the agile job market: what job seekers and employers need to know

The Agile Job Market: What Job Seekers and Employers Need to Know

Angela Druckman

Agile Coach and Certified Scrum Trainer

[email protected]

Copyright ©2014 The Druckman Company. All Rights Reserved.

Please join us for final session of this webinar series!

Webinar #3: Enterprise Agile Coaching: Guiding Organizations through the Agile Transformation

And stay tuned at the end of this webinar to learn more about Angela’s new course Professional Agile Coaching®


About Angela

Angela Druckman is an agile coach and Certified Scrum Trainer. She specializes in Agile Transformation, helping teams and organizations all over the world improve their competitive position and effectiveness through agility. Whether working with tiny start-ups or Fortune 100 companies, Angela’s experience and guidance have helped her clients achieve extraordinary and measurable success with their agile practices. Angela is the author of 30 Days to Better Agile.

Follow up from the previous webinar

How do I get a signed copy of 30 Days to Better Agile? Is it available as a Kindle book? You can get a signed copy of my book directly from me – just

email me. You can find the Kindle version on Amazon

Can we connect with you on social media? Of course! – LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/pub/angela-druckman/4/337/3b7/ – Twitter: @AngelaDruckman

– Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AngelaDruckmanCST

I am in the job market, looking for a position as an agile coach. Can we stay in touch? Definitely! Consider joining my LinkedIn discussion group: Agile

Job Market: http://www.linkedin.com/groups/Agile-Job-Market-6627474?trk=my_groups-b-grp-v


http://www.linkedin.com/pub/angela-druckman/4/337/3b7/



https://www.facebook.com/AngelaDruckmanCST


http://www.linkedin.com/groups/Agile-Job-Market-6627474?trk=my_groups-b-grp-v














Overview


• How to assess the popular agile certifications, and what they really give you

• Key interview questions that both sides should be asking

• Surprising facts about which employers are (and are not!) truly agile

• Warning signs of “agile in name only”

• Finding the perfect match

Who is Doing Agile?

The short answer: everybody! And they all have different needs: • Late adopters need help getting started – and (often) help

catching up

• Current practitioners need help moving passed “advanced beginner” status

• “Second try” adopters need to the courage to start again

• Advanced practitioners need fresh perspective, techniques and ideas

• All organizations need to get the “right people on the bus”


A good match between agile employee and employer requires:

– Honesty

– Clarity about goals

– Awareness and acknowledgement of what you are “getting into”

– Recognition of the change required

– A plan that allows for development and growth on both sides


Agile Job Seekers – Getting Ready to Hit the Market • First question: should I get certified?

– Short answer: Yes!

• Is this controversial?

– Short answer: Yes!

Here’s why…


The Pros and Cons of Certification

Pro Certification

• You are exposed to valuable information

• You make excellent contacts for future opportunities

• You avoid the “missing a checkbox” problem


Anti Certification

• Certifications are no guarantee of on-the-job experience

• People can pass a test and still go out and do bad things

• Some certifications seem less about upholding standards and more about making the certifying organization rich

Choosing Your Certification(s)

• Start with broad market appeal

• As with college, choose a good instructor over a good course every time

• Read and evaluate the good and bad reviews

• Recognize every class has value (even if it teaches you what not to do)

• Always be looking to expand your skillsets (especially beyond the obvious)


The Interview – Organizational Speed Dating

At some point, you’ll be invited to ask questions. Here are some suggestions:

• How many teams do you have using agile practices right now?

• How many people have been to training? What kind of training?

• Tell me about your Product Owners…

• How do employees here feel about agile practices?

• Why did you decide to use agile practices in the first place? What were your goals?


Finding the Right Match

• Be clear about what you are looking for

• Decide how much of a project you are willing to take on

• Choose an organization that is a good energy match for you

• Be open-minded about who is agile

• Don’t be afraid to say “no thanks” – Remember: the top credibility booster for any agile coach is a list of

client success stories!


Searching for Ms/ Mr Right – Hiring the Right Candidate for Your Position

• Get clear on what you are looking for from your ScrumMaster, Product Owner, agile coach, etc

• Be honest about your current challenges

• Ask for specific examples

• Look for people who exhibit intrisic motivation – “What is something you did, just to see if it was possible?”

• Avoid the “golden unicorn” problem – Hire the employee you need, not the one you wish you were ready for


Agile in Name Only Warning signs that your candidate/ potential employer may be using “agile” as just another buzzword:

• “A ScrumMaster’s job is to run meetings and push the team to perform”

• “In my last job I served as a combined ScrumMaster/ Product Owner”

• “As a Product Owner, it is my job to make sure all the stakeholders agree on priority”

• “We’re doing our own ‘hybrid agile’. You will need to learn our system to be successful here”

• “Wanted: ScrumMaster/ Project Manager”


Finding That Perfect Match • Both job candidates and employers must:

– Know their own strengths and weaknesses

– Understand that we can influence and guide others but no one can “make” another person change

– Choose attitude over skill every time


Professional Agile Coaching®

• An overview of common agile practices and when each is appropriate to use

• Assessing your experience level as a coach • Choosing the right client • Making an initial assessment of a client’s agile readiness • Developing an agile toolkit • Creating working agreements • Tying agile practices to business value • Tailoring your message – how to get everyone from team

members to executives excited about agile • Coaching across cultures • Dealing with conflict • Growing your skillset as an agile coach • Building and promoting your coaching practice

Join me for this exciting new course that will further your career as an agile coach. You’ll learn:

Contact us for dates and availability in your area!

Your Agile Coaching Questions

Given everything we have talked about today, what additional questions about agile coaching

do you have?


• We will send directions to collect the PDU you will earn from attending this webinar

• We will also send a links to the recorded webinar and presentation slides once they are posted online

For more information, visit www.cprime.com

After the Webinar

Thank You!


Let’s stay in touch: • LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/pub/angela-

druckman/4/337/3b7/ • Twitter: @AngelaDruckman • Facebook:

https://www.facebook.com/AngelaDruckmanCST • Email: [email protected] • 30 Days to Better Agile is available through

Amazon.com and also directly through me






mailto:[email protected]

the agile job market: what job seekers and employers need to know

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