Over the weekend on Dec 19th and Dec 20th, I attended a Certified Scrum Master course with Instructor Giora Morein from Think Louder.I recently wrote about my experience obtaining the Scrum Foundation Certification and How a Scrum Master is a pivoting career into Cybersecurity. This blog will share how I passed this certification and why having a path for certifications is essential for your career.
Studying Path
To obtain this certification, I had already passed the Scrum Foundation Certification to understand the terminology back in Nov 2020. The concept was still fresh in my mind; the next step I attempted was the Professional Scrum Master Certification through scrum.org due to not meeting the requirement of paying for a course. Therefore, at the time, that was a better option. I attempted the exam but did not pass with an 85% score, but I understood the concept with a passing score of 75%, which met the Certified Scrum Master Certification requirement. Rather than re-attempt the exam, I decided to pursue the CSM.
With this in mind, I knew that the company I currently work to invest in their employees for educational benefits. Therefore, I took the initiative to take the CSM course through the Scrum Alliance.org website.
Choosing the Right Instructor
Granted to pass the exam, choosing the right instructor was important. It was finding an engaging instructor and a guy with the right tone of voice to keep me engaged as a concerned. In the past few weeks, I noticed that many people passed this exam and mentioned this Instructor Giora. Hence, he was the right instructor to help me excel in earning this certification by conducting research and listening to the promo video.
Virtual Course Experience
The course was not offered in person, so online was the best option. It was a total of 32 students for the next 2 days. What I enjoyed about this course was using a platform called Miro and, of course, zoom. The use of different learning styles really helped this course shine. My favorite part was the drawings and use of colors, and fonts to bring the material to life.
Passing the Exam
Finally, after the course was over it was time to take the exam. As I mentioned before the material was fresh in my mind due to work and also taking the Scrum Foundations certification last month. I was happy taken the exam at home, this was a less stressful experience from being in a test center where other distractions could occur.
There are a few reasons why I obtained this certification. First, it aligns with my current career path according to the NIST 800-181. I’m currently on track to remain in the Oversee and Govern specialty area. Second, I’m actually applying the knowledge I learned to the everyday tasks at work. Finally, adding more skills to my career growth and not staying stagnant in my career.
What’s next
Next year, I will attempt the to learn about SAFe Agile Scrum Master. This is a certification will allow me to grow in my career because a lot of companies are implement Scaled Agile for their enterprise. Then re visit the AWS Cloud Practitioner exam since the company I support use this cloud platform.
On February 21st, 2021 I passed the SAFe Scrum Master certification. This was a 2 day course provided by Engaged Agility with exam fee included. Since my current role deals with this framework I was familiar with the terminology. In this course the student workbook was provided. Taking notes using quizlet notes assisted in passing this exam.
