Should I go for PSM or PSD as a developer?

Hi Seth,

I'm a software developer too. I was in your same place but five months before. I agree that PSD is harder and the only reason is that the PSD list of topics is the same as PSM-I plus questions related to TDD, ATDD, Continuous Integration, XP, Continuous Delivery, ... Check "Scrum Developer Open" for more information.

I highly recommend you to take PSM-I in first place. PSM will give you the foundations of Scrum framework. After passing PSM-I, chances of passing PSD on first attempt will be higher :-)

Best regards.

Option 1 is ideal and you can still be part of Dev team while being a Scrum master for the team but tell me one thing why do you need certification before even starting with Scrum ?

Remember, certification will just enable you but you will learn Scrum with real life issues and problems which you can get started right away without any certification.

I would say first introduce Scrum to the team, run few sprints, appreciate the framework and then if you think you need to get certified then I would really recommend getting certified through workshop (2 day workshop + certification), the workshop will give you broader perspective and chance to evaluate yourself.

The PSM I covers the Scrum framework in its entirety, which anyone interested in bringing Scrum into their organization should be aware of.  I actually disagree with the naming convention, because in my mind it's more of a "Scrum" certification than a "Scrum Master" certification.  The PSM I is also the most popular and recognized certificate on this site, so it makes for a good starting point.

The PSD, PSPO, and PSM II, on the other hand, focus more on the responsibilities of the different roles on a Scrum Team.  It builds off the Scrum Framework, but drills down into the sections most relevant to those positions and covers more information from outside the Scrum Guide.

I suggest that you take the PSM I first.  Since you're trying to bring Scrum into a new organization and have limited exposure to it, you'd benefit the most from a solid understanding of the fundamentals and framework.  A deeper understanding of specific job roles without a grasp on the underlying frameworks won't support you as strongly.

Hey guys, thanks for your useful information. 

I'll take PSM I first. Regarding the question why I want a certification before even starting with scrum: we already tried to change our approach to work, organization and processes some time ago. The initial motivation suffered from the daily work, too many changes at a time, a lot of stress because of very strict deadlines and also failures in productive systems because of poor quality. 

It did not take a long time and everything went the same way it was before the change happened. That attempt was strongly influenced by Scrum. Now there are some project managers who are talking about Scrum and agile, but honestly I think they don't know a lot about it. So the situation is maybe worse than before because there are many different opinions how things should be done and due to the fact we changed things, people might think it's now better than before while it actually isn't a big difference. Since I was one of the people who pushed the change, I feel somewhat responsive to the current situation. So I want to make a statement that I am really serious about this, I spend my own money and a lot of time to gather new knowledge and I can prove that I know what I am talking about. 



Okay, I'll learn more for PSM I. :)