YOU NEED TO KNOW THIS before you get your Certified Scrum Master(CSM) Certification
In this article, we are going to answer the 5 most-asked questions about the CSM Certification.
Here are the five topics we’re going to analyze in this article: 1) How and where do I sign up for the CSM examination? 2) What is the cost of the CSM exam? 3) What is the difference between CSM and PSM? 4) Is Certified Scrum Master Certification better than the Professional Scrum Master Certification? And what should I go for? 5) Is the Certified Scrum Master Certification Right for You?
1) How and where do I sign up for the CSM examination?
So a very important point to note here is that you cannot sign up or register for the CSM exam directly. In order to be eligible to write the CSM exam, you have to first go through a 14 to 16 hour training. It can be either online or in person, but it has to be with a Certified Scrum Trainer(CST). Generally, what happens is that these trainings get divided over a period of two days, eight hours each, and you can easily find your CSTs online and register for their courses. The following paragraph summarizes the aforementioned process.
If you just go on Google and type CSM training, you’re going to get many different related links, but if you ignore the sponsored ones you will see a Scrum Alliance Certified Scrum Master(CSM) Certification link.
Scrum Alliance, established in 2001, is the official body that offers the CSM credential. So we know this is really legit.
If you go on their website and select the “Get Certified” button, you can access a list of available certification courses, with options to filter and search for specific courses based on criteria such as date and time, country, etc.
Once you click on the “Register” button you will be able to see more details about your selected training, such as the venue, the price and all the other necessary instructions. You will notice that the exam fee is also included in the price you pay for the two day training.
Now, let me share something quite fascinating. In 2020, when I pursued CSM training to obtain my CSM certification, I was still residing in Canada. Given it was during the COVID pandemic, in-person training wasn’t a viable option. As I was bargain-hunting through the various training options available in Canada to find a cheap yet a high-quality program, I was astounded too see the extravagant prices, hovering around CA$ 2,000. So, I opted for an alternative route. I found a course in India that was significantly “cost-effective”, costing me approximately CA$ 350 Canadian dollars, a remarkable saving compared to the Canadian prices at that time. Well yeah, I registered for that course in India and, since the training was anyways online, it worked out really well for me.
So what’s your takeaway from this story? Regardless of the country where you obtain your CSM certification, as long as it’s from a Scrum Alliance accredited institute and your trainer holds a Certified Scrum Trainer qualification, you are all good.
2) What is the cost of the CSM exam?
I believe I’ve already addressed this question in my previous response. The cost of the certification largely depends on the country you are in. However, it’s important to note that you aren’t restricted to taking the training and certification in the same country where you reside. If you learned anything from my experience, you will shop around for better prices in different countries.
3) What is the difference between CSM and PSM?
If you don’t know what PSM is, it stands for Professional Scrum Master. It is basically an equivalent of CSM. Albeit, they’re both the same level of certification, they do have some differences.
i) CSM, as we know by now, is offered by Scrum Alliance, which is an renowned organization in Scrum. So is Scrum.org which offers the PSM certification. To be more specific, CSM and PSM, are both the same level of certification, a beginner level certification in scrum, offered by different bodies, but both internationally recognized bodies.
ii) With CSM, you do have to undergo a mandatory, 14–16 hours, online or in-person training, which we’ve already talked about in detail. On the contrary, the training is optional for PSM. Yes, you don’t necessarily have to go through any training to be able to sit for the PSM exam, instead, you can take this exam directly.
iii) For CSM, because the training is a mandatory, you cannot get around it, thus the exam fee is also covered in the training fee. Now, we’ve already established in the prior sections of this article, that the CSM training fee really depends on the country you are appearing for the CSM certification in. To mention a ballpark range, it can start from CA$ 350 and go up to a whopping CA$ 2000. As compared to PSM, where the exam fee is a fixed amount of US$ 150, per attempt.
iv) Now something I don’t like with the CSM certification is that you have to renew it every two years, and there is a fee associated with this renewal. You have to pay US$ 100, every two years, to renew your CSM credential. On the other hand, PSM, gives you a lifetime validity. Yes, there is no renewal fee with PSM, you just have to pay a flat fee of US$ 150 to take the exam. So, once you crack it, you’re good, you get to hold your credential for a lifetime.
Now I know everything about PSM sounds so good, right? So why would someone take CSM instead and why did I take CSM instead?
v) The final point is what makes all the difference. If you browse through all the available Scrum Master positions on any job search platform, let’s take Linkedin, most of the companies will ask you for the CSM certification as a requirement/qualification. CSM, is therefore more popular amongst the candidates, the employers, and the industry, in general. Whereas, not many people know about PSM, which is a big reason why a lot of people go for CSM instead of PSM, even though there is this hassle of renewing your credential every two years.
4) Is CSM really better than PSM? What should I go for?
Of course the choice is really yours! What I’d say is that the high popularity and the high demand of CSM is absolutely something to be considered. When I embarked upon my journey to become a Scrum Master, I obtained the CSM certification, reason being novicity, just as any other beginner, I was not aware of the various kinds of certifications being offered in this field, forget about analyzing their pros and cons. Therefore, with my limited knowledge at the time, I just went with whatever was most in-demand.
If I were to go back in time and get a beginner-level Scrum Master certification again, would I still go for CSM? I don’t think so, now that I have all the information about PSM, the fact that it is also offered by an equally reputed scrum body, and more importantly, the fact that I just have to pay a one-time fee to write the exam, and I get to keep my PSM credential for a lifetime, it’s a very big plus. So, I’d go for PSM this time.
Having said that, I’d like to stress again, the choice is yours because my job here, is not to influence you. Instead, the aim of this article is to lay out all the facts for you, to equip you with all the necessary information, you need to make an informed decision. So, I really hope this article helps you make smarter career choices.
5) Is the Certified Scrum Master Certification Right for You?
Who can get the CSM certification, rather, who should get the CSM certification? The answer is simple: Irrespective of the field or domain you’re working in(IT, manufacturing, automotive, etc.), if you are working in an Agile environment, chances are your team is implementing Scrum, the most popular Agile framework, well then, your organization will need a Scrum Master.
So, my 2 cents, even if you’re remotely interested in implementing Agile practices, leading a team by influence, managing a team, managing the resources, then you should absolutely go ahead and get certified as a Scrum Master, be it with CSM or PSM.