15 years of networking experience and in need of a change

@ PM - Surely you can, if you want to serve people first, be a successful SM.

Scrum Master is a great career path. Most of the Scrum Masters I've worked with came from a Project Manager or Business Analyst background. Not sure where you're located but almost every company doing technology is hiring a Scrum Master. There are three major Agile certification organizations (including Scrum.org). You should get the Scrum Master certification with in-person training from all three if you're able to invest in yourself.

Do you feel that my 15 years of Network experience and Leadership coupled with this CSM training could help me resurrect with my career using Scrum/Agile methodologies?

Someone is bound to point it out to you at some point, so I may as well be the first. Neither Scrum nor Agile are methodologies.

Being agile is described by a short set of values and principles.

Scrum is a framework. It's easy to get hung up on words, but it's important to understand that Scrum is just a structure you can use to add processes and techniques on top of it. Scrum doesn't provide approaches to solve your problems. It simply gives you enough guidance so that you can expose many of those problems. You then have to solve those problems yourself.

As for training, I would recommend a Scrum.org course, as they're well structured and the content is consistent from class to class, and to a high standard. I've found they're structure to prepare you to keep learning after the two day workshop, rather than just pump you full of facts for an exam.

I've no experience of Scrum Alliance courses (e.g. CSM), but before committing to CSM, I recommend you compare reviews with Scrum.org's Professional Scrum Master course.

In answer to your wider point, there are three roles in Scrum: Product Owner, Scrum Master, Development Team.

Do you see yourself fitting in there? And if so, how?

Such a career change should be possible for anyone, and you would be wise to use your existing skills to complement your new skills and strengthen you in whatever role you take on.

I feel that managers that serve their teams with assistance and support are able to produce more and work in a more full filling enviornment.

Do you feel that my 15 years of Network experience and Leadership coupled with this CSM training could help me resurrect with my career using Scrum/Agile methodologies? 

Let’s reflect on the feeling you have just identified and described yourself. Are you interested in the Scrum Master role as a means to resurrect your career, or do you see it as a vocation?

My question from a personal experience level; do you have clear if this is really what you want to do if the passion is lost? Does this type of work really give you energy? Or would you ideally do a different kind of job? Those in my opinion should be the start of every internal dialogue. The reason why I mention this is because you are now looking for answers from other whether we would see you fit into an Agile environment. And although you might be a really good Scrum Master, Product Owner or whatever, I kind of get the idea that you are maybe dodging some internal questions.



Recent studies showed that somewhere between 75-80% of global employees are feeling disengaged with their job. I recon these are incredible numbers. An advice that I once got: "You spend about a third of your lifetime working. Make sure you have a job you love, that you looking forward going to. Else you'll be just throwing away a 33% of your life." 

Apologies for the delayed response but I would like to touch upon each of the responses provided above.

Simon Mayer

• Thanks so much for the correction. I do understand now that Agile is the framework and not a Methodology.  Appreciate the input.

Mark - "Not sure where you're located but almost every company doing technology is hiring a Scrum Master"

• I see lots of Scrum Master jobs but most require a few years of experience working as a Scrum Master or in a prior Agile environment.  Where does a new Scrum Master find a job if they have no prior Scrum experience?

IAN- "Let’s reflect on the feeling you have just identified and described yourself. Are you interested in the Scrum Master role as a means to resurrect your career, or do you see it as a vocation?"

• Great question - I know I am ready for a change and the resurrection I meant is more to obtain a career that will provide me continued growth, advancement and future opportunities.  

Sander- My question from a personal experience level; do you have clear if this is really what you want to do if the passion is lost?

• Another great Question - I believe that the "Agile" framework is a way for me spark the passion up again.  I have been reading books, listening to podcasts, reading forums and all are related to "Agile".  I feel that the person that I am and want to become resonates with Agile principles.  

I want to thank you all for providing me your valuable input to my question above.  I have since taken the CSM training and am now a Certified Scrum Master looking for new opportunities.

Paul Mauti

Paul, having read your initial comment as well as your responses I am wondering if you are really talking about a desire to become a servant or servant/host leader? 

By building upon these skills you can most certainly attain the things you've mentioned regardless of if you then go work with development teams or if you continue to work with operational ones.

Scrum Master is a fun role and very satisfying for me personally. Touching on the other part of your introduction, I worked in IT operations for 18 years, more then half of them in networking, ending as a Technical Team Lead and Network Architect. I successfully made the transition so I have absolutely no reason to believe it's not possible for you as well.

Think about the servant leadership question though, it's an important consideration that you might be able to start applying even in your current role.

James- Thanks for the positive confirmation that the transition can be done and the result can become a fun and satisfying career :)

I am currently looking for new job opportunities and would love to continue to use my past skills as a Team Leader and new Agile principles to help contribute to an organization.  My Leadership style in the past has been mostly helping engineers to make good choice's and lead them down the right path and not telling them what to do and how to get it done.  I naturally started using servant leadership without ever really knowing that's the method I was implementing with my teams.    

Hello everyone,

I have all over 15 years’ experience in operations, including 13 years in healthcare operation. Currently I am working as "SR. QA analyst - Care management". I want to proceed my career to scrum. I know at first, I should get scrum master certification. My question is shall I shift my career to scrum now? as I have already spent half of my career.

Please advise.