Early Sunday morning at 12:45am,
I emailed four of my LinkedIn connections who had both PMP and (CSM) certified
scrum master certifications asking them about CSM. I have done this instead of
sleep, because I have had things swirling in my head. I am also fed up of
potential employers asking me if my PMP certification the only certification;
or, if I am considering ITIL certification. This morning I got sick and tired
of being sick and tired! I was in a rut and had to get out of it.
When
I reawaked, three of the four connections responded. All three mentioned that
scrum was hot. Also one person recommended a book by scrum cofounder Jeff
Sutherland. After one sample chapter, I was enthralled finding the Crown
publishing larger sample chapters. Although I bought the paper book, I decided
not to wait until after 8pm in order to receive the information. That was the
best decision I made today because my paper book arrived at 8:30pm and I
finished reading and outlining the book at 9:30pm. Jeff Sutherland’s book took
you through Scrum’s past, present and future. The appendix was a goldmine
taking the reader through ten steps. Upon completing the book, I decide to take
the CSM exam. My business analysis background and IT project management helped
so much with this decision.
Once I decided
to earn CSM certification, I went to ScrumAlliance to check out the local
courses. Now although there was no eligibility criteria (like 4500 project
management hours for PMP with college degrees), those 2-day workshop prices
were sky high. $993 was the cheapest. Yikes! I just thanked God that I had the
money on my credit card. Another problem was timing. I got this CSM epiphany on
a Sunday. Three workshops started Monday so of course they were full. In
addition, another CSM workshop was filled for Thursday and Friday. My research
skills went into overdrive because I would not be denied this opportunity to
advance my career! I found some other courses but these companies straight up
lied about their locations. One in particular, had the unmitigated gall to say
Washington, DC but its workshop was happening in Sterling, Virginia at the
Dulles Spring Hill Suites. Look Dulles airport was far away in Virginia.
Washington, DC had National Airport. That company was trying to capture the
unsuspecting non-natives. It would not get me though! I did manage to find
another CSM workshop in Fairfax; but, I checked the map and saw it was near
George Mason University (or the boonies as a downtown Washingtonian would say).
I checked the address learning that it was off of the Vienna, Virginia metro
stop. Okay, cool. The orange line was manageable. The price was lower than the
$1300, $1650 and $1950 that I saw. I emailed the vendor for more accurate
address and information. And, with that, I was well on my way towards becoming
a certified scrum master.
