Top 5 Agile Certifications You Should Pursue in 2020

Information Technology is one of the fields that offers great potential, especially for those specialists who pursue a specific certification path. As a professional, you need to go through a program that helps improve your skills and knowledge. This will also help you validate your experience in the IT field. Agile is a popular certification track, and many companies are looking for the experts with these credentials. Do you want to earn one or more Agile certificates in 2020? Keep reading this blog article to find out which five Agile certifications you can pursue in this new year.

1. PMI-ACP (Agile Certified Practitioner)

Agile practices include fulfilling the client’s demands, mitigation, new prerequisites, and continuous improvement. The professionals with this certification know the differences between Agile and traditional project development approaches. They’re familiar with how Agile-based techniques can fit well in a software development project. Furthermore, they’re equipped with the skills of the project system. Getting this PMI certificate will bring about numerous benefits such as getting higher-paying jobs and promotions. To sit for the certification test, you need to have some expertise in general projects and experience using Agile techniques or working with the Agile team. The exam comes with 120 questions of different formats. You’ll need to renew this credential after three years with the Professional Development Units (PDUs). This allows you to maintain PMI-ACP.

2. CSM (Certified Scrum Master)

The certified Scrum masters are implementers of Agile projects. They manage the process, eliminate obstacles, and ensure that the team follows the Scrum practices and principles that are set by the company. The specialists with this credential are skillful in the procedures and methodologies of Scrum approaches. Getting the CSM certificate will help you stand out in the field of IT. Before sitting for the certification test, you must undergo a CST training for 2 days and another training from the Scrum Alliance Registered Education Provider (REP) for CSD. This course will take 5 days.

3. PSM (Professional Scrum Master)

The professional Scrum masters have the necessary skills and knowledge of Scrum. They have an understanding of practical approaches and mechanisms regarding various methodologies in Scrum. Those individuals who want to get the PSM credential should have certain skills. These include conflict resolution, improved estimation, as well as planning, team dynamics, and team motivation. Before taking the certification exam, you are required to understand basic roles, attributes, leadership features, and aspects of Scrum. You also ought to have the over-all foundation of Scrum. You must have the skills to apply the Scrum framework for actual projects. The students should be able to deal with different situations that can come up when completing a project. There are no formal requirements for this certificate, but you must have the basic skills of Scrum.

4. CSD (Certified Scrum Developer)

This is another great Agile certification to earn in 2020. The CSD credential is meant for the professional programmers who make software in Scrum environments. The professionals pursuing this certificate should be conversant with the methodologies and equipment needed to build and design software. To get CSD, you must undergo a 5-day formal training provided by the Scrum Alliance Registered Education Provider. If you had obtained the CSM credential, you’re allowed to skip this course and start from day three. This is because you had completed part of the training at the CSM level. Once you get the certification, you’ll need to pay the yearly subscription fee to renew it.

5. SA (SAFe Agilist)

The SA certification is meant to assist the organizations in succeeding. The individuals with this credential have the ability to accomplish various projects and provide value via the ARTs (Agile Release Trains). They also have the skills to lead a Lean-Agile transformation in different scaled businesses. The certificate is tailored to assist the target learners in having a continuous provision pipeline & DevOps culture. To get SAFe Agilist, you have to go through the relevant training and pass the associated exam. The candidates should have more than 5 years of experience serving in software development, testing, business analysis, product/project management. These professionals must be experienced working with Scrum and Agile. The training content to be studied before taking the test are Scrum methodologies and Scaling Agile. The exam has 45 questions. You will need to score more than 75% of the test to get the certification.

Reasons to pursue Agile certifications

The Agile credential is an excellent opportunity for the individuals who want to succeed in their professions. The certification is also ideal for those professionals who intend to start working in Agile-based platforms. Let’s look at some of the benefits that the Agile certificates can bring.

• They are in high demand. The organizations across the globe are constantly searching for the competent project managers to perform their projects seamlessly with higher success rates. They’re looking for the individuals with success in their academic background and a verified certification. This will serve as proof of their competence in project management. For this reason, those individuals who have served in Agile settings previously as the team leaders or developers can use a platform that is offered by an authorized Agile credential to demonstrate their skills.
• They offer a variety of methodologies. The certifications are not restricted to a single methodology. They cover a variety of them, such as FDD, Scrum, Crystal, and Kanban. The primary goal of these certificates is to nurture the experts using Agile techniques, procedures, and apparatuses in their daily tasks.
• They provide certified development in the industry. With these certifications, the professionals doing project management are exposed to a higher growth rate in their career. The Agile credential helps the project managers showcase their proficiency and skills to their employers. This will open ways for exciting opportunities. Getting this certificate implies that the owner has critical knowledge and skills with all Agile techniques.
• They are important for businesses. Currently, many organizations across the world have started to embrace the Agile methodology and have ditched traditional business approaches. The certification programs are designed to discover new practices for project management. It also helps the individuals understand Agile values and processes that can improve teamwork and increase productivity.

 

Conclusion

Besides the credentials we’ve mentioned in this article, you can still get other good Agile certifications. The specialists need to make informed decisions, depending on what they want. If you’re going to advance your career or change your job, you need to consider earning at least one of these top Agile certificates in 2020. They are the best in the market and also popular. It’s good to ensure that the certification you select aligns with your professional needs and career path.