How to Pass the PSM II Scrum Master Certificate in 7 Days + Free Study Plan
Seven days after passing my PSM I exam, I took a shot at the more challenging PSM II certification. I passed with a score of 97%.
Here’s how the exams differ and how our co-ceo Adam Okruhlica prepared throughout the week.
Here's proof.
Background
Out of all the Scrum certifications, PSM certifications issued by Scrum.org are notoriously challenging. This makes them well-suited for Scrum Masters who seek recognition for their deep, practical understanding of Scrum.
My first encounter with the PSM tests was a good exercise in humility. Even with over a decade of experience managing software teams, I quickly discovered how many fine details I was letting slip by.
90 minutes, 30 questions (multi-choice, multi-answer, true/false).
Online, open-book.
Passing score: 85%.
How does PSM II compare to PSM I?
PSM II is much more unforgiving. The questions are still centered around the Scrum Guide, but every word matters now.
Answers to PSM I questions are typically explicitly stated in the Scrum Guide. PSM II requires a deeper level of understanding and tests you for the information implied by a word or a sentence from the guide.
PSM II questions are almost exclusively formulated as situations to be solved by the Scrum Master. While PSM I questions urge you to select the correct answer(s), PSM II relies much more on the “select X best answers” type of questions.
Expect some options to be only partially correct (or very subtly incorrect). Be sure to read and re-read the problem statement and the answers rigorously. The devil is always in the details.
My 7-day study plan:
01.
Read the Scrum Guide at least once a day, focusing on a different aspect each time.
I isolated one aspect or perspective I felt the least comfortable with and gave the Scrum Guide a thorough read focusing on it each day. My seven reads included:
Day 1: Focus on modalities (may, should, must); what do they imply?
Day 2: Read the Scrum Guide as a Developer. Try to embrace the role within the framework, imagining real-life situations and solutions.
Day 3: Focus on the three pillars of empiricism and how they are ingrained in the Scrum artifacts and events.
Day 4: Focus on Scrum values. How are they applied throughout the framework? What happens when a value is lacking?
Day 5: What can the Scrum Master do? Imagine them in real situations, influencing, shaping, or correcting.
Day 6: What’s not said and why? For example, there is no mention of “story points”. Why do you think that is?
Day 7: How does Scrum address specific real-life scenarios? Like unreliable external dependencies, research tasks, multiple stages of testing, etc.
02.
Read the Nexus Guide and the Kanban Guide for Scrum Teams and get a general idea.
To test my understanding, I devised various scenarios and figured out the solutions. The forums were also a great source of such questions.
03.
Read all the Scrum Master Learning Path materials on topics you’re not 100% comfortable with.
I focused on the Developing People and Teams and Evolving the Agile Organization sections. This is highly individual, though. The feedback you get from your practice exams is a good way to identify focus areas.
04.
Find 1 or 2 (audio-)books to listen to while commuting or before sleep.
A good book will help you imagine real scenarios. I tried to challenge myself to solve them before reading the answer from the book.
I chose Scrum — A Pocket Guide and Scrum Mastery and listened to/read them for 20–30 minutes daily before sleep.
Scrum.org has a nice Book section you can refer to.
05.
Do practice exams daily to find your weakest areas.
Empiricism mandates transparency, right? Knowing where you are with your knowledge is a great way to adapt your learning plan for the coming days.
I was solving 50–100 practice questions each day. Whenever my answer was incorrect (or I felt unsure), I saved a screenshot and looked up the topic. The following day, I went through the questions I had failed the day before to make sure I was confident in my answers.
My main sources for practice questions:
Ultimate Scrum Master (PSM I) Practice Assessment from thescrummaster.co.uk (paid, $12) — with more than 420 questions, this is a true gem.
Variety of Open Assessments from Scrum.org (free) — with fewer questions, they grew easy rather quickly.
06.
Do a dry run one day before the exam.
I used Ultimate Scrum Master (PSM II) Practice Assessment to simulate the exam. Their exam UI is very similar to the system used by the actual exam, which is a good thing. The questions are fairly representative as well.
I set up my environment like on exam day. Although the practice test had 40 questions (as compared to 30 in PSM II), my goal was to finish it within the 90-minute limit.
I also made sure to test my exam-day process during the practice test:
First run, reading and answering the questions. (30 minutes)
Second run, focusing on questions I marked as “unsure” (up to 2 minutes per question)
Final run — up to 5 minutes per question for the remainder of questions, fully leveraging the open-book policy.
Once finished, I was pleased to see my timer still had 30 minutes on it. Surprisingly, my score was also perfect, although I was genuinely unsure about 3–4 answers. This gave me enough confidence to sign up for the certification exam.
I took the certification exam the following day, well-rested. I did a 30-minute “warm-up” on a batch of sample questions to gain confidence.
The exam itself felt reasonably comfortable thanks to the rigorous preparation over the past week. However, I did need the full allotted time. With a score of 29/30 and a sigh of relief, I became a happy PSM II certificate holder.
What’s next? PSM III?
Humbled by the difference these seven days made to my understanding of Scrum, I decided not to pursue PSM III within the next 6–12 months.
I feel that I need to work on the depth of knowledge and confidence required to pass PSM III over the medium term as I keep applying Scrum in practice.
In the meantime, I aim to focus on the PAL certification. There are several opportunities to apply it within Panaxeo right now.
Hopefully, sharing my experience helped you in your own preparation. I wish you the best of luck during your own PSM II exam day! 🙂
Were Adam’s tips helpful? Follow Panaxeo on LinkedIn for more Agile knowledge bits!
