I'd like to share my experiences with the PSM (Professional Scrum Master) II certification from Scrum.org which I took & passed this afternoon.
It's a thirty question, multiple choice test and you are given 90 minutes to complete it. It is $250 US (vs $150 US for the PSM I).
Unlike the PSM I exam, there is no directly applicable practice exam to help you prepare, but reviewing the Scrum Guide, Nexus Guide and taking the Scrum Open and Nexus Open sample tests can help if you have sufficient practical experience with Scrum.
The key difference between this and the PSM I test is that the majority of the questions are situational and many require you to pick more than one response from a set of possible responses.
Only a couple of the questions tested foundational knowledge of either Scrum or Nexus so I would classify this as a much harder test than the PSM I and arguably I found it tougher than the (current) PMI-ACP exam.
All in all, I can support the reasoning behind there being only one PSM II for every one hundred PSM I's out there!
Congrats Kiron. Yes I heard the PSMII is a lot harder by several degrees. But it's very interesting you say it's harder than than the PMI-ACP exam. Thanks for that update. Saving Changes...
Drew CraigSr. Agile & Product Coach| VanguardPhiladelphia, Pa, United States
Congratulations! Was taken back by the PMI-ACP comment as well. Saving Changes...
Let's put it in perspective - the ACP is a longer exam, but covers a broader base of material and hence can't get into as much detail as the PSM II does.
The passing requirements for the PSM II are also higher than those (I assume) for the ACP - the former is 85% out of 30 questions whereas I'm guessing the ACP is closer to 60% out of 120 questions.
The PSM II exam has many questions which ask you to pick two or three choices from a list of four or five possible answers. I find those types of questions to be harder than PMI's standard one out of four. It did, however, have a couple of True/False questions.
I wrote the ACP in a little under 45 minutes out of three hours. The PSM II took me roughly the same time out of 1.5 hours for a quarter of the number of questions as the ACP.
It's possible the ACP might get tougher after March 26, but right now, I felt the PSM II was at least twice as hard...
Kiron
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1 reply by Drew Craig
Feb 13, 2018 7:42 PM
Drew Craig
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Absolutely agree! The multi-select questions are by far the trickiest. That was a basis of my selection of PSM over CSM - the quality of the exam, especially b/c I cannot afford the 2-day course. Though I understand the benefit of the group environment. Depends on experience and need.
Thanks Riyadh - you'll need to translate that last part for me :-)
Thanks Vincent - having got the ACP & CDAP/CDAI but wanting to get past those gatekeepers who insist on a Scrum-based credential, it was a choice between Scrum Alliance's credentials and Scrum.org.
The former uses credentials as a way to sell training whereas the latter doesn't require a candidate to take their courses.
Having worked with Scrum for over a decade, I didn't see the value in paying for a costly two day course which wasn't going to teach me something new so I decided to align with Scrum.org which cost me only $400 for two credentials (PSM I and PSM II).
I would still feel the ACP is the one credential "to rule them all" until the Agnostic Agile movement comes out with its own credentials...
Kiron
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3 replies by Ganesh Kumar, Riyadh Salih, and Vincent Guerard
Feb 13, 2018 11:56 PM
Riyadh Salih
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Kiron Are you kidding me! about the translate ????? ??? ?? ?? ???
Feb 14, 2018 12:19 AM
Ganesh Kumar
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Hi Kiron, Congrats!!
Let me translate what Riyadh is saying : "you are one in a hundred thousand - (lakh is hundred thousand). Way to go....
Feb 14, 2018 10:21 PM
Vincent Guerard
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Thanks Kiron,
Have you look at Agile in the PRINCE2?
PRINCE2 is not yet recognize in North America in my opinion.
Senior Projects Manager | Field & Marten AssociatesNew Westminster, British Columbia, Canada
Kiron,
Congratulations & thanks for the update. It is very informative and you actually encouraged me to sit for the ACP exam so I am now considering doing so after the GPM-b.
Cheers,
RK Saving Changes...
Dinah YoungProject Manager / Software Asset Manager| Prince William CountySpringfield, Va, United States
Community Champion
