the perspective that they’ve gained during their role as a Scrum Master. This perspective can better equip Product Owners to understand exactly what their Scrum teams need from them. This insight can be incredibly valuable as you work to find the right balance between setting a clear direction for your team but also giving them the freedom to identify better solutions as they emerge.

However, remember that each of the 3 roles on a Scrum team are defined as peers. Therefore you should be careful not to consider a move to the Product Owner role as a promotion above the Scrum Master role. In healthy teams, a move between these two roles would simply be considered a lateral move with the benefit of adding another facet to one’s Scrum experience.

Becoming A Manager

Often when agilists think of managers we picture pointy-haired Dilbertesque bosses forcing mundane tasks on their employees without a care for the well-being of those employees. However, while there certainly are managers that fit this description, generalizing all managers in this way would be unfair.

There are many excellent managers who regularly demonstrate a high-degree of empathy for their employees, a well-refined sense of emotional intelligence, and a sincere desire to help their employees grow both personally and professionally.

If this sounds like a path that may appeal to you then many of these same skills that you developed as a Scrum Master will transfer well. Combine this with the team facilitation skills that you’ll also develop as a Scrum Master and you can be well on your way towards a fruitful career as a manager.

Furthering Your Investment In The Scrum Master Role

Finally, it’s important to understand the Scrum Master role doesn’t always have to be a stepping stone into a new career. Many Scrum Masters have found that they enjoy the role so much that they desire nothing more than to simply spend their career as a Scrum Master. In fact, many organizations are now changing how they think about this role to help enable these types of individuals.

For example, many organizations have introduced a Scrum Master career ladder often culminating in a Senior Scrum Master position. As Scrum Masters progress along this ladder they gain more and more responsibility by working with multiple teams, working with teams at different skills levels in their agile journey, acting as an agile advisor to their broader organization, or even serving as a mentor to more junior Scrum Masters.

In addition to this role, many organizations who have endeavored to scale Scrum also have created roles specifically to enable this scaling process. Sometimes referred to as a Chief Scrum Master, this role is often tasked with assuming responsibility for the entire scaled Scrum implementation as well as for identifying and addressing any scaling dysfunctions that may occur as the organization grows.

If you find that you simply really love the act of being a Scrum Master, then either of these opportunities may appeal to you.

Finding The Right Path For You

Becoming a Scrum Master can be the first step in a long and rewarding career that can offer many different career paths over time. Whatever path is right for you, you can be sure that the skills and relationships that you’ll develop as a Scrum Master will serve you well on that journey.

Are you looking for a Scrum Master for your team? Check out my Scrum Master Assessment on Kand.io, the leading tech-talent assessment platform. This assessment will help you find the perfect Scrum Master to help your team get to the next level.

The surge in demand for Scrum Masters has led to a wealth of available job opportunities for motivated Scrum Masters. This means that if you’re a budding Scrum Master anxious to break into this new career, or an experienced Scrum Master just looking for a new challenge, then this is a great time to be on the market. But with all of the Scrum Master jobs available, how do you know which job is right for you?

One of the best indicators of whether or not a Scrum Master job is right for you is how an organization’s view of the Scrum Master role aligns with your own view of the role. While the responsibilities of the Scrum Master role are clearly defined in the Scrum Guide, the lightweight and non-prescriptive nature of the Scrum framework often leads to many organizations taking wide latitude with how they interpret this role. And this interpretation may or may not align with your own interpretation.

Luckily, there are four simple questions that you can ask to help determine if you and a new organization are a match made in heaven, or if you may be in for a nasty surprise your first day on the job.

Question 1: How Do You Measure A Scrum Master’s Success?

One of the most common surprises you might find with a new Scrum Master position is when the organization views the Scrum Master role simply as a rebranded project manager. In these instances, you may find that your goals for your new position don’t align with your organization’s goals.

One of the best ways to identify if such a discrepancy exists is by asking how the organization measures the success of their Scrum Masters. Organizations who are simply treating the Scrum Master role as a rebranded project manager will often cite criteria as to whether or not the Scrum Master’s team is delivering the work expected of them on-time and in-budget, how well the Scrum Master is pushing the team to meet previously agreed upon deadlines, and if the Scrum Master is increasing the team’s velocity sprint-after-sprint. While the organization may feel that they find value in each of those criteria, many of those criteria still carry the smell of a command and control approach to software delivery, not to mention that they also mistakenly equate a team’s busyness with the value that they produce.

In contrast, organizations who have a healthier perspective on the Scrum Master role might cite criteria that could indicate that the Scrum Master is enabling their team to improve as a unit. For example, is the Scrum Master actively working with the broader organization to help them understand how they can better support the team, is the team becoming more self-sufficient and self-managing, and is the team’s overall throughput improving and their velocity stabilizing. Each of these criteria can indicate a Scrum Master who is actively improving the way their team operates and laying the groundwork for sustainable improvements to how their team delivers value to their organization.

But to truly know how deeply the organization understands this difference, you should also pose this same question to the existing Scrum Masters in the organization. Most large organizations will already have several Scrum Masters on staff. And, if there are already Scrum Masters in the organization, then they should most certainly be part of the interview process.

This is a great opportunity to also ask those current Scrum Masters how their success is measured in the eyes of the organization. If the answers given by the Scrum Masters differ significantly from the answers given by the organization, then this could be an indication that the organization hasn’t made their expectations clear to the Scrum Masters and that they don’t truly understand how they are being measured.

Question 2: What Is Your Career Path For Scrum Masters?

Another indicator of whether or not an organization is the right fit for you can be how they view the career path of Scrum Masters. But to know this, you first have to understand what you ultimately want from the Scrum Master role.

The versatility of the Scrum Master role makes it uniquely well-suited to serving as a jumping off point to other longer term career aspirations. For example, if you desire to broaden agile adoption across your organization, then the deep agile knowledge and facilitation skills that you gain as a Scrum Master can serve as an excellent step towards becoming an agile coach. On the other hand, if you find that you are most interested in the outputs that your team produces and how those outputs ultimately provide value to your stakeholders, then a career in product management may be in your future. Or finally, if you discover that you simply enjoy working closely with development teams and enabling them to continuously push the envelope of what they’re capable of, then simply continuing to pursue a mastery of the Scrum Master’s craft may be your goal.

Regardless of your long-term career aspirations, you should confirm that the career ladder available at your new organization will enable those aspirations. Often this can be learned by simply asking what an organization’s career path is for Scrum Masters.

If you desire an eventual move into product management, then you might seek an organization who encourages Scrum Masters to move laterally into other parts of the organization, such as business analysis or product management. On the other hand, if your longer-term aspirations are to become an agile coach, then you might seek an organization whose career ladder gradually increases the responsibility of Scrum Masters into broader areas of the organization until those individuals are acting as executive level coaches. Or, if you’re one of the many Scrum Masters who simply loves the role of Scrum Master and wants to continually refine their craft, then you might seek an organization with multiple levels of the Scrum Master role. These Scrum Master career ladders, which often culminate in titles such as Lead Scrum Master or Senior Scrum Master, are designed to a grow a Scrum Master’s skills by gradually increasing their responsibility by giving them responsibility for more teams, teams who are new to or who are struggling with their agile adoption, or even responsibility for training and mentoring more junior Scrum Masters in their organization.

Whatever your long-term career aspirations are, you’ll want to be sure to find an organization that will enable and support those aspirations long into the future.

Question 3: What Is A Day In The Life Of A Scrum Master?

One of the best ways to understand how the organization views the Scrum Master role is simply to ask the organization’s other Scrum Masters.

Asking each Scrum Master to describe a typical day can give a lot of insight into the expectations of that organization’s Scrum Masters. For example, do the Scrum Masters speak mostly of removing impediments for their team or do they seem to be more focused on teaching their team to remove these impediments for themselves. Or, do the Scrum Masters speak of leading the various Scrum events for their team or do they position themselves as a facilitator who helps their team get the most from these events. Listening to not only what activities the Scrum Masters describe, but also for subtle cues in how they describe them can be very revealing of the Scrum Master’s true role in the organization.

And, as with previous questions, turning this question back on the organization can reveal how well the organization understands how the Scrum Master role functions in their organization. If you find that the organization’s description of the daily activities of a Scrum Master differ significantly from what the Scrum Masters describe, then this may be an indication that the organization doesn’t truly understand the challenges their Scrum Masters are facing each day.

Question 4: What Are You Looking For In Your Next Scrum Master?

Finally, if you are fortunate enough to meet other Scrum Masters in the organization during the interview process, then you can also use this opportunity to gain insight into how well those Scrum Masters are currently functioning as a team.

For any lasting change to take effect in an organization, there must be multiple Scrum Masters acting in concert to enact that change. This not only enables those Scrum Masters act as a chorus of guidance to the organization, rather than as a single lonely voice, but it also allows each of those Scrum Masters to reinforce that same guidance across multiple teams in the organization.

But in order for this to happen, it takes more than just multiple Scrum Masters in the same organization…those Scrum Masters must be acting in a coordinated effort. One of the best ways to understand how well-coordinated this effort is is to ask the other Scrum Masters what they are looking for in their next Scrum Master.

Asking this question helps you understand how introspective the current team of Scrum Masters are about their strengths and weaknesses. A mature team of Scrum Masters will be very introspective which will allow them to identify gaps in their skills across the team. For example, the team may understand that while they have a strong grasp of the Scrum framework, they lack significant experience with other agile methodologies like Kanban. Or while the members of the team may feel very comfortable coaching at the team level, they may lack the skills to coach effectively at the executive level.

A mature team of Scrum Masters will be introspective enough to identify opportunities for improvement and will be actively seeking to fulfill these opportunities gaps with the next addition to their team.

Making Your Next Move The Right Move

Considering any change in employment can be a stressful time. This is especially true when that change involves a role that can be as widely interpreted as the Scrum Master role. But by understanding what you truly desire from your next opportunity, as well as asking the right questions to help you learn whether or not your new organization will support those desires, you can greatly increase your chances of making your next change a successful one.

Do you want to learn the skills that you'll need to ace your next Scrum Master interview? Check out my course series, Using the Scrum Framework, to learn how to set yourself apart as a Scrum Master and help your team reach their highest potential.

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There’s no doubt that the Scrum Master role has been in the spotlight lately, even being named one of the top 10 most promising careers. This has garnered so much attention that the role has even begun to attract those from outside of the technology industry. In fact, several individuals have recently reached out to me expressing interest in breaking into the Scrum Master role without experience as part of an agile team or even in technology, in general. If you would love to break into the Scrum Master role but simply don’t have the experience, then don’t despair…finding your first job as a Scrum Master may be easier than you think.

Getting Certified

For better or worse, holding at least an entry level Scrum Master certification is a prerequisite for almost any Scrum Master position today. While the value that some certifications yield may be debatable, their requirement is omnipresent in almost every Scrum Master job posting.

Luckily, the surge in demand for these certifications has resulted in several different options for finding the certification path that’s right for you. The two most dominant options are the Certified ScrumMaster® (CSM) certification offered by Scrum Alliance® and the Professional Scrum Master (PSM) certification offered by Scrum.org. Both certifications are based on the Scrum Guide, which is the standard reference point for learning the Scrum framework, and both certifications offer paths towards more advanced certifications beyond the entry level certification.

The major difference in these certifications is how they’re earned. To earn the Certified ScrumMaster certification you must attend a two-day in person training class offered by a Certified Scrum Trainer, who is licensed by Scrum Alliance. After completing this class you will be eligible to attempt a certification exam which will allow you to earn the Certified ScrumMaster® certification.

On the other hand, while similar two-day in person training classes are offered by Scrum.org licensed Professional Scrum Trainers, the attendance of such a class is not a mandatory prerequisite before attempting Scrum.org’s own Professional Scrum Master certification exam.

Preparing For The Exam

The option to purchase a Professional Scrum Master certification attempt directly from Scrum.org without the need to incur the cost of attending a live class makes this path a very attractive option for those who are seeking a more economical option to certification or for those who simply do not have access to live training in their local area. Be aware, however, that Scrum.org’s exams can be quite rigorous and are not for the faint of heart. The Scrum.org training courses are of very high value, so if you’re considering attempting the Professional Scrum Master exam without the benefit of attending one then you’ll want to take a few steps to prepare yourself.

As a first step, you’ll want to take some time to review the Scrum Guide in depth to make sure that you understand the rules of the Scrum framework. In addition, you’ll also want to familiarize yourself with what is actually part of the Scrum framework versus what complementary practices you may have simply attributed to the Scrum framework. For example, are Story Points part of the Scrum framework? If you think that they are then you may need to spend some time reviewing the Scrum Guide.

Next, you’ll want practice the Open Assessments that are available for free on Scrum.org’s website. While the assessment questions on the actual exam tend to be more difficult than those found on the Open Assessments, practicing the Open Assessments will help you familiarize yourself with the language and format of the questions that you’ll encounter on the actual exam. Note that Scrum.org makes several different Open Assessments available so you’ll want to consult the PSM I certification page to learn which Open Assessments will be the most helpful for preparing you for your certification.

Finally, you’ll want to take some time to understand how the rules of the Scrum framework play out in practice. A great place to start is Pluralsight’s Using the Scrum Framework Learning Path, which will introduce you to not only the mechanics of the Scrum framework, but also to how those mechanics can be applied inside of your team. Many budding Scrum Masters have used this path to successfully prepare for earning their PSM I certification and you’re likely to find value in it, as well.

Sharing Your Thoughts

Once you’ve learned the basics of the Scrum framework then it’s time to start sharing your thoughts on Scrum with the world. A great way to do this is with your own blog where you can share your evolving thoughts on the Scrum framework and how it can help teams be more effective. If you don’t yet have thoughts on how Scrum can help teams then don’t worry, simply using the blog to document your own learning process as you learn more about the Scrum framework can be a great first step.

You can even use this as a platform to share your thoughts on any agile-related books that you’ve read or to work through open questions that you may still have about the Scrum framework. Whatever the content is, you’ll be amazed at how simply taking the time to write and formulate your thoughts will help you better crystalize your own understanding of Scrum. In fact, simply documenting your own experience earning one of the certifications mentioned above can be a great starting point.

There are a lot of options available for starting a blog so don’t let a lack of experience with blogging stop you from doing so. While you may think of a blogging as hosting and managing your own blog at your own domain, third party publishing sites such as LinkedIn and Medium can making the process of starting your own blog nearly instantaneous. These third party platforms can also remove the headaches that inevitably come with having to manage your own platform and will even give you immediate access to an interested audience rather than having to build a following from the ground up.

But speaking of audience, remember that the size of your audience isn’t important. Your blog is an opportunity for you to showcase your thoughts and passion regarding the Scrum framework and the Scrum Master role. Organizations that are hiring Scrum Masters will be most impressed with your passion for your craft and your initiative to share that passion with the world, not by the size of your audience.

Meeting People

More than anything else, the Scrum Master role is about interacting with people, and there’s no better way to do that then to find like-minded individuals who share your passion for Scrum. Sometimes, simply knowing the right individual at an organization is all it takes for you to get your chance at your first Scrum Master position. But where do you find these individuals?

Start with where they tend to gather. A great starting point is attending the agile related sessions at small regional conferences. Many agile conference sessions are interactive so they can be a great opportunity to meet others in the Scrum Master role. In addition, most major cities offer agile meetups where agile practitioners can meet regularly to discuss advancements in their field. Make it a point to become a regular attendee of your local meetup and you’ll inevitably start to meet others who can help you get your big break.

But there’s actually a way to take this a step further. Many agile companies are proud of their new way of working and are happy to open their doors to others who might benefit from it. Find out which companies are the agile thought leaders in your area and reach out to those companies. Ask if they would be open to you shadowing one of their Scrum teams for a few days to learn how Scrum works in practice, similar to an unpaid internship. You’ll be surprised at how many companies are open to these types of arrangements and are more than happy to allow you to sit in on a few of their Scrum events to see their team in action.

Doing this will not only give you first-hand experience as to how the Scrum framework is often implemented in practice which you can speak to during your next interview, but the connections and friendships that you form during that time might very well lead to your first Scrum Master opportunity.

Taking That First Step

While the steps I’ve discussed above are best followed in the order that they’re presented they can be taken in whatever order makes the most sense for you. For example, if you have the opportunity to spend time with a high-performing Scrum team before you’ve earned your certification then certainly don’t let the lack of a certification stop you from doing so.

What’s important is that you take the first step that’s right for you and helps you come one step closer to fulfilling your dreams of becoming a great Scrum Master.

Are you looking for a Scrum Master for your team? Check out my Scrum Master Assessment on Kand.io, the leading tech-talent assessment platform. This assessment will help you find the perfect Scrum Master to help your team get to the next level.