Dmitri Iarandine - How to Get A Scrum Master Job: TLDR

2016

Copyright 2016 byDmitri Iarandine. All rights reserved.

This book or anyportion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any mannerwhatsoever without the express written permission of theauthor.

Cover by DmitriIarandine.

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TL;DR

Literally Too long;Didn't read

A phrase usually typedin response to a blog, forum post, or other form of online media toexpress that the text was needlessly long, and they didnt end upreading all of it.

- Urban Dictionary

Hello, and thanks forpicking up the book! Let me give you some quick background to thisbooks creation, and explain why I used TL;DR to describeit as part of the title.

Ive transitioned intoAgile Delivery and Project Management space from being a SoftwareEngineer about 5 years ago. First I found myself in a hybridcapacity of an Agile Business Analyst / Digital Producer, andeventually became an Iteration Manager / Agile Coach at a largeAustralian Telco.

Now I also consultindividuals and organisations on the most optimal screening andrecruitment methods for hiring highly qualified Agileprofessionals.

For the good part ofthe last 5 years Ive been collecting and documenting my ownexperiences as a transitioning professional and a job seeker. Iattended meet-ups, talked to already established and a lot moreexperienced Agile practitioners, including Scrum Masters, IterationManagers, Agile Coaches, and people specialising in AgileRecruitment. Ive been interviewed on many occasions, and Iveinterviewed a lot of applicants myself since then.

It left me with a tonof notes, bookmarks, audio logs, and scribbles of all shapes andforms.

Not so long ago Ivefinally decided to go public, and turn all those notesinto some sort of helpful readable material for those of you outthere who are considering to embark on a similar professionaltransitioning journey. This effort resulted in my other recentlypublished eBook GET HIRED as SCRUM MASTERthatyoure welcome to search for on Google.

My goal was to packthe book with practical information that one wouldnt findelsewhere, calling spade a spade, and making sure a freshly bakedScrum Master knows what to expect from the current job market,preparing properly, and being ready for most common challenges eachand every one of us - job seekers - experiences on theirpath.

While my goal wasachieved, the original book turned out to be rather long, with alot of context being given for each topic, and some parts appearingto be optional and for advanced applicants only.

Ive received a lot ofpositive feedback, but about the same amount of people actuallycommented that the original book was too long, and a shorterTL;DR version would be useful as well. Which is why Idecided to write this shorter How To Get A Scrum MasterJob eBook, and give it out for Free.

This eBook isNOT a collection of outtakes from the original GET HIREDas SCRUM MASTER.

I didnt want todiminish the value of the original book by retelling you exactlythe same things, or just phrasing it all differently.

In other words, this isa completely new stand-alone book, where I talk about mostessential concepts of the same topic - getting that Scrum Master(or any other Agile Delivery) role as a fresh person to the jobmarket within our Industry.

And I sincerely hopethat you find this material helpful, enjoying both booksequally - like the main course meal, followed by a dessert. Or theother way around, if you prefer it that way...

Your feedback is alwayswelcome,

Dmitri Iarandine

Professional ScrumMaster, Accredited Scrum Trainer, Agile Coach.

https://au.linkedin.com/in/iarandine

http://twitter.com/iarandine

http://JoinAgile.com

http://bit.ly/JoinAgileVideos

Having worked inRussia, Switzerland and Australia, most of my experience comes fromthe competitive Australian Job Market, which might be different towhere you are based.

I do believe howeverthat I describe generic modern recruitment and job hunting problemsthat should be common around the World, and sincerely hope thatreading my take on the main issues would be worth your whileregardless.

In the eyes of a jobseeker and a fresh applicant, Australian Agile Delivery and ProjectManagement Job Market suffers from the following dominatingtrends:

Recruiters down-underare picky because highly qualified workforce is concentrated in ahandful of major cities, creating an overwhelming demand forwell-paying professional jobs within Agile Delivery space. Theresplenty of jobs out there, and the market is still(apparently) growing, but theres always more candidatesthan jobs. Thats a given you have to accept and work with.

Our local recruitersare spoiled by the amount of good candidates, which makes theirchoice and candidate placement relatively effortless - notalways, of course. In majority of cases it is true though, when weare talking about Scrum Master positions that are usually in highdemand, and limited supply.

These days recruitersjob is also made easier by ever-growing candidate databases, andinstant access to hundreds (if not thousands) of profiles onProfessional Social Media websites, such as LinkedIn.com.

So naturally, when themarket is saturated with good and generally keen candidates,recruiters can pick and choose, and get away with bad practiceslike not returning your calls, and not bothering to get back to youif your application was unsuccessful. They know you will likelyswallow your pride and pick up the phone next time, if they happento call you a year later to ask if you are still looking...

Yes, it can be that bad- be ready for it, dont let this discourage you though.

Even if recruiterscant find the right blend of skills that their occasionally pickyemployer-Client asks for within their candidate database, jobrequirements you see on the advertisement websites are ofteninflated, raising Scrum Master entry-level to sometimesunreasonable heights.

As a random example - afamous bank might be advertising a position of Scrum Master, askingfor 5+ years of experience implementing Scrum, plus 2 types ofScrum Master Certifications, plus proven experience working withPayment systems, and Derivatives knowledge being a bonus.

Even without knowingwhat kind of job and work environment precisely they have, I cantell you here and now that these job requirements are exaggeratedvastly.

Who does that?

Could be the recruiter,could be the actual employer supplying them with a Job Description- we wont dive into those semi-philosophical matters in thisbook, try the other one if youre really interested in what Ithink - but what matters is that you wont be suited for thateven as a competent Scrum Master who spent 2-3 honest yearsdoing exactly what they probably want you to do as your day-to-dayjob.

People inflate jobrequirements to overcompensate - they think they need more thanthey do, and they try and silently negotiate with the market usingthis basic but not very applicable technique, where you ask formore than you are realistically going to get. Its a yes, butwhat if we can get a superstar? factor.

Visibility of thistrend scares a lot of candidates away, but sometimes lures incompletely incompetent candidates who are just brave (or foolish -you decide). Ive seen more than a few Resumes like that with myown eyes.