What is Agile Project Management & Top 5 Project Management Certifications?

Agile Methodology has evolved to be an excellent methodology in recent years and the individuals who have taken the certification courses have gained great experience and salary packages across the globe. Singapore is one of the world's best information technology hubs and has immense opportunities for professionals who have practical knowledge and experience in Agile. The place has a plethora of opportunities for individuals who have significant knowledge about any of the popular Agile frameworks that the companies over there are implementing on. 

Individuals all across the world should pursue at least of the best Agile Project Management certifications to dive into a deeper knowledge of Agile. Careers in Agile also give the chance for the professionals to network throughout the world and find better job opportunities in terms of salary, incentives, career interests, etc. In this article, we discuss the five best Agile project management certification that any professional could go after and have a successful career ahead of them. 

Best Agile Certification courses

Agile Methodology has many opportunities in various frameworks that are used in several industries such as banking and finance, construction, etc. It all depends on the individual about which field they are interested in and what they want to go after in the industry. However, let's narrow down the courses to a few that are highly demanded in the market and what the top companies are looking for. Here are five of the Agile project management certification courses that individuals should consider if they are looking for a career in Agile Project management. 

1. Certified ScrumMaster Certification (CSM)

The certified ScrumMaster certification is one of the most well-recognized certification courses in the market. A ScrumMaster is a servant leader that guides a team to build complex products such that they build it creatively and productively. Top companies look for ScrumMaster as they are slowly transitioning towards the Agile Methodology. With Agile adoption, Scrum remained one of the most implemented frameworks among many organizations. The best person who can bring about changes in the organization and educate everyone about the Scrum values and principles is the ScrumMaster. By understanding how much ScrumMasters are in demand from reputed companies, the CSM course is one of the best Scrum certification courses that are out there in the market. 

Demand and Career growth for CSM Professionals

According to LinkedIn, the role of the ScrumMaster remained one of the top 15 emerging courses in the previous year. Hence, as Agile companies expand and grow all across the world, the demand for ScrumMaster is also exponentially increasing. The CSM course helps the entry-level individuals to perform at their highest level. Companies looking for skilled professionals in the areas of Scrum and Agile are likely to notice applicants who have completed a Certified ScrumMaster course. The demand for ScrumMaster is not only in Singapore, it is all across the world. Hence, a CSM course could prove beneficial for individuals in the long run. 

The career path of the individuals after taking the CSM course highly varies depending on the interests of the professional. It also depends on the current market situation, their location, and several other factors. A ScrumMaster can further take up the A-CSM course after one year of experience. They could work with multiple teams, become Agile coaches, become product owners, or simply remain a ScrumMaster by taking up more challenging and complex products for the Scrum team. 

Benefits of CSM course

• Gaining a higher salary package along with many incentives.
• Working in a top organization that offers many networking opportunities. 
• Becoming a member of the Scrum Alliance where professionals can interact with Scrum experts all over the world.
• Having a reputation in the organization and becoming a well-respected member of the organization.
• Taking the initial step towards a greater future ahead as a ScrumMaster and gaining knowledge about the Scrum framework. 

Who can attend?

This course is ideally suited to the following individuals:

• Team Leaders
• Product Managers
• Development Team Members
• Software Engineers
• Project Managers
• Business Analysts
• Testers
• Software Architects
• Product Owners
• QA managers
• Anyone interested in a career as Scrum Master

Process of CSM certification

Taking up the CSM certification is one of the easiest processes as compared to any other Agile project management courses. The individual has to find the best-registered education provider who offers the CSM certification. After registering, the participant has to attend a face-to-face course trained by the Certified Scrum Trainer (CST) or receive private coaching from a Certified Agile Coach. (CAC). As for the current situation, there are also options for the online training from the comfort of their home. The candidates have to take the 14 hours online class or 16 hours of an in-person class, or 25 hours of private coaching to complete the course. The candidate will receive a mail from the Scrum Alliance after completion of the course and has to attend the MCQ test for getting the CSM certification. There are 50 MCQ questions available in 13 languages. To pass the test, 37 out of 50 questions should be answered correctly within 1 hour. After passing the test, the participant receives the CSM certification through their mail which has to be renewed every two years by earning 20 Scrum Educational units and paying $100.

2. Advanced- Certified ScrumMaster Certification (A-CSM)

The Advanced-Certified Scrum Master certification is for individuals who have gained an ample amount of knowledge after working as a ScrumMaster. The course enhances their knowledge of Scrum and teaches various tools and techniques required for a ScrumMaster to process smoothly. The candidate has to look at the certification as the next step to enhance their career and growth in the market. The real-world problems of ScrumMasters, hands-on experiences, and much other important knowledge on Scrum required for the ScrumMaster are taught through the Advanced Certified ScrumMaster certification. 

Demand and career growth for A-CSM Professionals 

The demand for ScrumMasters is one of the largest job demands in the current market. Top companies and reputed organizations only want individuals who have an excellent hold on Scrum and share equal knowledge about the technical and managerial role that ScrumMasters have to carry on. Recruiters from top companies always look for people who have a higher knowledge about Scrum that any other candidates present. The A-CSM certification flaunts to the world that the individual possessing it has an advanced level of knowledge that their peers. Also, the candidates can perform well as they have experience and also knowledge from the A-CSM course. The ever-growing demand for Advanced certified Scrum Masters in top companies is never-ending. Hence, participants who want to grow in their careers and become more than what they are today should opt for the Advanced Certified Scrum Professional certification. The A-CSM can also take on multiple teams to work with and along with it can share their knowledge about Scrum with their peers and other members of the organization as an Agile coach. Also, the career growth after the A-CSM course is high and candidates can go after their interests or the current job trends to grow in their career.

Benefits of A-CSM course

• Opportunity to choose from the top companies and practice as an Advanced Certified ScrumMaster
• Getting the recognition and status in the organization as a Scrum expert
• Higher salary benefits and more incentives by working for the best Agile organizations.
• Priority over other candidates during recruitment as the A-CSM certification stands out.
• Becoming an active member of the Scrum Alliance and networking with Scrum experts worldwide.

Who can attend?

The A-CSM certification course could be pursued by candidates who have completed a CSM course and have at least one year of experience working as a ScrumMaster. After the A-CSM course, the candidates could further pursue the Certified Scrum Professional- ScrumMaster certification course and become a high level of Scrum professional in their organization. 

Process of becoming an A-CSM professional

To take up the A-CSM course, a professional should have first completed the CSM course and worked as a ScrumMaster for at least one year after completing the CSM course. If this requirement is met, the candidate has to enroll for the A-CSM course under a registered education provider. After enrollment, the candidate has to complete the pre, and post-work along with all the educator-designed components so that they finish the course. The Scrum Alliance membership should be completed and the A-CSM license agreement should be accepted by the candidate as they receive the A-CSM certification. The participant has to work as a ScrumMaster for one year to validate the A-CSM certification.

3. Certified Scrum Product Owner Certification (CSPO)

If a professional is interested in the business side of the projects, becoming a Product Owner is one of the best choices for them in the Agile Project management world. The Certified Scrum Product Owner course is a certification for individuals who like to deal with clients and share more enthusiasm with the product itself. They are dedicated to making the product flawless and as needed for the customer and the market. Also, the PO's communicate with the customers and the development team so that the product they create could generate a suitable amount of revenue for the company. The CSPO certification is a stepping stone for an individual to understand the business in the Agile world and also discover many opportunities in the market.

Demand and Career growth for CSPO Professional

The high demand in the job opportunities of a Product Owner has led top companies to offer competitive salaries to professionals with a CSPO certification. With Agile organizations rapidly expanding, a Product Owner is a primary requirement for any company to run smoothly and help them by maximizing the business value of the organization. Hence, the demand for a Product Owner who has immense knowledge about Scrum and all the values and skills is inevitable. The career opportunities for a Product Owner is also abundant. While starting, the individual can work with a specific team with a product that would more likely succeed. And as they get more experienced, the PO has to take up more challenges and work with complex products and with clients that are harder to anticipate. With the experience gained, the Product Owner can work with multiple products and multiple teams, and can also act as an Agile coach after sufficient training. Also, the PO always has the option to pursue the Scrum Master course if they enjoy the process of product development than the product itself. Hence, further courses such as the A-CSPO are also options for CSPO professionals who want to take their career further and gain more career growth opportunities. 

Benefits of CSPO Course

• Competitive salaries and higher incentives than other members of the organization
• A highly respective individual in the organization
• Gaining business knowledge about the product and teaching them to others
• Networking with individuals worldwide with the Scrum Alliance membership.
• More career growth options once started with the CSPO course.

Who can attend?

• Developers
• Software testers
• Architects-software development
• Managers of software development
• Product managers
• Project managers
• Team members and team leads who are interested in learning Scrum. 

Process of CSPO certification

The candidate who wants to gain a CSPO certification has to first enroll themselves in the course with a registered education provider. Once enrolled, they have to attend a face-to-face course that is instructed by a Certified Scrum Trainer or get educated by private coaching from Certified Agile Coach. The online classes are about 14 hours, the in-person training with CST is 16 hours, and the private Agile coach teaching is about 25 hours. There are no prerequisites for this course and also no exams to be written to get the certification. After completing the course, the participant needs to accept the license agreement and complete the Scrum Alliance profile. After this, the individual receives their CSPO certification which has to be renewed every two years by providing Scrum Educational Units and $100.

4. Advanced-Certified Scrum Product Owner certification (A-CSPO)

The Advanced-Certified Scrum Product Owner certification is a course for professional Product Owners who are looking to enhance their career and move up their career ladder. It is one of the top agile certifications as Product Owners are a few of the most reputed individuals in the industry. Top companies only employ the best Product Owners in the market and having an advanced CSPO certification surely builds respect for the individual. The course enhances the vision of participants and helps them make impactful products that would make their products unique in the market. Several skills that are used by the best Product Owners are taught in the certification that would help the candidates to take their companies to the next level. The A-CSPO course helps the individuals to maximize their business value and also teaches them many techniques to manage business initiatives, customers, users, and the market.

Demand and Career Growth for A-CSPO Professionals

With technology enhancing in the present day, there are many competitors to any domain of industry. Everyone wants to be at the top of the game and become the best organization in the present market and most importantly become a profitable industry. Hence, the organization needs people who can maximize the products that are built by the developers and also someone to interact with the customers and help them increase their revenue. Product Owners are the professionals whose job specifically employs all of these roles to be completed. But in the race of becoming the best, the companies in today's world only want the best to work with them. Hence, the recruiters of such top companies look for professionals that are well-versed in the business side of the products and can market them to get the best value out of it. A-CSPO professionals are considered to be senior in terms of the knowledge and skills possessed as compared to the CSPOs. Hence, the demand for A-CSPOs is growing rapidly among top organizations that need the best for their organization. Also, after the candidate has completed the A-CSPO course, they can take on more challenges at work by taking more complex products and working with more teams. Along with this, the Certified Scrum Professional- Product Owner is an excellent course that an A-CSPO qualified professional can pursue to enhance their career and gain more knowledge about more products. 

Benefits of A-CSPO certification

• Best salary packages with enhanced incentives
• Being prioritized when applied for top companies
• Networking with Scrum experts all across the globe with the Scrum alliance membership
• Being recognized as a product expert in the organization
• Opening options for more career opportunities as a CSP-PO and moving on to become a Certified Scrum Trainer or an Agile Coach.

Who can attend?

The A-CSPO certification course could be pursued by candidates who have completed a CSPO course and have at least one year of experience working as a Product Owner. After the A-CSPO course, the candidates could further pursue the Certified Scrum Professional- Product Owner certification course and become a high level of Scrum professional in their organization. 

Process of becoming an Advanced-Certified Scrum Product Owner

As mentioned, to become an A-CSPO professional, the candidate has to complete the CSPO certification and should have worked as a Product owner for at least one year. After meeting the requirement, the candidate should enroll in the A-CSPO course from a registered education provider who is affiliated with the Scrum alliance. After enrollment, the candidate has to complete the pre, and post-work along with all the educator-designed components after finishing the 2-day course so that they complete the course. The Scrum Alliance membership should be completed and the A-CSPO license agreement should be accepted by the candidate as they receive the A-CSPO certification. The participant has to work as a ScrumMaster for one year to validate the A-CSPO certification.

5. SAFe Agilist Certification

Most of the organizations in today's fast-paced world work with teams that are collaborative and large and have to communicate with each other even if they are located in different geographical areas. In such cases, Agile has to work across enterprises to bring the benefits of faster delivery, and better quality products, along with faster customer response queries. Scrum Framework may not be able to deliver in such scenarios as it is designed for smaller teams. In such cases, organizations employ the Scaled Agile framework and look for experts who specialize in the Scaled Agile Framework (SAFe). The SAFe Agilist certification is an excellent course for individuals to get started with SAFe and gain knowledge about all the skills and practicals that are essential for working in that company. Candidates gain knowledge about handling alignments, collaboration, and delivery of multiple teams that would lead to the success of the enterprise. 

Demand for SAFe Agilist Professionals

The SAFe Agilist certification is one of the benchmarks for enterprises that function on the Lean-Agile principles. The value and career opportunities of the participant widens when they opt for this course. As more organizations are expanding across the globe, SAFe promises to run the process of complex product development smoothly and tackles all the hassle that the organization faces while using any other software frameworks. The Scaled Agile Framework is considered to be one of the most adopted enterprise Agile approaches and hence, the job professionals that are trained in these frameworks have a high demand in the market. SAFe is on a constant rise throughout the world, and making a career in it would lead to immense amounts of growth. After completing the course, candidates could prefer more courses in SAFe more specific to their domain or also could do courses that they are interested in the field. Career growth depends on the individual and how they handle the work and learn from the course and experience. A stable career is expected and growth opportunities in this field are also abundant.

Benefits of SAFe Agilist Certification

• Bring about the transformation in organizations and educate people about the Scaled Agile Framework
• High salary and many incentives by working in global and top Agile companies.
• Grabbing more career opportunities and stepping on the career ladder
• Keeping updated with the changes in the market 
• Gaining access to the Scaled Agile framework platforms and networking with professionals all across the globe.

Who can attend?

• Quality Analysts and developers
• Leaders and executives
• Portfolio Managers, Process leads, and PMO
• Project and Program managers
• Infrastructure management personnel
• Product and Product line managers
• The solution, System, and enterprise architects.

Process to become a Certified SAFe Agilist

The first step to becoming a certified SAFe Agilist is to find the best-registered education provider and look through all the benefits they offer with the course. After enrolling in the course, the candidates should take the two-day learning SAFe course instructed by the SAFe Program Consultants (SPCs). After successful completion, Scaled Agile sends the exam information that has to be completed after the course. The participants should take the one and half hour online exam that consists of 45 MCQs. A minimum of 35 questions out of 45 questions should be answered correctly to pass the SAFe Agilist test. After passing the exam, SAFe Agilist will send the certification along with the one-year membership with Scaled Agile. The certification has to be renewed every year.

Conclusion

Choosing the right Agile Project Management course could be a tedious job. However, now that the best Agile project management course is known, a deeper understanding of all the courses would help individuals realize what they are interested in. If the person is interested in the process of the product development rather than the product, then the job of a ScrumMaster may be suited to them, and if they like the product, they could become a Product Owner. As Agile has evolved in recent years and continues to expand, a career in Agile Project management would be one of the best careers out there in the Information technology industry. Also, choosing the best course in Agile would help professionals to map out their careers and make better career goals and achieve them in the future. 

Useful Links:

, Leading SAFe Course, CSM Skillsfuture Claim Process, Design Thinking And Innovation For Business Certification Training, Certified Scrum Product Owner Certification, Certified Scrum Product Owner Certification Training