Since Scrum is becoming more and more a basic requirement, a Scrum certification might come helpful when applying for a job. And for that, there’s not a better candidate than PSM1 in the market. So in this post, I will present to you the best tips to tame the beast, and get more than 85% in the PSM exam.

1. Have a general knowledge about Scrum, and Agile using video platforms like Youtube : Nothing new here. Most of you start by doing that when trying to learn something new in the era of Youtube.
2. Read the Scrum guide (in english is a plus !) : Reading the Scrum Guide over and over will give you a basic understanding of Scrum. You can find it in the official website of Scrum Guides. You can start first by reading it in your native language (In my case, it was french), but it’s a must to read it after in english since the exam is in english. This will help you familiarize yourself with the terms and expressions used in the exam. Ah ! Don’t be fooled by the length of the document (14~17 pages), this document is written in a dense manner, making every sentence on it important.
3. Read the manual provided by Management Plazza : Management Plazza is a 3rd party company that provides training to get the PSM1/PSM2 certification. While the training is not free, the manual is accessible for free in their website. In my case, reading it gave me a deeper understaning of Scrum, and was kind of crucial for me to get the certification. Beware, this manual is not accurate in some points, so reading only this manual will not be sufficient to prepare for the exam ! You will still have to read and reread the official scrum guide.
4. Start some practice, and take the open assessments : You will find open assessments on the scrum.org official website. Many of their questions can be found in the exam. So practice, until you get 100% in the open assessments. The exams are generated randomly, so make sure you take the exams a couple of times to see the maximum of questions.
5. Have some “Extra Scrum Guide” notions; scaled Scrum, Scrum of scrums, burnup charts : While it is not necessary to know these notions to pass the exam, it’s good to know nevertheless. So try to look up these words on google, and read about them.
6. Take exams found on the internet : A lot of websites and articles will advise not to do that, but honestly, this helped me a lot with the exam, since I found a lot of questions of the official exam on those exams. Some of them are free, like the one made by Mikhail Lapshin, and some are paid, like the one made by Boston Agile Training.
7. And last, take the exam : Reread the official scrum guide another time, and take the exam. And like any exam, try to manage your time, you have only 1 hour for 80 questions, and no time limit for a particular question.

I hope this helps you on your Scrum journey. Good luck! Leave a comment and let me know how you get on !