Since I’m a transparent person, I’ll share my experience thus far with intending to apply to become a Certified Scrum Trainer. This process is quite intense. I both appreciate this and am starting to abhor it all at the same time. At the core, you have to have Scrum & training experience.
What’s been the easiest:
- Creating the course (tons of work but I very much enjoy this and will get to use the result) – I’m super excited!
- Getting recommendations (I’m asking for references from people inside and outside of Scrum Alliance) – a number of well respected trainers have co-trained, been trained, or observed me training. I created a list of people, emailed and waiting on letters back.
What’s been extra work but completely worth it:
- I needed 10 SCRUM specific multi-day trainings (that I could prove), which meant opportunities to co-train with people (for learning about my training approach, materials, etc). In my case, I had to coordinate 4 additional trainings with 4 different people. This also meant, customizing my materials to meet their needs or using their materials. The hardest part is finding time to fit them all into your schedule!
What’s been the least enjoyable:
- The sheer volume of paperwork required. I get it, you have to verify quality in candidates but I can’t help wondering if the amount of time it is taking me to dig through years of emails, etc to find ratings, materials, dates, etc. and the amount of time it will take for you to read all of this…wouldn’t it be better for me just to give the two day course and have someone from Scrum Alliance attend? I see the downside of only one person making the decision but there are ways around that too. It physically and mentally hurts me to be creating this much documentation that I won’t ever use again.
- I’ve been told multiple times, that many people are rejected the initial time. I imagine this is to help set expectations of the probability of rejection but personally I find it demotivating, especially when it comes to writing this amount of documentation.
My original target to submit is December of 2016 – to be considered/interviewed in May of 2017. There is a slim chance (pending I can get through the documentation and co-trainings) that I will make the June deadline – to be considered/interviewed in October of 2016. Fingers Crossed!!
What’s stopping you from considering to become a CST?
Many of my concerns are the same you have mentioned here, the massive amount of documentation. I have been training classes in the company for over four years, so I have trained the number of classes, etc. I have a BA in Education, so none of that scares me at all. It is just getting all the T’s crossed and I’s dotted.
I am also put aback by the need for a mentor. Where I am, there are no local CSTs, and the closest I think is a couple hours away at the least. I hate to put someone I don’t even know out by asking them to be my mentor.
My final concern is will I be able to put the training to good use. I know I will train plenty more people within my company, but is there a need for any other trainings in my area? Will it be worth the costs?
I appreciate your putting yourself out there Tricia. I really enjoy reading your blogs. Thank you!!
Yes, the “mentor” aspect is challenging too. I’m traveling to several cities to co-train but at least I already knew these individuals. The time commitment on both sides is less in this situation yet still challenging.
Thanks for sharing!
Tricia