Scrum Breakfast

What does it take to become a Certified Scrum Trainer (CST)? Passion and Energy. You should stand out from the crowd!

The Scrum Alliance Trainer Acceptance Committee held its first ever workshop for CST Aspirants last week at SGPHX, the Phoenix Scrum Gathering. This gave candidates a chance to ask questions and understand what is really expected of a CST to get through the final examination.

The answers to two questions really stood out for me in this workshop:

Why do I have to submit my own learning materials?How many students must I have taught?

Why do you have to submit your own learning materials? Many Aspirants today work for a company that has already created a "deck" for teaching Scrum. I am told that Scrum.org even requires their trainers to train to a standardized deck. Why reinvent the wheel? 
If an Aspirant is using someone else's materials, here is a typical conversation during the final interview: Examiner: What does this diagram on page 35 mean?Aspirant: <…

So you want to become a Certified Scrum Trainer? What does it take to become a CST? I facilitated a workshop at the Phoenix Scrum Gathering (#SGPHX) on the challenges of becoming a trainer. Several people shared their experiences, including current and former members of the TAC (Trainer Acceptance Committee) and Tirell Payton, a Certified Scrum Coach whose first attempt at passing the TAC was not successful. 
Tirell wrote the following summary, which I thankfully quote:

During the retreat Peter Stevens facilitated a session on the CST process and some of the potential pitfalls the aspirants encounter as they go through the process.

I acted as the scribe and town crier, and as such lots of people have come up and asked me for my list of items.  The items on the list follow 2 key dimensions:  The common items that lead to candidates not being accepted and advice for how to make it through the process with your sanity intact.

For those of you on the list, hopefully these items wi…