Agile and Scrum are the new fashion nowadays. Most IT related companies are interested in hiring people who are familiar with the concepts and are preferably certified, even if the company is not really Agile. That’s why being certified is important for many of us.
But the problem is between so many certificates which one is suitable for us? I studied a lot and read a lot of articles. I’ll try to explain and share my experiences here and make it easy for you to decide.
Scrum Master Certifications
There are different types of certifications for Scrum Masters, Product Owners, and Developers. The fact is that everyone should start with the Scrum Master certification programs in my opinion, because that’s how you can know the framework.
The most famous Scrum Master certifications are as follows:
PSM I from Scrum.Org: it’s a great examination. Very precise and professional. You don’t even have to take any specific courses. As long as you can pass the online exam, it’s OK. After all, they just want to assess your knowledge. The price is not high too; it’s only $150. That’s why this examination is interesting for those who are interested in self-study and serious assessments. However, it’s hard to pass the exam, because the questions are tricky, and the passing score is 85%.
CSM from Scrum Alliance: this is also a famous certification. You need to take a standard course for that, and the exam is very easy to pass (or better say, really hard to fail). The courses are rather expensive.
The previous ones are focused on the Scrum framework, while there are two other certifications that cover both Agility, and the Scrum framework. They are about general knowledge, but in practice are close to what we expect from a Scrum Master certification. These two are:
ASF from EXIN: the exam is easy to pass and the price is moderate. The positive point about it is that it is governed by one the most famous examination institutes in the world, EXIN, which is mostly known for PRINCE2 and other AXELOS certifications.
PMI-ACP: this is a long and rather hard examination. Also expensive (about $400), like other PMI certifications. You also need to take certain training (classroom based or eLearning) and have enough Agile experience.
Product Owner Certifications
There are also Product Owner certifications that are mainly designed for… well, Product Owners. However, I believe these certification programs are also very helpful for Scrum Masters.
These are the main ones:
PSPO I from Scrum.Org: similar to the PSM I certification, low-cost, hard to pass, without the need for training.
CSPO from Scrum Alliance: similar to the CSM certification, rather expensive, easy to pass, and requires specific training.
Scrum Developer Certifications
The term developer refers to anyone who’s involved in the production of the solution, which includes technical analysts, architects, programmers, testers, UI designers, and so on.
Most developers have difficulty learning how to create the solution incrementally, without upfront architecture. That’s why this type of certification can be helpful. However, such a course needs to be focused on a certain programming language to stay practical, and it makes it very difficult to design and run. That’s why this type of certification program is limited. Both Scrum.Org and Scrum Alliance provide such programs through their partners.
Other Certifications
I’m also going to mention some other certifications that you might have heard of:
PSM II and PSPO II from Scrum.Org: these are the higher-level certifications, and very few people aim to get them, because they are even harder than the original one. While people can take and pass the first level exams without standard courses, it doesn’t seem likely for the second level certifications.
DSDM Foundation and Practitioner: these are certificates for another Agile methodology, DSDM Atern. I’ve not seen many people using the methodology or be certified, even though it’s a nice methodology.
AgilePM Foundation and Practitioner: this is also about DSDM Atern, but is focused on its project management aspects.
So, Which One?
Well, it’s not really easy to say, but I try to explain my own opinion for different scenarios (which others might not agree):
If you want to get just 1 certificate and if you want it to be easy then go for ASF. It is easy and from a well-know company otherwise you can try PSM which is harder or I can suggest to get both.( they are not too expensive)
But If you are rich and you want get more than 2 certificate you can go for CSM or ...
I hope it helps you. If you have any question or experience regarding this let's share it with everybody
What do you think? which certificate?
But the problem is between so many certificates which one is suitable for us? I studied a lot and read a lot of articles. I’ll try to explain and share my experiences here and make it easy for you to decide.
Scrum Master Certifications
There are different types of certifications for Scrum Masters, Product Owners, and Developers. The fact is that everyone should start with the Scrum Master certification programs in my opinion, because that’s how you can know the framework.
The most famous Scrum Master certifications are as follows:
PSM I from Scrum.Org: it’s a great examination. Very precise and professional. You don’t even have to take any specific courses. As long as you can pass the online exam, it’s OK. After all, they just want to assess your knowledge. The price is not high too; it’s only $150. That’s why this examination is interesting for those who are interested in self-study and serious assessments. However, it’s hard to pass the exam, because the questions are tricky, and the passing score is 85%.
CSM from Scrum Alliance: this is also a famous certification. You need to take a standard course for that, and the exam is very easy to pass (or better say, really hard to fail). The courses are rather expensive.
The previous ones are focused on the Scrum framework, while there are two other certifications that cover both Agility, and the Scrum framework. They are about general knowledge, but in practice are close to what we expect from a Scrum Master certification. These two are:
ASF from EXIN: the exam is easy to pass and the price is moderate. The positive point about it is that it is governed by one the most famous examination institutes in the world, EXIN, which is mostly known for PRINCE2 and other AXELOS certifications.
PMI-ACP: this is a long and rather hard examination. Also expensive (about $400), like other PMI certifications. You also need to take certain training (classroom based or eLearning) and have enough Agile experience.
Product Owner Certifications
There are also Product Owner certifications that are mainly designed for… well, Product Owners. However, I believe these certification programs are also very helpful for Scrum Masters.
These are the main ones:
PSPO I from Scrum.Org: similar to the PSM I certification, low-cost, hard to pass, without the need for training.
CSPO from Scrum Alliance: similar to the CSM certification, rather expensive, easy to pass, and requires specific training.
Scrum Developer Certifications
The term developer refers to anyone who’s involved in the production of the solution, which includes technical analysts, architects, programmers, testers, UI designers, and so on.
Most developers have difficulty learning how to create the solution incrementally, without upfront architecture. That’s why this type of certification can be helpful. However, such a course needs to be focused on a certain programming language to stay practical, and it makes it very difficult to design and run. That’s why this type of certification program is limited. Both Scrum.Org and Scrum Alliance provide such programs through their partners.
Other Certifications
I’m also going to mention some other certifications that you might have heard of:
PSM II and PSPO II from Scrum.Org: these are the higher-level certifications, and very few people aim to get them, because they are even harder than the original one. While people can take and pass the first level exams without standard courses, it doesn’t seem likely for the second level certifications.
DSDM Foundation and Practitioner: these are certificates for another Agile methodology, DSDM Atern. I’ve not seen many people using the methodology or be certified, even though it’s a nice methodology.
AgilePM Foundation and Practitioner: this is also about DSDM Atern, but is focused on its project management aspects.
So, Which One?
Well, it’s not really easy to say, but I try to explain my own opinion for different scenarios (which others might not agree):
If you want to get just 1 certificate and if you want it to be easy then go for ASF. It is easy and from a well-know company otherwise you can try PSM which is harder or I can suggest to get both.( they are not too expensive)
But If you are rich and you want get more than 2 certificate you can go for CSM or ...
I hope it helps you. If you have any question or experience regarding this let's share it with everybody
What do you think? which certificate?
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