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Clear understanding of what to expect with PSMI, PSMII, and PSMIII

Last post 10:08 am June 24, 2017 by Ganesh Raja Munuswamy
4 replies
06:18 pm June 21, 2017

Hello,

I've recently passed PSMI and would like to start studying for PSMII.  I'm finding conflicting information on what to expect with PSMII and would really appreciate input from someone who knows what this test is like at this point in time.

Is the PSMII a multiple choice, multiple answer test or are the essay questions as well?  (Some information says that essay questions used to be in PSMII but have been moved to PSMIII)

Based on the current PSMII, what is the test assessing?  PSMI appeared to be assessing basic knowledge found in the 2016 Scrum Guide, for example.

Thank you in advance


11:27 am June 23, 2017

Congrats Marc. I am also planning to complete the PSM-II and searching for relevant information.

From my understanding from various blogs, PSM II is a multiple choice, Multi-answer test. You need good amount of practical experience as SM to answer most of the questions and less direct questions.

Please share your thoughts, If my understanding is wrong.


11:39 am June 23, 2017

Please go thru the below blog (dated June 9, 2017 by Scrum Support) to know more on PSM-II

https://www.scrum.org/forum/scrum-forum/5381/what-expect-psm-ii-exam

 

 


05:36 pm June 23, 2017

I'm finding conflicting information on what to expect with PSM2 and would really appreciate input from someone who knows what this test is like at this point in time.

Is the PSMII a multiple choice, multiple answer test or are the essay questions as well?

In July of 2016, the existing PSM2 was converted to the PSM3, and a brand new PSM2 exam was created.  As you implied in your original post, that means that the essay-based questions moved with it, and are no longer present in the PSM2.  Be sure to check the dates on your study materials, as older blogs and forum posts may be referencing the old exam and not the current one.  Any resource written or posted August 2016 or later will usually be accurate to the current exam.  You can read more about this change directly from Scrum.org in this blog post.

Based on the current PSM2, what is the test assessing?  PSM 1 appeared to be assessing basic knowledge found in the 2016 Scrum Guide, for example.

The comparison I usually make is while the PSM 1 questions your mastery of reciting the Scrum Guide, the PSM2 questions your mastery of applying those principles.  The time you get per question jumps drastically from 45 seconds per question (PSM1) to 3 full minutes (PSM2), and you'll probably find yourself using most of that extra time.  Many of the questions are scenario-based, where you'll pick the best course of action among several choices.  In my experience, sometimes there will be two or more "right" answer, but only one "best" answer.

I'll give an example.  While the PSM1 may ask you a question about how long the time box is for a certain event, the PSM2 would ask you what corrective action you should take if the event is frequently taking longer than that time box allows.  Instead of an answer like "30 minutes," it would look for an answer like "Tell the problem developer he's not allowed to attend the meeting for one week."  Both the questions and answers go into more depth.

I highly recommend taking some time to review the Nexus Guide, take the SPS Open practice exam, and read some blogs from other Scrum Masters.  The PSM2 cannot be easily passed with knowlege from just one resource, and the exam recommends several years of agile experience before attempting.  I've written about my own PSM2 experience  myself here if it helps, but there are other (potentially better) write-ups here on the forums if you want to seek them out.


10:08 am June 24, 2017

I agree with what Jason said. Totally. We need to have the experience in scrum of as a scrum master to successfully accomplish psm ii. And the psm ii is totally a new exam here. Recently I found a psm ii practice assessment from scrum.org

This should be helpful in what you will expect in your psm ii exam. I have been scrum master for a couple of years now and took psm I few months back but still I am hesitant to take psm ii. So follow the advice Jason posted, read many blogs , articles , join scrum groups in LinkedIn yahoo or meetup  

http://thescrummaster.us10.list-manage.com/track/click?u=215ec0507923e3…


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