Scrum Master Job Search Help
So, I'm seeing a weird trend that a lot of companies are wanting an agile coach under the title of scrum master, I'm assuming to get out of having to pay for an actually experienced / certified one...
I've seen several applications asking for ability to increase velocity, and I even saw a job posting where they listed not to take the job if you were just going to point out how they aren't compliant and not actually fix it... Like... What!? Since when is it the scrum master's job to increase velocity directly, or somehow fix a company that knows it's broken?
This job seems SO ambiguous, like no one actually knows what a scrum master is responsible for...
I'm also seeing a lot of companies that want someone who is constantly attending scrum events and local meet ups etc, as if you need continual new ideas in order to execute what is already written in PLAIN ENGLISH for everyone to read... Am I wrong? Like, don't get me wrong I'm not advocating for not expanding your knowledge, but I've got the feeling that companies are expecting Scrum Masters to be some magic bullet that cures all their problems, when they're already aware of the problems and just wont fix them...
Am I wrong in saying it's absolutely NOT the responsibility of the scrum master to fix your broken company? Like, our job is to enact scrum, as it was created, and to inform the people who CAN make the changes where the problems are... I see myself as a pair of nice glasses and it's my job to put them on the eyes of other people to help them see better, not fix their eyes...
Also seeing a lot of companies that want higher level certifications, something I still don't fully understand, like, why are there more than 1 certification for being a scrum master? Did they just not teach us all that's in the scrum guide in CSM? I'm hoping to one day be experienced enough to be an agile coach, something I know is going to take me years to achieve, but there's no direct path to it, it seems entirely experience based. Unless I need to go get certified in every methodology?
Sorry if this comes off like a rant, I've had a rough week, honestly just trying to find a little bit of clear path in this very chaotic time.
Am I wrong in saying it's absolutely NOT the responsibility of the scrum master to fix your broken company?
In so far as a particular broken company can be fixed by Scrum at all, I’d say it is a Scrum Master’s responsibility to do so. In theory it is a responsibility shared with the CEO or managing director, who is the person accountable for fixing it.
The implication is that for a Scrum Master to fulfill his or her responsibility in this regard, he or she must collaborate with the CEO/MD. Usually this kind of access to power is not even contemplated. Instead, broken companies try to delegate agile change downwards, along with the blame for eventual failure.
I’d suggest that weak executive sponsorship for agile change, including insufficient access to the CEO/MD, should perhaps be seen as a deal breaker by Scrum Masters more often than it is.
Since when is it the scrum master's job to increase velocity
It isn't. I've actually been asked several times in my Agile journey if I could help increase a team's velocity. My standard response is to ask whether they want the team to double their estimates.
This desire is really symptomatic of a couple anti-Agile practices/views.
- Velocity is an activity metric that should only be used for planning purposes as a guide to help a PO and Development Team determine how many items to forecast in a given sprint. It is an output-related metric that should be 100% germane to that team. Any practice that runs counter to these statements is a misuse of the velocity metric.
Managers like to measure things that can be measured. That does not mean that such items should be measured. One of my favorite quotes is (at times) attributed to Albert Einstein:
"Not everything that can be counted counts, and not everything that counts can be counted."
- This is symptomatic of a poor focus from this manager. They are interested in how productive the Development Team is, without considering whether the "stuff" they are producing has value to the customer. This is perhaps an opportunity to help the manager become aware of this, and to care about what is being produced, instead of how much.
This is reflective of a sub-optimization motivation. Help the manager understand concepts like lead and cycle time, value stream mapping, and system flow, if they are interested in becoming more efficient in delivery. Then, help the manager understand that it does not matter how well we create and deliver product, if we don't have the ability to measure value (process feedback, assess customer experience).
I would say that finding a job in the Scrum master sector is now quite difficult if you have not done any course for this. Because I have already done this scrum course from "tryScrum" for which now I found a good job in this field. So I must suggest you for this.
I think the reason for multiple certifications is due to a combination of them being burned by having not so good Scrum Masters and also them not knowing Agile very well. They want to bring in someone who is more Senior and able to lead the change without them doing the work.
In other situations, I totally see them thinking SM's are Project Managers. The belief is that the teams aren't optimized yet. I do ask in my interviews that if I find a problem that needs to be solved outside of the team, what capability would I have to drive those fixes? But that question is to help me not get into a bad situation haha.
To be fair though, an Agile Coach and Scrum Master aren't the same thing. So they need one or the other. I would want an Agile Coach to drive dept wide change to multiple teams whereas a Scrum Master would aid 1 or 2 teams. The skillset is a little different but the mindset is totally shared. I would not take a Scrum Master job if the expectation was to drive dept level change. They need to first be aware of just how much support that job is going to require from leadership.