The process of hiring a great candidate to be a Scrum Master is a meticulous process. Not only does it take diligent work, but it is also a very time-consuming task overall. Therefore, it is important for your company to ask well rounded, concise questions to make an informed decision about potential employees.
One of the most crucial parts of hiring an individual will be the selection process after interviews. The position of the Scrum Master matters because they are the conductor of the agile development team. They have to not only set clear goals for themselves to accomplish a task but also coordinate the rest of their team to cooperate in a way that gets the task done efficiently and effectively. They also have an important role of managing how information is processed and exchanged. Thus, the questions you ask should give you insight should give you clarity of the candidate’s skill set and attributes. To ease the stress, we’ve compiled a few scrum master interview questions to lead the conversation, and elicit the most information.
Scrum Master Interview Questions to Ask Candidates
What are some of your previous experiences with or related to scrum master?
This scrum interview question forces the candidate to speak in depth about their experience as a scrum master. As an interviewer, you will be able to assess the candidate’s understanding of the role, their skill set, and overall ability to perform this role. In addition, this open-ended questions leaves room for the interviewer to ask follow-up questions about their experience. Overall, the question gives the interviewer a better idea of the value a candidate could add to the company.
Describe a time when your team members didn’t seem to be getting along. How were you able to resolve this conflict?
Knowledge in your workplace and your career is important but so are people skills. A great scrum master must be able to be a servant leader. Therefore, communication and problem-solving skills are one of the most important attributes for the job.
What is your greatest weakness?
This is a common, somewhat overused question. However, this behavioral question allows the interviewer to assess the candidate’s ability to be vulnerable and speak candidly about their weaknesses. Most importantly, this open-ended question allows the candidate the freedom to rebut with strategies they are practicing to strengthen this weakness. In the end, this question will help you determine if the candidate is willing to work hard to overcome weaknesses and challenges.
What do you think are the characteristics that would make a good scrum master?
A strong leader has the ability to lead with integrity, take constructive criticism from their team, and implement it in a productive manner. Needless to say, your next scrum master should be able to lead. However, for the company to grow, the leader must be able to make an actionable change based on prior knowledge and team feedback. Use this question to determine if your candidate is willing to lead. A good leader is a leader who also values the voices of their employees. A great leader is one that implements these suggestions into the workplace and keeps an open mind for further constructive criticism.
What was your worst day at work?
This interview question is more about assessing the candidate’s ability to handle adversity and less about allows their worst day. Shortcomings and adversity inevitably strike at inopportune times. Your new employee must have the skills in place to gauge a situation and move forward productively.
What is one significant contribution you made in your last role?
This once more looks at the importance and value this individual can give to whatever company they were working at. In addition, this question also sheds light on their work ethic. Find out it they are a hard worker that strives to be the best. Or, weed out the candidates that try to get by doing the minimum amount of work.
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