Are Scrum Master Certifications Worth Your Time and Money?
By: Jennilyn Felismino
Tags: Careers, Programming, Startup, Scrum, Agile

Possible Advantages of Obtaining Certification

For any profession, it takes a considerable amount of time and commitment to work for a qualification. You’ll need to sort out the pros and cons when making any decision.

Is it worth putting in all the effort and money? Consider these advantages of gaining a Scrum certification and assess if you can maximize the benefits in your case.

Gives you an edge over the competition

One of the benefits of being certified is that it helps you to stand out from other applicants at the entry level. Certifications are typically more important the earlier you are in your career — especially if you are switching to a new career. The right certification programs are an easier, simpler, and cheaper way to learn the basics compared to a college degree program.

The competition is often tough during the recruiting process. If you have a certification and the other applicants do not, you are at a definite advantage.

Helps you stay marketable

Who do employers want to recruit? At the end of the day, everyone wants to do business with the most competent and trustworthy candidates. When you have certifications to back up your expertise and an understanding of the framework, you are miles ahead of people who do not have the same credentials.

A survey of 400 HR and L&D practitioners was conducted in August 2019 in the United States. The goal of the study was to assess the value of IT certifications in the country. The results were published in Statista by Arne Hoist in June.

According to the report, 63% of the U.S. businesses surveyed that considered themselves to be advanced in terms of understanding and utilizing technology recognized IT certificates to be very valuable in their recruitment process.

Rating of value of IT certifications for validating skills and supporting hiring process in United States as of 2019

Helps increase personal and professional credibility

One of the side benefits of certifications is that it helps you demonstrate your dedication, motivation, and commitment to professional development. It sets you up as a continuous learner.

Being able to add a certification to your name or resume helps you build your brand and shows potential clients that you are credible. While you don’t actually have to devote yourself to obtaining a certification just for this purpose, it’s definitely a good way to back up your experience.

A scenario was presented in the article entitled Work experience vs. certifications -what do employers look for? written by Linda Leung on Network World.

In the scenario, there are three people applying for the position of Network Technician/Administrator. Applicant 1 has more than ten years of experience as an admin but no certification. Applicant 2 has more than five years of experience as an admin with CompTIA’s A+, Network+, Security+, and Server+ certifications. Applicant 3 has one year of experience as a network technician and holds NT 4 MCSE + Internet certifications.

The challenge is to determine who is most likely to be hired based on the opinion of a few recruitment consultants.

Applicants 1 and 2 are seen as being in the role by Karen Person, Regional Managing Director of (coincidentally) Texas for Spherion. She said:

“We are finding more clients are looking for people who have experience in similar [IT] environments. Additionally, the right fit from a culture perspective is important … candidates who know how to work well within the unique environment of the company and the specific team. Team/peer interviews are playing a major role in hiring decisions today.”

James Del Monte, President of Houston staffing firm JDA Professional Services, also shared his opinion:

“Having formal education or certification is always better than not having it. It shows that there is a base line of knowledge and gives comfort to those who may not have the technical skills to truly qualify a candidate’s technical ability. Having relevant experience is always better than no experience. So the ideal person has the formal training required for the position as a base line and enough experience to do the job.”

Potential employers not only value certification or experience but also the ability to fit into the culture of an organization.