There are two types of certifications that matter when starting out as a Product Owner: PSPO Certification (Professional Scrum Product Owner) by Scrum.org. The Product Owner is someone who is responsible for the project’s outcome. They maximize the value of the product by managing and optimizing the product backlog.
The list of resources that can help you study and hopefully make it easier to prepare for the exam.
Top tips to pass the Professional Scrum Product Owner certification exam are:
Certification requirements:
PSPO I
- There are 80 questions that you have to attempt in 60 minutes.
- The least score of 85% is required to pass the exam.
- The format of the exam is multiple-choice, multiple answers and true/false.
- The password is valid for one attempt only that you have to purchase and it is set up in your system and mailed in one day.
PSPO II
- There are 40 questions and partial credit provided on some questions, that you have to attempt in 60 minutes.
- The least score of 85% is required to pass the exam.
- The format of the exam is multiple-choice and multiple answers.
- The difficulty level is advanced than PSPO I
- The password is valid for one attempt only that you have to purchase and it is set up in your system and mailed in one day.
PSPO III
- There are 35 questions and the pasting of prepared answers is not allowed, which you have to attempt in 120 minutes.
- The least score of 85% is required to pass the exam.
- The format of the exam is multiple-choice and essay.
- The difficulty level is expert.
- The password is valid for one attempt only that you have to purchase and it is set up in your system and mailed in one day.
Get familiar with the terminology
- You might miss a lot of soft nuances while reading the questions from the exam.
- Go through the Scrum Glossary for quick definitions of key terms.
- Those who are not familiar with the Product Owner can find many terms hard to remember, try to re-read them properly.
- This is especially for those who are not native English speakers.
- Many of the questions can be answered just by getting the meaning of such terms and the differences between each pair of two.
Mock test
- Taking practice tests is highly recommended.
- These practice tests can help one to assess their progress and their weaknesses.
- This approach will help you to understand what to look for during your next study session.
Important topics which need extra attention
- Agile product management
- Value and vision of the product
- Stakeholder management
- Scrum Framework
- Product backlog management
- Agile product roadmaps
- Release planning
The feedback received by the PSPO takers are:
- 25% from Scrum Framework and Scrum Theory
- 20% from Product Owner Roles and responsibilities
- 10% product backlog management
- 10% cross-functionality and self-managing
- 10% how to maximize the value of the product and the work of developers
- 5% forecasting and release planning
- 10% product vision and product value
- 10% business strategy and how to deal with stakeholders and customers.
Assessment preparations
- Scrum guide is the principal source of all solutions for the assessment.
- The assessment focuses on areas defined by the professional Scrum competencies.
- Re-read the resources that are logged in the Product Owner learning path.
- Make sure to concentrate on the competencies that are listed in the examination.
- Many questions in the exam can ask you to interpret the meaning from the Scrum guide or apply content from the subject areas and sometimes answer from your experience.
- Do the Scrum open assessment and Scrum Product Owner assessment until you can do fastly and score 100%.
- Scrum.org provides open free assessments which act as an additional opportunity to test your knowledge in advance.
- There is a Simple Scrum Video course where you can learn faster and at a lower cost.
- Google the question if you are not sure about hard questions and take your time to assess through them.
Conclusion
After passing the PSPO exam, they give the industry-recognized “PSPO I/II/III) Certification. This certification does not require any mandatory course but you can enroll into Professional Scrum Product Owner Training to get past the exam easily. Good luck preparing for the exam to become a Professional Scrum Product Owner.