Interview Tips for Agile Roles: Scrum Masters, Product Owners, and Agile Coaches

Are You Aware that nearly 70 to 75 % of resumes get rejected during Initial Screening?

Isn't the above number is scary and indicating that something is wrong in the way we approach a job opening or a position? 

In this article, I am going to discuss what are the important tips for anyone who is appearing for an Agile role such as scrum master product owner, and Agile coach.

"Well Begun is Half Done" — Aristotle

As the above quote says, if we take care of a few important things before we approach any interview, then things could turn out our way. 

Let us try to understand in detail,  How one should go about moving towards an exciting, enriching, and learning  interview experience through these 4 key pointers highlighted below:

1. Your Resume

One's resume is the best statement that one can put forward highlighting your achievements, awards, roles played and Laurels received in your journey.  Your resume is your VISA/Entry document as a First Point entry into an organization.  

Being a part of the hiring team I would like to bring out a few contextual observations from my side for the agile roles

• Resume predominately refers to the role played as a traditional project manager, leader, business analyst instead of a scrum master, Agile coach, or product owner.
• The resume is too verbose and lengthy in nature (ideally would recommend a maximum of 2 pager resume irrespective of your total years of experience)
• The contents in the resume fail to articulate what is one is doing in Agile transformation. There are multiple inconsistencies in the text which contradict the Agile way of working (e.g., assigning tasks to team members or estimating on behalf of the team)

I am sure that the above tips, related to resume building, will help you at least get your resume shortlisted for an Agile role opening  

2. Interview Discussion

The next important phase is the actual interview discussion. Once the resume is shortlisted, you would be called for the actual interview discussion. This could be spread across multiple rounds, with multiple stakeholders trying to gauge and get an insight about your candidature, This is where the rubber hits the road.

A few important pointers to be noted here include:

• Consistency: Since multiple stakeholders would be having 1-1 or Many - 1 discussions with you, make sure the information presented & shared is consistent and not contradicting itself. e.g., many times I have observed that in one discussion a candidate says he/she played a role of a product owner in engagement  A, while in another discussion the candidate mentions he/she played the role of a scrum master  
• Proper articulation: In an interview, one needs to clearly articulate what exactly he/she was doing in an Agile transformation, What were the key challenges faced? How did you overcome those challenges? Key learnings. One important tip here from my side is life is not always rosy. Let us be candid and open and also share something that has not worked or failed or our coaching approach went awry. Failure story equally brings out curiosity and help interviewers understand you better.
  
• Blend real practical insights with theoretical knowledge: Most of us focus on theoretical aspects of our work area and quote heavily on the standard literature available on the subject (e.g., scrum guide, agile manifesto - values and principles, agile frameworks, agile glossary). However what's needed to demonstrate in an interview are real-time insights, how practically did we solve an issue? How did we bring out self-organization in our teams? How was product prioritization done in a real dynamic world? We need to showcase our unique story as an Agile leader in this discussion and blend it appropriately with the standard literature.

3. Highlight Your Story - Your Brand

This is the most important part of an interview. As Agile professionals, each one of us has a unique way of problem-solving, impediment resolution, coaching styles, and consulting approaches. It's like the role of a movie director and each director has his/her unique way of creating a motion picture.

A few pointers for this section are:

• Highlight what's so unique in your role 
• Contextualize your work/career experience to the interviewer
• Author your story before the interview and present it in the discussion.
• Use the visual thinking approach to highlight your points. Articulate your point through a visual board/whiteboard. A Picture is worth a thousand words.

4. Closing the Discussion on a Positive Note

The last part of any interview is a formal closure of the interview and is an equally important step in the process. 

A few important points to be considered here are:

• Get insight into the organization's Agile culture: Many times interviewers give an opportunity to ask candidates any questions to them. Use this opportunity to understand what the organization's Agile ecosystem is all about, What are the challenges they are facing, key client engagements from a domain perspective, internal and external Agile branding about the organization, any industry connect or conferences where the organization participated, etc. 
• Thank the interviewers: Make sure you end the interview by thanking all the panelists for the wonderful learning opportunity provided. Briefly summarize what you got in this discussion, What steps you are going to the in the future? (e.g., you might have come across an Agile concept or term which you were not aware of, inform them that you will try to learn about it and apply)

I am sure the above tips will help all of you appear in a better frame of mind for any Agile-related interview or discussion and in the long run help you GROW into an Agile leadership role. Looking forward to your feedback and suggestions on the same.