Professional Scrum Master

1.5.17

I recently took my Professional Scrum Master (PSM) certification. I passed but not the score I was targetting for but good enough to say I am scrum certified. My company was recently acquired and saw the need for this certification as the acquiring bank is on "Agile".

So, how did I do it? Here are the steps:
1)  I paid for the exam in Scrum.Org. Note- fee is in USD. This is my motivation to start reviewing as you only have 14 days to take the exam after paying for it.
2) I researched on online exams and blogs and read through it. I bookmarked the online exams on my phone and my computer and ensure that I take these exams before and after my reviews.
3) I printed out the Scrum Guide and bring it with me all the time. Memorized some concepts using mnemonics.
4) My friend gave me an old copy of his review guide from Mplaza and read it 3 times.
5) For 1 week, I reviewed, read and took the exams online with the aim of getting 100% in all exams.

So, in the weekend after my review, I took the exam. I was surprised how difficult some of the questions are as I did not read it in any of my review materials. I was happy that i passed!

As an advice for those who want to take this, read other books and materials as i don't think I studied well enough. Although I passed, i still feel the need to find the answers to the question I was unable to answer.

But, if you have money or the company can pay for an Agile training, another option is to take the Certified Scrum Training from Scrum Alliance. This is more well-known but more expensive. The passing rate for their exam is not as stringent as that of PSM but you need to attend a training for two days.

There are options for anything. Just look around and read from blogs and you'll find a treasure cove of certifications out there for everyone in the IT world.