In this post, we are going to explain the most popular ways of CSM certification renewal. But first, let’s understand why CSM certification is so popular. Scrum Alliance’s Certified Scrum Master (CSM) certification is one of the certifications that are in quite high demand. It is a recognizable certification in the Agile community and has global acceptance. The number of CSM’s is growing fast and so the job opportunities for Agile professionals.
CSM Certification Renewal Activities
- Scrum Alliance Global & Regional Gatherings
- Privately Organized Scrum Gatherings
- Scrum Training, free or paid
- Publishing online content about Scrum
- Preparing PowerPoint Presentations
- Reading a book about Scrum
- Volunteering
If you are one of the fortunate Scrum Alliance’s Certified Scrum Master credential holders, you are recognized as someone who has the expertise, caliber, and experience of Agile. You would have opportunities in various industries where Agile is used to deliver projects. Hence, you can easily cash your certification against good jobs and earn a higher salary. You can read the full Scrum SEU guide.
While it is great to hold the Scrum Alliance’s Certified Scrum Master (CSM) certification, you must continue to maintain it in order to keep it active. All Scrum Alliance certifications should renew every two years for these to stay active. The CSM certification renewal must also happen after every two years. If you do not process your CSM certification renewal, the certification will expire and then you can no longer refer yourself as Certified Scrum Master.
Moreover, if you delay the CSM certification renewal for more than six months after the renewal date, you will no longer be able to renew it anymore. You will have to re-take the CSM exam instead. Therefore, it is better to prepare for the CSM certification renewal well before the renewal time so you will not have to worry or rush for its renewal at the last moment.
You can find out more information about CSM Certification renewal in our Scrum Alliance Certification Renewal guide.
Master of Project Academy offers Free Scrum SEU Training. You can enroll for FREE and earn 2 SEUs.
CSM® Certification Renewal
CSM certification renewal is basically a three-step activity. The first activity is about participating in Scrum activities. The second activity is to submit SEUs to Scrum Alliance. The final activity is to make a payment to renew your certification. We will go through the details about these three activities in this post.
How to Renew CSM® Certification Step #1 – Earn SEUs
Once you have received your Scrum Alliance CSM certification, in the next two years, you have to earn 20 Scrum Education Units (SEUs). Scrum SEUs are hours that you spend participating, learning, and practicing Scrum. You can participate in different types of Scrum-related activities to earn SEUs. Once, you have earned the required number of SEUs, you can then go for the CSM certification renewal with the renewal fee payment.
In the next paragraphs, we will explain the activities that you can do to earn SEUs and the steps for Scrum Alliance CSM renewal, in detail.
Scrum Alliance-Sponsored Global and Regional Gatherings.
Scrum Alliance holds global gatherings twice a year. It happens once in North America and once in the European region. These gatherings attract Scrum professionals and enthusiasts from around the world. The gatherings give you the opportunities to meet with the Scrum experts, practitioners, and trainers and expand your Scrum knowledge.
It is a three-day event and it is full of learning opportunities. Throughout the day, you get to participate in various workshops and presentations. Not just this, you also get a chance to meet with Scrum professionals in a one-on-one session and learn from them.
Other than global Scrum Alliance gatherings, Scrum Alliance also holds regional gatherings. The regional gathering events take place in different cities of the world and many times in the year. The regional events also span three days and these have the same format and comprise the same activities as in the global events. These regional events may be easier for you to attend and you may even attend more than one event if it is happening near to you.
On the Scrum Alliance website, you can get the details of the upcoming local and global gatherings. If you are interested to attend a gathering, you should register online and reserve yourself a seat. These Scrum Alliance gatherings are great opportunities for you to learn, meet, make friends as well as earn SEUs for your CSM certification renewal.
Privately Organized Gatherings
Other than Scrum Alliance-sponsored gatherings, you can also attend similar gatherings that are organized by a private group of professionals. The theme and the content of these gatherings are mostly the same as the Scrum Alliance-sponsored gatherings. In these gatherings also, you will have the opportunities to attend workshops, presentations, and one-on-one coaching sessions for your learning. By attending these gatherings too, of course, you will earn SEUs, which you can claim for your CSM certification renewal.
Take training
You can participate in different types of training activities to earn SEUs for your CSM certification renewal. For instance, you can take a course on Scrum. It could be a short or long course. The course can be on any of the Scrum topics such as Extreme Programming, Crystal, Kanban, etc, agile tools and techniques, etc.
Other than attending a classroom course, you may enroll in online Scrum learning courses also. There are many free and paid online training opportunities available online. If you search on Internet, you will easily find many Scrum training videos, which you may watch. Many online academies offer Scrum trainings that teach you Scrum and make you earn SEUs well. You can enroll in these Scrum courses and you will not only earn SEUs but also enrich your knowledge on Scrum.
We at Master of Project Academy also offer a free Scrum SEU Bundle. By completing this course, you will earn two SEUs. In addition, we also have a 40 SEU course bundle that you may like to enroll. This 40 SEU bundle is available on a monthly, annual, and lifetime subscription to suits anyone’s needs
Watching these online training videos or taking a classroom or online courses is a great opportunity for you to learn more about Scrum, polish your Scrum skills, and earn SEUs for CSM certification renewal.
Another option is attending Scrum SEU webinars, you can find more detailed information in our Scrum SEU webinars article.
Master of Project Academy offers Free Scrum SEU Training. You can enroll for FREE and earn 2 SEUs.
Prepare a PowerPoint Presentation
Preparing and delivering a presentation also count towards SEUs for your CSM certification renewal. Maybe you can find an opportunity to deliver a lecture at a local college, so this opportunity will allow you to prepare a presentation. If not, you can also present Scrum methodologies and the other stuff about Scrum to your colleagues or other staff members at your organization. It could in fact be helpful to someone who is currently implementing Scrum and you teach them Scrum through presentations. This is one popular and practical method of earning free Scrum SEU.
Publishing Content Online
There is also the option for you to earn SEUs by writing articles or blog posts. It is in fact a very easy and quick way of producing content and earning SEUs at the same time, for your CSM certification renewal. You simply have to set up a content publishing platform like a blog or website and start publishing content about Scrum online. This opportunity allows you to choose the Scrum topics that interest you and you can write whenever you like. This would be an interesting way to producing your work and make it available to the public for their reading. If you like publishing content online, you can continue this activity throughout the year. This may also involve some research and by this means, you will be able to learn many new things about Scrum.
Book Reading
There are thousands of books available on Scrum. You may easily find free and paid books at affordable prices, on Scrum. When you read a book, you will increase your knowledge of Scrum and earn SEUs for your CSM certification renewal. Book reading is fun and a good activity to indulge in during your free time. So, purchase a book or get a free one, and start reading it. You may read as many books as you want and that will count towards your SEUs
Volunteering
You can participate in many volunteering activities. If you volunteer to help someone in understanding or implementing Scrum, you will earn SEUs. Maybe you have a colleague or friend who is preparing for one of the Scrum Alliance’s certification exams; you may help them in their exam preparation. Alternatively, you may help an organization use Scrum in their projects. All such volunteering activities will also count towards your SEUs.
Miscellaneous activities
The activities we have mentioned above are not the only activities that you can participate in to earn SEUs. Scrum Alliance even allows several other activities that you can do to earn the required SEUs. For instance, if you are meeting up with your friends or colleagues in an informal gathering and you discuss Scrum, this will count towards SEUs. If you helped someone in their college assignment on Scrum, this too will count towards the SEUs. So, there could be many more such activities that will earn you SEUs.
How to Renew CSM® Certification Step #2 – Submit Earned SEUs
So, you have gone through the effort of earning SEUs, this is now time to submit these to Scrum Alliance before the final step of your CSM certification renewal. Here is how you will submit SEUs to Scrum Alliance
#1 Open https://www.scrumalliance.org/login
#2 Enter your username and password. If you have not created an account yet, create an account first.
#3 Click on your name and then on ‘My Dashboard’ at the top-right side of the page.
#4 You will see on the right side of the page “Scrum Education Units”. Next to that click on “Manage SEUs”
#5 Now choose the category under which you are claiming SEUs, from the drop-down menu “Select an Activity Type”
#6 Enter information in all the required fields and submit the SEUs.
How to Renew CSM® Certification Step #3 – Pay Renewal Fee & Retain CSM®
This is the final step for your CSM certification renewal and here is how you will renew your certification:
#1 While logged in to your Scrum Alliance account, click on your name on the top-right side of the page.
#2 click on ‘My Dashboard’
#3 Click on “Renew Certification”
#4 Select the certification to renew.
#5 Finally, proceed to make the payment
Summary
Holding a Scrum Alliance’s CSM certification is an asset. If you happen to be one of the fortunate ones who hold the Scrum Alliance’s CSM certification, you have the edge over the others. It shows that you know the stuff! However, to keep enjoying the benefits of this certification, you must make sure that you continue to maintain it.
In this post, we have explained the various ways through which you can earn the Scrum Education Units, which you need for your CSM certification renewal.
As you have learned in this post, you can participate in many activities for your CSM certification renewal and you can choose the activities that you can easily do. We have also explained the complete steps on how to submit your SEUs to Scrum Alliance and then finally renew your certification.
Remember that it is up to you whether you earn SEUs together or spread your SEU earning activities over the period of years. Earn your SEUs however you like but do not delay SEU earning for more than two years else you will risk your certification expiring.