“minimum 2 years of experience as a Scrum Master”
“5+ experiences as Agile Coach”
Should experience be measured in years? Does it make sense?
Many times I have encountered the phenomenon of Scrum Master with several years of experience who is as dumb as an ox. He works schematically, he does not understand what he is doing, and the only thing he can do is implement Zombie-Scrum by imposing his will on the team like Project Manager.
On the other hand, I know many cases where someone with several months of experience as a Scrum Master has a natural talent for this role. He works with sensitivity and a coaching attitude, forcing the team to reflect on its way of acting. He works for the team and with the team to improve it in working more and more efficiently for the product.
Since the quality of a Scrum Master does not depend on years of experience, why do recruiters use a non-working measure? If the recruiter is not a specialist in a given field, such a measure is the only way for him to compare the candidates. Is it wrong? No, if the comparison is made with the awareness of its flaws.
Why shouldn’t experience be measured by years? First of all, because just experiencing a situation does not conclude the future. Where does experience come from?
- undergo — we are in some situation
- go thru — we go through it
- reflection — we analyze it and draw conclusions
Reflection builds experience.
The speed of gaining experience depends on the possibility of carrying out conscious analysis and reflection on events. From this point of view, we will quickly come to the most interesting conclusion: an interview with a Scrum Master with a short experience is worth doing. If he is developed despite his limited seniority, it means that he can reflect effectively on what he is doing. Isn’t this the quality that we are most looking for in Scrum Masters to be suitable to work with the team?
What’s more: since reflection gives us experience, analytical skills allow us to build experience even from other people’s experiences. This is why Scrum Masters carry out so many additional activities outside of work.
Recruiters: Don’t turn people off because of the short time working on their resumes. Talk to them. It’s worth it. They are often the best.