Scrum masters are in high demand due to the crucial role they play in building an organization for a brighter future. To cut it short, they are responsible for taking the company ahead in the long run. There are actually a number of things that companies look for while hiring an Agile Scrum Master.
Creating agile culture can be really tough, and this clearly indicates the role that scrum masters have to play. Their work in a company involves working parallel to the product owner of a company. Hence, during the recruitment process, the scrum master may have to go through various phases of the interview from different levels.
Agile Scrum Master – The Hiring Process!
The process is different as per the company, and the first thing they do is, assess the team and based on that decide the need for a scrum master. Traits companies look out for among candidates are-
- Technical: The scrum master has to go through a series of questions which analyze their knowledge about software, QA, programming knowledge, clean code, architecture, patterns, technical debts and many more things. Working in this field with little knowledge can be really tough and the only way to achieve success in this area is by closely working with the team.
- Leadership Quality: What does this job demand? You need to just act at a constant pace as and when the situation demands. The scrum masters need to adjust to any situations, and implement necessary methodologies and techniques as and when the company asks for. While, for some of the scrum masters, it can be a very natural trait, others may need to work on it. Target the key areas and analyze where exactly your team needs support, and work accordingly on it.
- Superb Data Analysis Quality: The role of a scrum master demands to know about the factors, when the team is not delivering properly. They can understand that very well, by going through the different data and charts and can interact with the team, to find out ways of solving the problems. Analyzing data is a skill, and you can attend a certified scrum master training course and develop this skill.
- A Good Communicator: While Scrum masters are needed to boost the team performance, they have to be influential at all levels. Even they might need the backing of the business heads to do the work more efficiently. While this is a continuously evolving skill, it requires some time to be at that level. To achieve this feat, it is very essential to gain trust from the respective fields. How? Focus more on the measured success!
- Sensing Agile Patterns: The best agile scrum masters very well know that problems might repeat, and they keep the solutions quite ready! There is no provision for a lazy approach and so analyzing and working on a problem as quickly as possible is the need. You can search online or books and improve your skills on agile culture. Specially designed courses can also help you in honing your skills.
- Be Ready To Break Rules: A perfect scrum master can go to any level for meeting the goals. If in case, the situation demands one to break the rule, it can also be done, provided, the scrum master is aware of the norms and at the same time, has a thorough understanding of how it will affect the company. For that, you need to have a clear view of the working mechanism of the system.
So, if you possess all these qualities, then the opportunity is just knocking at your door. But, for growing from this level, there is a need to shine high. How to do this exactly? Well, for this first you need to be sure about what you exactly want and the reason for your change. A specialization in scrum career makes you handle two jobs at a time- developing the team, and enhancing the process for product delivery.
The case is quite different in the case of a software company. One can find individuals in managerial roles, not having an engineering degree, but having sufficient knowledge on computer languages. In the same way, you are even allowed to be a part of the team, and it doesn’t really matter whether you are an engineer or a tester.
Breaking The Myth!
There is a basic difference in the job role of a scrum master and a project manager. The difference lies in the fact that, scrum master is the head, for monitoring the process of the work, and a project manager is solely responsible for a particular project. So, even when a scrum master works with an engineering team, he may not have any engineering knowledge, but, the role of a project manager, demands a valid degree in this case.
So, if you have a bachelor’s or a master’s degree that will suffice. You can apply for this position. But with an additional certification, your career will definitely see a boost.
