9 Scrum Master Resume Examples & Guide for 2023

What’s the first thing recruiters look for in a Scrum Master resume?

Mistakes.

And here’s why you can tell a great scrum master from someone who read the agile manifesto five minutes ago on a paper. The difference shows in action.

Even a slight nuance gives hiring managers an easy way to toss your resume out.

Mixing up PM and SM duties? Out. Taking credit for team efforts? Out. Too many buzzwords, e.g. “servant leadership”? Out.

Feels like a minefield, right? We asked professional scrum recruiters to help us navigate it.

Here’s what you’ll learn from this scrum master resume guide:

• What scrum master hiring managers are looking for in your resume;
• How to write an impressive and conversion-focused Agile Scrum resume summary);
• How to write a crisp but elaborate description of your work and achievements;
• How to spotlight your skills as a Scrum Master;
• How to take from the best resume examples to land your dream job.

How to Write a Job-Winning Scrum Master Resume

Let's go over a few tips that will help you write a winning resume for your next job application.

1. Look out for nuances. You are not a project manager

There’s a chance another scrum master will be reading your resume, and any inconsistencies will work against you. There are entire books about the difference between scrum masters and project managers.

• Bad example: 3 years of experience in Project Management as a Scrum Master
• Good example: Implemented new Agile processes across three regions and guided cross-functional teams through them.

2. Don’t focus on tools, best practices, and buzzwords. Focus on your contribution to the scrum team’s efficiency

A new scrum master will try to hide their inexperience behind a wall of buzzwords or tools, as there is no lack of these. A perfect candidate will shift the focus on their impact.

• Bad example: Facilitated daily standups, prepped product backlogs, and forced backlog refinement using Jira and Rally
• Good example: Facilitated self-managed continuous improvement for three scrum development teams through targeted retrospectives in a low-trust company environment

3. Win recruiters over with a smart resume format

Use bold text to emphasize the most convincing results. Use custom sections and headings to enhance the scannability of your resume. Play around with the resume layout to keep your resume compact and guide recruiters’ attention where you want it to be.

Ensure that your resume can be printed and exported in PDF format, so recruiters can view it even during their lunch break.

Use a resume header that combines the best resume formatting practices to get more Scrum Master interviews.

4. Use the right scrum master resume length

You added everything—your years of experience, technical skills, and leadership capacity—to your resume.

All you want to do is impress the hiring manager.

But here’s the thing: who is actually impressed by a 10-page resume?

The old adage that says that the number of resume pages should be proportional to how many years of experience you have is a myth and fails any real test.

The ideal length of a resume is one page. You can have a two-page resume when you have more than a decade of experience but don't go over that amount of pages.

Anything more than that will negatively impact your application. Not only does the impact of your resume get diluted—you’re also making the hiring manager’s job way more difficult than it needs to be, which almost always leads to your resume being immediately discarded.

Take a look at our one-page resume templates if you're having a hard time fitting your career on a single page.

5. Two scrum master resume layouts to consider

• Reverse chronological resume layout
• Hybrid resume layout

Both are equally good, however designing a hybrid resume layout takes a bit more creativity to get right. But, when you compare it with the reverse-chronological layout, it reflects your personality better.

Here are more resume tips regarding your layout and style:

• Clear and legible 12p resume font size.
• Use 10’ resume margins - that’s default for a great resume design.
• Use a one-page template resume length if you’ve got less than 10 yrs of experience. Otherwise, opt for a two-page resume.
• Pay attention to your resume spelling – don’t lose your interview chances on a technicality.
• Save your resume as PDF before sending it to the recruiter.

What should a good Scrum Master resume summary contain?

Scrum Masters are known for being precise, well-organized, and exceptionally skilled professionals.

Here are two resume summary examples that draw the line between hirable and rejectable candidates, effectively showing what you should and shouldn’t do.

Notice how the second example makes a much stronger impact. Here's why it's a good resume summary:

• The applicant specified their years of experience working as a Scrum Master;
• You know what their focus is (Industry, software, processes);
• Their technical skills are visible from the get-go.

You don't get any of that information from the wrong example, and yet, it's still being widely met in scrum master resumes.

If you’re looking to craft a compelling resume objective instead, read our writing tips at 10 Resume Objective Examples You Need to Steal (How-to-Guide).

How to Write a Scrum Master Resume Experience Section

Even if you’re good, applying with a “managed a team of engineers” type of resume experience leads to a predictable outcome: failure.

All the hiring manager wants to see is a resume that shows a professional who, with the right skills and mindset, cared for the role as much as their last Scrum Master did.

More precisely, they want to see if:

• You were a scrum owner or not;
• Whether you’ve worked with geo-distributed teams;
• Your experience working with cross-functional teams (engineering, business, design, etc.);
• Whether you have program management experience.

That’s why you should magnify your technical skills in the bullet points. It should show the scale of your work, and the impact you made.

Check out the four resume experience examples below and try noticing the difference.

Check out our How to Cover Work Experience On Your Resume guide for more tips on building a job-winning experience section.

Now that you know the perfect ingredients for making your Scrum Master resume pop, let’s move on to the next most important part of your resume: your skills.

How to add your skills to your Scrum Master resume:

We talked to a few hiring managers about Agile on a resume, asking them what they looked for when they go through your resume. This is what they had to say:

• A good resume design or layout creates the perfect impact.
• A good resume summary indicates relevance and passion.
• Resume experience reflects what an applicant actually did in his current and past roles.

After that, hiring managers look up the applicant’s skills.

Essentially, it boils down to the following question: are you the skilled Scrum Master that they’ve been looking for all this time? If you focus on the above, the answer can only be yes.

But keep the following in mind: you should really focus on selecting a handful of those that are relevant to the job you’re applying for.

Are you still not sure what skills will win recruiters over? Check out our guide on How to Create A Resume Skills Section To Impress Recruiters (+10 Examples You Need to See).

Certifications for your Scrum Master resume:

If you have any Scrum Master certifications, you know their value already.

Certifications deserve a special place on your resume. Make sure to create a new section and add your certifications there.

For more information on how to properly list resume certifications, we recommend reading our guide How To List Certifications On A Resume (Examples Included).

Should you add your education to your Scrum Master resume?

For hiring managers, especially if they are HR recruiters, your educational qualifications matter a lot.

Someone from a tech background can easily digest your experiences, skills, and certifications and see if you’re up to the job or not.

HR recruiters find it helpful if they see that a candidate has been through a formal IT education.

Browse more essential tips on how to feature education on your resume, in our guide Perfecting the Education Section on Your Resume.

Other Sections to Include on Your Resume

Depending on the company, job seniority level and your location, you may want to include more sections to your Scrum Methodology resume:

• Language skills
• Hobbies and interests
• Projects
• Volunteer work
• Highlights
• References
• LinkedIn on Resume
• Contact Info on Resume
• GPA
• Resume Awards
• Publications

Cover letter for a scrum master job

In case the job description says you need to provide a cover letter, do include yours. Otherwise, you can always leave it out.

Nowadays, job application forms include questions like “why do you want to work here”, or “explain why you’re the best fit for us”, which makes you wonder are cover letters really necessary?

Still, they help you tell your story in a way that, if written right, it’s captivating and engaging.

In any case, you should pay close attention to the following tips when a cover letter is a must:

• Make sure you go over a cover letter checklist, not to forget what your cover letter should say;
• Match the cover letter design with your resume’s;
• Address your cover letter properly;
• Keep an eye on your cover letter length;
• Use a proper cover letter ending;

If you need more inspiration, check out this example Agile/Scrum cover letter.

Key takeaways: what makes a great scrum master resume?

• Focus on a reverse chronological Agile Scrum resume with minimal length.
• Make sure your resume summary is impactful and contains your experience, numbers and figures.
• Show the impact of your work, and establish yourself as Scrum Leader in the experience section.
• Add skills and certifications to your resume.
• Don’t forget about your education section—but keep it tidy and relevant.

By Experience

Start With This Resume

Entry-Level Scrum Master

An Entry-Level Scrum Master usually starts from a background in project management or software development apprenticeship, focusing on mastering the Scrum methodology. It's crucial to highlight any Scrum or Agile practices involved in your education or internships, detailing how you've employed Scrum methodology in overseeing tasks and teams, regardless of the project's size. Showcase your continuous self-learning abilities and adaptability to novel software developments, indicating how you regularly enhance your Scrum knowledge. In presenting your experience, don't just line up your internships or small projects - instead, illustrate your key contributions to their successful implementation, following the 'experience-decision-results' format.

Start With This Resume

Junior Scrum Master

As a Junior Scrum Master, you'll likely work with various technologies and Scrum practices after moving up from an entry-level position. Highlight your involvement in multiple Scrum cycles and how it improved the product, projects, or services. Showcase your ability to adapt to different industries or product streams, and weave your technical skills and Scrum knowledge together. Emphasize your decision-making abilities, showing how these decisions led to positive changes.

Start With This Resume

Senior Scrum Master

The Senior Scrum Master job typically requires a deep understanding of and experience with Scrum and Agile methodologies, gained through steady progression. Highlight your skills in overseeing, mentoring, and leading team members throughout different project stages. Show your problem-solving skills on handling issues during product development and how you overcame these hurdles. It's also crucial to demonstrate your understanding of technical aspects for smooth coordination, so don't forget to showcase your technical skills and how you used them effectively.

By Role

Start With This Resume

Devops Scrum Master

As a Devops Scrum Master, it's important to demonstrate your ability to blend DevOps practices with Scrum principles on your resume. It's helpful to mention examples where you've successfully integrated these two areas to improve operations. Make sure you also include examples of how you solve problems from both development and operational perspective, showing your overall skills. Additionally, highlight your expertise in DevOps tools and techniques and how you've used them coupled with Scrum processes for fast and high-quality software production.

Start With This Resume

Agile Scrum Master

The Agile Scrum Master role blends Scrum tactics with the adaptability of Agile. Display how you've demonstrated flexibility when adapting to changes and managing Scrum elements concurrently. Use concrete examples to illustrate this. Highlight your technical skills and prompt decision-making ability regarding product alterations and evolution. Your advantage for this role is heightened with proficiency in differing Agile methods, so incorporate this knowledge.

Start With This Resume

CSM Scrum Master

As a CSM Scrum Master, my resume illustrates a robust skillset obtained from my certification. It showcases my adept handling of Scrum and how it has enhanced my abilities, demonstrating numerous instances of applying my knowledge effectively to achieve desired results. I have consistently guided teams towards efficiency and maintained smooth operations at all times. My ongoing learning efforts and updates on Scrum attest to my commitment to this role.

Start With This Resume

Application Implementation Scrum Master

In your resume as an Application Implementation Scrum Master, demonstrate where you've successfully combined application development strategies with Scrum methods for better efficiency. Don't forget to emphasize your strong technical background and application development skills along with your Scrum expertise. The strategy-implementation-results approach will help to underline your accomplishments.

Start With This Resume

Salesforce Scrum Master

As a Salesforce Scrum Master, your primary job is to use your Salesforce skills to improve projects using Scrum. When describing your experience, focus on how you've used Salesforce to achieve better project results. It's important to illustrate your leadership, technical knowledge and communication skills because guiding a team through Salesforce as per Scrum is key. Also,highlight your understanding of both Salesforce requirements and Scrum principles to show your capacity to maintain a balance between the two.