PSM 2- PMI-ACP Guide

Hi Mehrman,

found the PMI ACP much more easy than the PSM II and a lot of things are ask In the PMI ACP which are not required in scrum. It's more about agile development in a organisation than about pure scrum.

If you aware of that, it does not harm to answer some questions. But be careful, the quality of questions and answers may vary. 

Nils

Thank You, Nils. In terms of practicing the questions, what would you recommend me to do? I am really not a good test taker.

Hi Mehman,

As Nils has written PSM 2 cannot be compatible with PMI ACP. In my mind PMI ACP, CSM and PSM 1 are in one line. PSM 2 is the next level. And (this is my mind) PSM 1 is much more difficult (and this automatically means that more valuable) than PMI-ACP and CSM.

Thanks (Cox Sagolun) Orkhan but do you have any advice on study guide

Hi Mehman,

I only know this online test:

https://www.thescrummaster.co.uk/assessments/professional-scrum-master-…

Maybe you should consider to take the Nexus assessment before PSM II. I am not sure about my exact topic of questions, but you should be familiar with scaling scrum and there is an open assessment ;)

That's the way I did it.

Nils

Thank You Nils. This is really helpful!!!

Actually I have seen their questions there are 6 of them. But I am glad you pointed out to start with Scaled first

I recently used https://loorex.com test engine and must confess it is very comfortable to use. Here you can download for free http://onlinetestcentre.com/PMI-ACP.html and train your knowledge.

Alright now I can share my experience almost 1 year after. I got both PMI ACP & PSM 2 certified. I think PSM 2 is more rigorous compared to PMI ACP. However, naturally your brain gets tired when you have to go through 120 question when you take PMI ACP vs PSM 2 35 questions only. In over all I think they both are valuable. 

I found this question when I was preparing for my PMI-ACP exam and now I can share my experience. :-)



I am also, both PSM II and PMI-ACP certified. 



IMHO, PMI-ACP is way harder than PSM I.



For me, all you need to pass PSM I, is to be able to read and understand English. To tell the truth, I passed it after reading the Scrum Guide, trying an open scrum assessment once, and reading scrum guide again. A couple of hours at best. :-).



Unlike PSM I, PMI-ACP contains many situational questions, covers all domains and roles, as well as it requires basic knowledge of other methods such as XP, SAFe, or DA. And yep, you have to know it. It is a closed book exam. It took me about 20 days to prepare. Even after years of running Scrum, I had something new to learn. And yep, with 120 questions, it may be quite exhausting, especially for people who do not have a lot of real experience behind. 



PSM II is limited to scrum and does not go far outside of the Scrum Master role, but its situational questions are more tricky than in PMI-ACP. 



So, I would say that with situational questions, PMI-ACP is between PSM 1 and PSM 2, but closer to PSM 2. If we speak of coverage of various agile topics, PMI-ACP is way more demanding than PSM 2. 



I completely agree that https://www.thescrummaster.co.uk is the best source to prepare for PSM 2. After having the real experience, of course. 



As for PMI-ACP, Mike Griffiths's book and https://www.project-management-prepcast.com/ exam simulator are the best sources and are more than enough to prepare. I found simulator questions even more complex than those on the real exam. :-)



And, I agree again, PMI-ACP tests aren't very helpful to pass PSM 2. Moreover, they may hurt, there are quite a lot of things in scrum guide that do not match other Agile sources, especially when it takes to accountability and responsibility. PMI-ACP also refers a lot to hybrid approaches such as DA, and thinking "hybrid" may hurt passing PSM 2. 



I hope this helps those who will consider both certifications in the future and good luck to everybody in their Agile journey.