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PSM Certification Guide

Let’s have a quick review first:

Provider: scrum.org
Number of questions: 80
Duration: 1 hour
Type of questions: multiple choice
(with one or more correct answers)
and true/false
Passing Score: 85% (yes, it’s really
high)
Open book: yes
Price: $150
Prerequisite: none
Needs renewal: no

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Now let’s have a closer look…

Is the PSM I certification worth investing?


Yes, it’s highly valued by the community, and rather inexpensive to get. In my opinion,
it’s the best certification for Scrum.

Pros of the PSM I exam


Questions are really high quality, unlike some other exams where, for
example, with questions that don’t make real sense, or don’t have any completely
correct answer to choose from.
It’s not as commercial as some other certifications: you don’t have to take
accredited courses, and self-study is accepted. Overall, it can be one of the least
expensive certifications you can aim for -if cost is an important factor for you.
You learn something really valuable when you try to pass this exam, unlike some
other certifications that only force you to memorize a large bunch of unrelated
topics.

Cons of the PSM I exam


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It’s hard to pass; 85% passing score is really high.
There’s no single resource that covers 100% of the things you need to know for
the exam. So, you’ll have to study many books, and still, you won’t be sure if you
know everything.
There are not many eLearning courses dedicated to this exam.

How to prepare for and pass the PSM I exam


The best way to pass the PSM I exam, is to completely learn the Scrum framework, and
deeply understand it. Memorizing doesn’t help. Having a deep understanding helps
you answer questions you’ve never seen before correctly. So, if you see “xyz should be
abc”, ask yourself why; ask what happens if it’s not that way; ask yourself how this rule is
connected to all other rules, and how they create a concrete whole.

You don’t need to reach mastery before taking your exam. Study enough, get
motivation by passing the exam and getting certified, and then continue learning.
Consider the certification as a milestone that shows you’ve successfully passed 20% to
30% of the way.

This is what I suggest for learning and passing the exam:

1. Overall understanding: if you’re not familiar enough with Scrum, start learning

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about it using simple material available on the net. Use YouTube, this free set of
Scrum training videos, the Scrum and XP from the Trenches ebook (free), Scrum
Awareness, One Step a Day email course (free), etc. Just remember that some of
the things you learn like this might not be 100% compatible with the PSM I exam.
Just use this step to gain the overall understanding.
2. Refining the knowledge: now it’s time to refine what you’ve learned. I suggest
this:
1. Download the Scrum Guide (free) and read it very carefully. You should
understand the reason behind every sentence; it’s not about memorizing. If
you can’t understand something, check it in the Scrum.org Forums, and ask
your question if you can’t find the answer in the existing topics. You can
usually receive precise answers from the regulars there.
2. Prepare a set of flashcards on Scrum responsibilities. It’s important to do it
yourself, instead of downloading it from somewhere. Use the Scrum Guide,
and the content in Scrum.org Forums for this. I usually suggest this step,
because more than 60% of the exam questions relate to roles and
responsibilities. Keep reviewing the cards on your mobile phone a few times
a day, and keep adding new cards when you learn more. Try to rationalize
for all answers instead of memorizing. My favorite software for managing
flashcards is Anki, and there are versions for various operating systems
including mobile phones.
3. Check out the list of books recommended by Scrum.org for the PSM I exam.

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You don’t have to read all of them; just pick a few that seem more interesting
to you and start learning from them.
4. (optional) Read the Scrum Master Training Manual (free).
5. (optional) Use an eLearning course. Some people prefer to use eLearning
courses; be careful to use one that is compatible with PSM I, if you’re
planning to.

3. Evaluate and fill in the gaps: don’t jump to this step before refining your
knowledge. Take your time, and when you feel ready, start evaluating yourself by
taking sample questions.
1. Use the free Scrum Open assessment for the evaluation. Check your wrong
answers with Scrum Guide and Scrum.org Forums and make sure you’ve
“learned” from it, instead of memorizing it. Repeat the assessment a few
times until you’re familiar with all the existing questions (unfortunately,
there are not many of them). Some of these questions show up in your actual
exam.
2. (optional) Use third-party sample exams. Be sure that the sample exam
is designed for the PSM I exam; for example, The PSM Simulated Exams
(sponsored link).

Tips and tricks for passing the PSM I exam


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Be careful with the words: sometimes you don’t pay enough attention to some of
the words, and answer the simplest of questions incorrectly. Always read the
question carefully, word by word. Also make sure you’ve read all the answer before
choosing the desired one. Let me give you some examples:
Be careful with questions containing “NOT”: some questions ask, for
example, “which of the following is NOT a characteristic of…”, and many
people forget about the “NOT”, and pick the wrong answer. You won’t
believe how common this is; so, be careful not to miss this keyword.
Be careful with multiple answer questions: some questions ask you to
choose multiple answers, and some people just don’t pay enough attention
and pick one answer. All multiple answer questions use check-boxes instead
of radio-buttons; get used to paying attention to this as a double check. It’s a
good idea to spend a few minutes at the end of the exam, going through all
the questions and only checking to see if you’ve picked multiple answers
where you needed.
Be careful with “should vs. could”: e.g the sentence “Product Owner could
attend the Daily Scrum” is true, while the sentence “Product Owner should
attend the Daily Scrum” is false. It’s not complicated, and you surely
understand it; just make sure you still pay attention to it under the exam
pressure.
Be careful with “attend vs. participate”: e.g. the sentence “Product Owner
can attend the Daily Scrum” is true, while the sentence “Product Owner can

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participate in the Daily Scrum” is false.

Forget your sinful past! If you have experience using Scrum, chances are high
you’re not doing it correctly; sorry to put it this way. Scrum.org asks you many
questions about the common wrong behaviors in Scrum projects, and that’s why
you should use your knowledge instead of what you’ve seen in the projects. The
following are some examples:
There’s no Sprint 0; also no hardening Sprint, integration Sprint, release
Sprint, planning Sprint, etc. All Sprints are the same.
Only the developers participate in the Daily Scrums.
There are no baselines in Scrum.
There’s always only one Product Backlog and one Product Owner, no
matter how many teams are working on the project.
There are no roles other than those three standard ones, and none of
them manage the rest.

Be brave! Yes, you know that, for example, the team should be self-organized. But
to what degree? For example, who should decide to exclude a developer from the
team? The team itself, the Product Owner or Scrum Master, the hiring manager,
another manager in the company? Trust what you’ve learned: the team should be
self-organized, and this is only limited by the authorities given to the Product
Owner and Scrum Master in the framework.
Don’t use miscellaneous sample Scrum questions: many of those questions are
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designed for other exams, and they are not necessarily compatible with PSM I. If
you want to use sample questions, only use those specifically designed for
supporting the PSM I exam.
Be focused: being focused on the exam is probably as important as studying for it.
How can you do this? It depends on you. If drinking coffee makes you nervous,
don’t drink it; if you’re a coffee addict like me, drink it a lot; take the exam in your
prime time (e.g. not in the morning when you’re not a morning person); take it in
a quite place; eat appropriately before the exam; etc.
Manage your time: most people find 60 minutes enough for the exam, while
about 20% of the candidates cannot spend enough time on all questions. Spend
your time appropriately on the questions; e.g. instead of stressing yourself and
spending a lot of time on a few hard questions at the beginning of the exam, just
mark them for the end and spend your energy and time on what you can do best.
Answer all questions: there’s no negative points for wrong answers. Just answer
everything.
Use at least two rounds: it’s much better if you review your answers at least once.
You need to manage your time accordingly.
Don’t worry about changing your answers: many people keep saying you
shouldn’t change your answers unless you’re really sure, and that your first
answer is usually right. This is a myth, and proven wrong by scientific research.
This “feeling” is caused by a cognitive bias, and you can safely change your
answers as you like, based on your reasoning instead of your guts. Just remember

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to manage your time properly.
Look it up when needed: the exam is open book, remember? Finding the right
answer to some questions is really time consuming, while if there’s a question like
“what’s the duration of Sprint Retrospective in a one-month Sprint?”, and for
some reason, you’re not sure if you remember it correctly, just look it up!
Don’t panic: the last thing you need is to panic. There’s a famous advice for
musicians: practice as if you’re performing, and perform as if you’re practicing.
Don’t think about the result in the middle of the exam, and don’t think about how
many questions you’ve probably missed; just focus on one question at the time,
and do your best. And by the way, if you were disconnected in the middle of the
exam, you can just go to the exam page and continue. Believe me, it has happened
to me when I was taking my exam. I lost 15 minutes trying to solve my internet
connection problem, but at least I could continue afterwards and pass the exam.
Don’t worry about anything during the exam.

Alternative Certifications
CSM, far more expensive, much easier to pass
ASF, covers more generic aspects of Agile besides Scrum, a little more expensive,
easier to pass
PMI-ACP, covers more generic aspects of Agile besides Scrum, far more
expensive
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AgilePM, focused on the Atern methodology instead of Scrum, far more expensive
PRINCE2 Agile, covers more generic aspects of Agile besides Scrum, far more
expensive

Other Study Guides for the PSM I exam


by Eduardo Rodrigues Sucena
by Elvis Hsu
by Manas Bhardwaj
by Derek Davidson
by Charles Bradley
by Krystian Kaczor
by Dominik Maximini
by Mikhail Lapshin
by Nagesh Sharma

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PRINCE2 is a registered trademark of AXELOS. PMP and PMBOK are registered trademarks of PMI.
PSM I and Professional Scrum Master are trademarks of scrum.org.

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