Tag: FAQ

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Transitioning from QA Analyst to Scrum Master

I had another great question from someone on LinkedIn and I thought I’d share it and my answer here.

I would like advice on career advancement in Software Development and becoming a Scrum Master. Currently, I am a QA analyst and was wondering is it a smooth transition for someone with that skill set?

Congratulations on wanting to become a Scrum Master! Yes, I think it would be a relatively smooth transition for a QA Analyst to become a Scrum Master. I’ve actually seen several QAs become Scrum Masters and several Scrum Masters take on the extra duties of QA to assist the team when they need it.

As a QA Analyst, I’ll presume you’re one of the last steps in the development process before things are approved to merge into the master branch and/or deploy to production. As you’re already the final say in the definition of the task being done, it’s not a big step towards helping the team adhere to their overall Definition of Done.

You also already have a solid set of skills with creating and following a test plan. That easily expands to following the Scrum process and helping to enforce it both in the team as well as with the product owners. The hardest part (in my opinion) is keeping the external influences at bay to allow the team to focus on their current Sprint.

The hardest part of your transition is probably going to be actually getting the job. The easiest way would be to try and move within your current company. You already know your way around, and they know you (which is hopefully a good thing on both sides!) If there’s another Scrum Master there, pair up with them, learn from them, and ultimately get a team of your own to work with.

A brief side note: Many organizations now I’m finding are starting to merge the Scrum Master in with a Project Management role. They think that they can have one person do all of it. Sometimes you can, but most times I think it’s best to have these roles separate.

While you’re doing all that, I’d look into becoming a Certified Scrum Master. It’s usually a two-day class and it covers everything you’ll need to get your feet wet. From there try practicing Scrum on some small projects at home. It’s a little unusual to clean your house using Scrum, but it will help you see how to break the tasks down as well as estimate times and determine what Done means. Then on your interviews, while you may be “green”, you can discuss how you’ve been utilizing it in areas other than IT. It shows that you have a clear understanding of how to utilize Scrum processes in any scenario. The best and worst thing I ever did was teach my wife Scrum…

I hope that helps some and I haven’t rambled too badly. If you have any other questions, don’t hesitate to reach out to me.

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How Important is a Degree?

I was recently contacted on LinkedIn by someone looking for advice and they had a very good question.

I was wondering how important is it to have a degree from a distinguished college in the field of IT?

The importance of a degree is somewhat up in the air. I personally don’t have a degree in any software or IT field. However I do have a Masters in Electrical Engineering and a Bachelors in Physics, so there is at least the assumed logic solving abilities in that combination.

There’s really three levels on this, and it all depends on the employer and hiring manager:

  • I have found that some places will place emphasis on having a specific degree as they are literally looking to check off as many boxes as they can for a candidate check list and only interview those who fit 90-100% of the criteria.
  • Other companies look at if you have a any type of degree coupled with some experience. The thought there is that any 4 year degree gives you some credibility in to completing a long term commitment (and that you’ll be willing to stay with the company for several years as opposed to jumping ship 8 months in to the job).
  • Still other places, and more so with start ups, degrees don’t mean much. It’s all about experience coupled with willingness to learn. Many places would be willing to consider a junior level position to someone who has just completed a coding boot camp and has a good recommendation from the instructor. I’ve taught a few boot camps, and have seen some students get placed in entry level roles after they completed the course. Keep in mind though, at least here in Dallas most of them took 3-6 months to find something.

Usually talking with the recruiter or HR at the hiring company you can get an idea as to how critical the degree is for the role and which of the three categories above the employer falls in.

Don’t let the lack of a degree stop you from wanting to enter the IT industry. Start going to meet ups in your area which are over topics that you’re interested it. Learn what you can from them and network with the people there. Odds are you’ll find someone who is willing to help mentor you some and help you learn more about the topics you’re interested in. Apply to entry level roles and highlight your self-study. You never know when or how that initial opportunity will come.