PSM II Certification - Passed!

Congrats Jeremy, what resources did you use to study?

Thank you, Diego!

I started by reading several books, blog posts, and forum questions, all while working through the Open Assessments.  Real-life experience was key too.

The following books contributed to the depth of knowledge required for the assessment.  I could not imagine missing any one of these:

Essential Scrum by Ken Rubin

Scrum Mastery by Geoff Watts

Scrum A Pocket Guide by Gunther Verheyen

The Nexus Framework for Scaling Scrum by Kurt Bittner, Patricia Kong, and Dave West

Everyone recommends Software in 30 Days by Ken Schwaber and Jeff Sutherland.  I finally purchased a copy but I did not read it prior to the assessment so I cannot provide an honest opinion today (however, I plan on reading it the next few evenings).

Other Resources:

The Scrum Guide - Read it until you know it.  Then, read it until you understand it.  Then, read between the lines to figure out what they are trying to convey.  

The Nexus Guide - Total understanding is helpful.

The Agile Manifesto - Good to understand.

Blog and Forum here at Scrum.org.  Reading and participating in these conversations greatly contributed to my results.

All Open Assessments here at Scrum.org.  The majority of the questions on the PSM II are considerably more difficult, but the assessments were a necessary step.

Real-life experience is helpful.  However, it all depends on the organization.  If your company does not follow Scrum as intended, you will need to determine the correct way according to the Scrum Guide.  If there are gray areas, continue to ask here on the Forum.  There were a couple of questions on the exam that still are gray for me.  They did a fine job of making me think through each and every scenario.  

I had a nice tall pint of cider afterwards.  😃

Good luck!

I'm readying Essential Scrum right now. It's a great book so I'm happy to know it will help when I get to the stage of going for the PSM2.

Congrats on passing and earning this certification. I'll end up going for the PSM2 within a couple years for sure.

Congrats on your PSM2! I just took and passed PSM1 last night - a little trickier than I thought but passed comfortably.

How long did you spread your study and preparation for, for the PSM 2? I am guessing at least several months?

Thanks for the reading list and tips too. Is there a order that you recommend to read the books in?

Thank you, Curtis!  I received my copy of Essential Scrum during an Agile training course last Spring.  It is my go-to for understanding.  There are a few others out there with a similar cover that look great too (Coaching Agile Teams, Succeeding with Agile, etc.).  I will probably pick those up in the near future for additional knowledge.

Have a great day!  

Thank you, Russell, and congratulations on your PSM I!  That is quite an accomplishment itself.  

Other than adding to my knowledge through working as a Scrum Master, I probably spent two to three hours per day reading and studying (during the last three months).  Regardless of the certification, these habits will make you a better Scrum Master.  Regarding order of books, I read them in the order that I provided.  I still need to complete Software in 30 Days, which is recommended by many here.  It wouldn't hurt to add that to the list.

While reading, look for and document those areas that you may not have considered or thought about previously.

Please let me know if you have additional questions and good luck!

Congrats Jeremy, I passed my PSM1 in one attempt last month, I have started preparation for PSM2. are there any behavoral questions in PSM2 or pure practical scrum? and scanario based?

congratulations Jeremy! I think it is time for me to go through the "essential scrum" book : ) 

any behavoral questions

What do you mean?

Thanks Jeremy for the tips for PSM2. Just cleared my PSM 1. @Russel: indeed it was a bit trickier but passed comfortably. On to PSM 2 now.. Scrum on!!

Hello guys... I am looking to prepare for PSM II certification. Is it really necessary to attend the 2 day training to pass or we can pass by self readings also?

any suggestions?

Yesterday I passed the PSM II (first attempt) with 97.1%, and since this forum has been a valuable resource I am giving something back.

The following books have been my sole source for studying and passing the PSM II in my 3-month study period. In the order I have read them:

- Scrum: The Art of Doing Twice the Work in Half the Time

- Scrum Mastery: From Good To Great Servant-Leadership

- The Elements of Scrum

- Head First Agile: A Brain-Friendly Guide to Agile and the PMI-ACP Certification

- Personal Kanban: Mapping Work | Navigating Life

- Scrum - A Pocket Guide - 2nd edition: A Smart Travel Companion

- Scrum Insights for Practitioners: The Scrum Guide Companion

- Real-World Kanban: Do Less, Accomplish More with Lean Thinking

- Nexus Framework for Scaling Scrum, The: Continuously Delivering an Integrated Product with Multiple Scrum Teams

- Scrum Field Guide, The: Practical Advice for Your First Year

- Scrum Shortcuts without Cutting Corners: Agile Tactics, Tools, & Tips

There are also many podcasts but I found mostly garbage. I recommend these three because they are well done, sometimes funny, and a source of good practice:

Badass Agile: https://badassagile.com/

Agile Uprising: http://www.agileuprising.com/

Meta-Cast:https://www.meta-cast.com/

Passed PSM II first time, 97.7%.

Background: I've been implementing Scrum in a Customer Support org for the past 9 months. I've done the PSM I and the PSPO I. I'm not a software engineer, and I haven't done a training course. 



I really didn't know what to expect from that exam, it's tough but didn't include as much Developer/Kanban/Agile Leadership/EBM stuff as I expected. 



This blog thread was invaluable in my studying, so I thought I'd throw in my suggestions too:

These books were great, and genuinely all provide different insight, I would suggest reading them all as it really doesn't take too long -

• Scrum Pocket Guide - Gunther Verheyen 
  • This felt like a longer Scrum Guide, it's very dry but it's concise and it elaborates on the 'why'. Read first.
• Scrum insights for practitioners - Hiren Doshi 
  • Brilliant contextual examples and really well written, with stories than help the flow, and help embed in your memory. Read second.
• Scrum Mastery - Geoff Watts 
  • Once you have the concepts from the previous two books, Watts helps you understand the difference between good and GREAT Scrum masters, and that is the exact kind of knowledge you need for the PSM II, when correct vs. incorrect can be so subtle. Read last.
• Last tip, listen to the Scrum Master Toolbox podcast for the weeks leading up to the exam. The contextual insight this gave me was great.

Be very familiar with these of course, I read them about roughly 4 times each -

• Nexus Guide 
• EBM updated version 
• Scrum Guide 
• Scrum Glossary (memorise)
• Agile Manifesto (memorise)

I took all the open exams until I could get 100% and used flashcards from Quizlet to try and get to grips with subjects. Then I'd speak with developers or people with greater industry knowledge to provide context.

**Focus a lot on Scrum at scale.** 

Rundown of the exam: 

• Multiple Choice Exam
• 30 questions - 90 mins
• Pass grade: 85% (25.5 correct questions)
• You can get partially correct questions in this exam 

Has anyone done PSM-II with the new 2020 guide? All books recommended above are based on the old version of the scrum guide? any guidance would be much appreciated. Thank you kindly.

Would it make more sense to pass the PSP exam before attempting the PSM2, especially if the PSM2 exam has a focus on scaling scrum?

Paul, 

I just passed PSM 2 and yeah it fully reflects the 2021 Scrum Guide updates, but there are only few and the basics remain the same. PSM 2 is focused more on real-live scenarios and experience rather than specific theory details. So all the traditional reading materials are still more than relevant because they form a deeper understanding of the framework. 

Just go though the recent Scrum Guide updates, keep them in your mind you you will definitely notice the questions that include them if you are well prepared. 

I passed PSM II and PSP this year. I read couple of articles that the suggested order is SPS first and then PSM II. I did it the other way (PSM II firsr and it was 98%, SPS three weeks later 95%). Around 50% of the scope for both exams is the same. Its good to do them in short time. However, SPS exam was more difficult to me.

@Tomasz Głowacki how did you prepared for PSM II. could you please provide you study tips and books or material recommendation.

I think I will be not the best person to share my experience here as I treaten sps and psm2 as a steps for my journey for psm3 (all of them and psd I did in the period of 4 months). I read multiple books and scrum forum, but I do not limit myself to the scope of these two exams.