You have completed the 2-days of CSM Certification training and are now working as a Scrum Master in the organization. What’s next? Now that you have the CSM certification, is the job done? Or are there ways to boost your Scrum career even more?
If you want to be a Scrum Master, you have to strengthen your Scrum knowledge regularly. The first move in your Scrum career will be serving one team. You will be resolving issues faced by your team members so that they can quickly deliver the end results. As a Scrum Master, you should look for additional challenges. The next step is working with multiple teams concurrently. You would be managing work under complex conditions and make an easy transition from good to great. However, if you want to level up your skills, you need to look at other certifications. Here is a list of Scrum certifications you can go for after the CSM to upskill your career:
- Advanced Certified ScrumMaster® (A-CSM®)
This is a Scrum Master certification you can earn right after the CSM certification. It will help you in facilitating communication between the stakeholders and customers and increase engagement. Also, as an A-CSM professional, you will not only increase your Scrum implementation skills but also showcase your value as a skilled Agile professional.
If you want to grab the A-CSM certification, you must have an active CSM certification along with at least 12 years of experience as a Scrum Master.
- Certified Scrum Professional®-ScrumMaster (CSP-SM)
As a Certified Scrum professional, It is your responsibility to apply the Scrum and Agile principles. During the training, you will be exhibiting your knowledge and experience. Once you have attained
the CSP certification, you will be able to enjoy the following benefits:
- Attend CSP events with other professionals
- A chance to earn more and get employed by top companies
To be eligible for the CSP, all the candidates are required to have an active A-CSM certification along with at least 2 years of working experience as a Scrum Master.
- Certified Team CoachSM (CTC)
This is a guide-level certification that is usually taken by scrum teams, management, and stakeholders. The CTC gets hired by the organizations for training, coaching, mentoring, leading the team, and removing obstacles. This way, organizations can leverage team collaboration, value delivery, and continuous development across
different teams.
The prerequisites for CTC certification are:
- Active CSP certification
- At least 1,000 hours of coaching experience in the past 2
years apart from your role as a Scrum Master. - Coaching experience in 2 or more organizations.
- Participated actively in at least 5 Agile events.
- Have practical experience in implementing Scrum and
coaching experience in Scrum and Agile framework.
CTCs can initiate mentoring, coaching, and training the professionals on Scrum and Agile processes after getting their certification. Also, they can recommend 50 individuals annually whom they have given 25 hours of small group training or in-person training for achieving the Certified Scrum Product Owner and Certified Scrum Master certifications. This way, they are contributing to the creation of a healthy environment in the organization.
- Certified Scrum Trainer (CST)
This is the only trainer-centric certification from Scrum Alliance. It is also their most-sought-after certification used by professionals who want to transform the way the teams work. To become a CST, you must satisfy the following requirements:
- Deep understanding of the concepts, principles, and
practices of Scrum. - An active CSM certification.
- Experience implementing the Scrum framework as Product
Owner, Development Team member, of Scrum Master.
- Teach experience independently or in partnership with a
CST:
- Taught more than 100 candidates
- Hosted 10 or more days of training sessions
- Respective certifications for training the professionals on
the course.
- Certified Enterprise Coach (CEC)
This certification exhibits years of working experience at an enterprise level. Such professionals display a deep understanding of the implementation of Scrum principles and practices. The prerequisites for the CEC certification are:
- Knowledge of Scrum, coaching skills, and proven leadership.
- An active CSP-PO, CSP-SM, or CSP certification.
- Coaching experience in more than 3 organizations.
- Working experience in a Scrum team roles
- At least 2000 years of work experience as a coach in the
past 3 years.
- Certified Scrum Product Owner (CSPO)
As a Product Owner, you are responsible for creating the product vision, prioritizing the product backlog, and helping the team deliver what the customer is looking for. This certification for all Product Owners who want to handle the business side of the project. There are no eligibility requirements for this course. But, you have to attend the 2-days training taught by a CST for earning this certification. Once you get this certificate, you can go for the Advanced-CSPO certification.
- Certified Scrum Developer (CSD)
The CSD certification demonstrates the individual’s ability to build software using Scrum as a part of the team. With this certificate, you will be strengthening your technical skills in Agile software development.
Any programmer can attend the CSD course. Also, all candidates have to attend the 5-day long, formal CSD training taught by a Registered Education Provider (REP). Apart from this, CSD certification gives privilege to CSM certified professionals. They have the option to skip the first 2 days and join the training from the 3rd day.
Once you have this certification, you can level up your skills through the Certified Scrum Professional for Developers certification.
- ICAgile Certified Professional in Agile Coaching (ICP-ACC)
Certification
The aim of this certification is to help the candidates get an agile mindset. You will be able to differentiate between the mentoring, facilitation, teaching, and professional coaching, and learn the skills like conflict resolution and team collaboration that leads to the formation of a healthy organizational environment.
To be eligible for this certification, all individuals must have a CSM certification along with 2 to 3 years of experience working as a Scrum Master. When you are a certified Agile coach, you can be a mentor to the Agile team, facilitate Agile practices, and empower teams to finish their goals.
The Scrum Master is involved in the Scrum process all through the way. They have to play different roles in the team for ensuring the success of the project:
- Agile Coach
- Manager
- Product Owner
- SAFe Scrum Master
The Scrum Master’s role is not the end. There is always a scope of improvement. An important part of being a Scrum Master is not restricting yourself to limited skills. You have to try advancing your Scrum Skills by going for the advanced-level certifications.