5 Tips to Help You Land Your First Agile Job

It’s no secret that agile roles are in demand. In fact, according to Glassdoor, product owner and scrum master roles were both among the 50 Best Jobs in America for 2021. According to the World Economic Forum's 202 Jobs of Tomorrow report, product owner, agile coach and Scrum Master jobs are growing fast and in high-demand.

Even with the demand, a lot of aspiring scrum and agile practitioners struggle to actually get their foot in the door. When searching for a new opportunity, many have asked us the question, “how do I get my first job as a scrum master”? Or how do I break into the product owner role?

It’s the age-old dilemma; you need experience to get a job and you need a job to get experience. At Scrum Alliance, we understand the struggle and we’re committed to empowering our community of changemakers. That’s why we created this list of 5 tips to help you land your first agile job. 

1. Brush up on scrum and agile fundamentals 

Make sure you've read the Agile Manifesto and the Scrum Guide recently, and that truly understand basic agile and scrum principles. If you know them well, you’ll be able to think critically about these principles and discuss them confidentially in your next agile job interview. 

• Review the 2020 Scrum Guide and compare it to previous versions. Understand what has changed and what fundamental principles remain the same.
• Review the Agile Manifesto and try to identify similar themes between the other agile methodologies and the Scrum Framework. Make sure you also understand how agile frameworks and scrum differ and how they both differ from waterfall or traditional project management methods.
• Explore articles, webinars, and videos in the Scrum Alliance Resource Library for expert advice on all things scrum and agile.

2. Apply agile skills outside the workplace  

We know it’s hard to land a scrum master or product owner job without any agile experience, but there are ways to gain experience before you land your fist gig. Try these methods to get agile and scrum experience and develop your skill set outside of work so you can update your resume with valuable and relevant skills.  

• Attend a hackathon. You don't need to have a technical background and they're not just for developers and software engineers, in fact, these events offer great opportunities to get hands-on experience for product owners and scrum masters.
• Use a kanban board to organize your to-do list. You can use sticky notes or explore virtual tools like trello to create your board.
• Practice scrum at home and let your family be your agile team members. Develop a sprint backlog to help you and/or your family organize their chores and responsibilities.
• Volunteer to create workboards, write user stories, and facilitate workshops for an organization or nonprofits that interest you.
• Familiarize yourself with systems and tools that are often used by scrum teams, including Miro, Trello, Jira and more. Ask a practicing scrum master or product owner what they use on a daily basis and then explore the free version of those tools if you can
• Find a way to practice scrum skills in your current role. For example try to facilitate your next meeting using scrum, offer to prioritize important tasks into a product backlog or take a stab at creating a product roadmap.

Related Article: How to Land a Scrum Master Job with No Experience  

3. Grow your network

We’ve all heard the saying, it’s not what you know, it’s who you know. We believe that what you know is extremely important, but so are the connections in your network who can alert you to new opportunities and make vital introductions. 

• Join a Scrum Alliance-sponsored User Group to meet scrum and agile practitioners in your area. You'll have an opportunity to discuss real-world issues and find solutions with practicing scrum masters, product owners, developers and agile coaches near you.
• Update your LinkedIn profile. Be sure you are connected to all your friends and former colleagues and that they know the type of position you’re looking for. Have you attended a scrum certification course? Consider adding your classmates as well.
• Consider publishing articles on LinkedIn about the continuing education you’re doing at Scrum Alliance and how you’re applying skills outside of the workplace. 

4. Consider certification 

Scrum Alliance is the gold standard for scrum certification. As the oldest and most-established certifying body in the agile space, we offer thousands of in-person and live-online courses around the globe. 

• According to one study, Certified ScrumMaster or CSM was mentioned nearly 6 thousand times in job postings in recent months. 

• Similarly, Product Owner was listed in LinkedIn’s Top Ten Most In-Demand Jobs for 2021.

5. Attend an agile event 

We're all about community and agile events are one of our favorite ways to foster connections. Events are also a one-stop shop for our first four suggestions above. You can learn a new skill, find ways to volunteer, network with peers and mentors, and learn about new certifications.

• Scrum Alliance sponsors and hosts multiple evens each year, including Regional Scrum Gatherings around the Globe. We also host two big Global Scrum Gathering events annually and publish event round-up articles in our resource library promoting other agile events. 

We're here to empower you with what you need to get the job and get the job done! For more scrum and agile resources to help you kickstart your career, subscribe to receive articles, case studies, webinars, and Practical Agility, a monthly roundup of agile resources to help you thrive.