If “How do I become a Scrum Master?” is the question I hear the most, then “How do I prepare for a Scrum Master interview?” is right up there with it.
I will share with you questions I have actually asked in recent interviews and the thought process behind them.
Tell me about yourself.
This is my standard way of getting conversation flowing and listening to what the candidate chooses to share about themselves. I’m interested in hearing more about their experience, how they became interested in being a Scrum Master, and why they want this role at this company. I want to know what makes them unique.
Tell me about Scrum.
This is a deliberately vague question to see how they respond. Some candidates will ask clarifying questions – “What about Scrum would you like to know and why?” Some may talk about the background and history of Scrum and Agile. Others jump immediately to reciting the roles and events of Scrum. This question checks your approach to establishing an effective shared understanding of Scrum with another person.
Tell me about the Scrum values.
I expect candidates to know what they are and give examples of what they look like in action.
What’s your favorite Agile principle?
Same as above, I expect candidates to know what these are in what they look like in practice.
How do you measure your success as a Scrum Master?
I’m listening for the candidate’s description of what a successful Scrum Master looks like. And if they have the ability to articulate the value of having a Scrum Master and their impact on the organization.
How would you work with an organization that doesn’t understand Agile and Scrum?
I’m looking for any example of when a candidate has helped some group of people arrive at a shared understanding of a concept. It doesn’t even really matter if it’s Agile and Scrum, though it’s great if it is. As a Scrum Master, you are constantly running into people, teams, and organizations that have no idea what they’re doing. Or, worse, they will vehemently argue that they do know exactly what they’re doing because they have unique needs as an organization and what you’re proposing just won’t work for them. I need to know how you’re going to handle that.
Organization-specific questions
I will ask a couple questions to determine how a candidate might meet an organization where it’s at. For example, if I’m in an organization where teams might need technical coaching, I might ask the candidate about their technical experience. Any demonstration of anything vaguely technical or a willingness to learn or think technically is what I’m looking for. I don’t care if you know how to pair program; I want to know if you can recognize when it might be needed. Or I might ask someone to tell me about the role of a Product Owner when the organization needs more PO support. I might ask them about their favorite music if it’s at a company in the music industry. These questions vary wildly.
What questions do you have for me?
I expect you to ask something. Anything. Preferably something that demonstrates you’re seriously considering what your might life be like in this position. Ask me the biggest challenges we’re facing in this role/teams/organization/company. Ask me what I like about my job. What I don’t. Ask me what hours I work. What a typical day is like. Who I interact with. Who your manager will be and what they’re like. How many meetings I’m in. The role’s growth path. Tools we use. The organization’s Agile maturity. If you see yourself in this job, there are many things you are wondering about it and I will always answer honestly. I’m not here to sell you on anything. I want you to be fully informed before making a decision. And if you don’t ask questions, you won’t be.
As someone who often gets to be on both sides of interviews, I’m lucky to be able to learn from my experiences, good and bad.
Next week, I’ll turn the tables and answer these questions myself.
You can decide if I got the job. 🙂
Photo by Eric Prouzet on Unsplash
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