There has been much debate about how effective is SAFe Agilist certification in getting a job. The reason for such confusion lies in the fact that there are various certification courses for Agile and Scrum frameworks, making it difficult to know which will be the most beneficial in getting ahead in the profession of your choosing. Another confusion people often have is in understanding how SAFe certification is different from Scrum professional certification since both these frameworks come under the Agile principles.
So how is Leading SAFe different from Scrum certification?
Leading SAFe is a framework that boosts agility within an enterprise. It is one of the most popular guides that enable organizations to increase time-to-market and experiences of users through the configuration of the different sectors within an organization. Leading SAFe implements both Agile and Lean framework so that an organization can reach their strategic as well as personal goals. Through these frameworks, an organization can build a centralized strategy for overall growth within an organization.
The Scrum methodology is implemented at the team level and is meant for the organization of teams into manageable segments. This enables proper handling of projects by the different teams working on it which ensures faster development and completion of projects within the given time frame. For the Scrum method to work, there need to be three people who can handle the different segments of product development. The Product Manager handles the organizational part by briefing the teams on the requirements. Scrum Master has the responsibility of overseeing the development of the product at each sprint. The main job of developing the product is dependent on the team members.
The major difference between Leading SAFe and Scrum is the magnitude at which each of these methodologies can work. Leading SAFe is meant for implementation on the whole organization, while Scrum has a much smaller capacity and can only be implemented in groups. The SAFe framework was developed to ensure that the segments which Scrum cannot handle can be handled by the Agile methodologies.
The above difference between Scrum and Leading SAFe shows how SAFe is a much more versatile certification than Scrum. But, to be an expert in Leading SAfe, one needs to have enough knowledge about Scrum in order to get hired to any top company. The advantages of Leading SAFe are-
- It is effective and documented and has proven to be useful for its flexibility.
- Leading SAFe is ideal for working with people since it has an organized idea about individual roles and on-time delivery of products.
- It has a complete value system which is 3 tier.
- Puts high importance on code quality.
- Strives towards continuous improvement of the SAFe framework.
Once you understand how SAFe can be the best framework for implementation at any organization of any capacity, it is the responsibility of an individual to know in which sector he/she wants to work.
If one is certified in Leading SAFe Agilist framework then the following are the criteria one needs to keep in mind in order to have the best chance of getting hired in the organization of their choice. One needs to have a good knowledge of Scrum. Without the above two framework knowledge, having just a SAFe certification will not add much to one’s resume.
Organizations hire people with Leading SAFe certification in order to expand the use of Scrum from the team level to the organization level. So, anyone who has already qualified the Leading SAFe certification should add some experience of working with Scrum for organizations to know that he/she can handle the large-scale implementation.
Having a Leading SAFe certification ensures that one can get hired to the position of Scrum Master, Agile coach, Scrum team member or as a Senior Scrum Master. Even though Scrum is implemented at a small scale, it is a framework that is developed to be used at the organizational level with Agile mindset. All these things lead to the requirement of the Lean-Agilist who has proper leadership skills to oversee the implementation of SAFe. In that way, the opportunities of a Leading SAFe Agilist are great and they have better opportunities to get hired to various positions. From Agile Coach to scaling professional or a Scrum Master, the Leading SAFe certified has a wide range of positions they can apply to.
The various responsibilities and opportunities of a Leading SAFe 4.5 certified are:
- Responsibilities: One must implement the Lean-Agile at the organization level by using the practices and frameworks of SAFe.
- Eligibility to get hired: One must have at least 5 years of experience with project management, business analysis, and software development. Scrum experience is a must.
This certification comes with some added benefits and an overall knowledge of Scrum and Lean-Agile application, leadership orientation, and the ability to bring in change using the same framework. The certification of Leading SAFe is valid for a year after which anyone can renew their certification.
It is not just a certificate that validates your knowledge about Leading SAFe but it also provides you with a year-long membership with Lean-Agile and you get access to all the different study materials required to fine-tune your knowledge about this framework.
It is safe to say that Leading SAFe coursework is meant for the holistic education of an individual on the workings and the ideal implementation of Agile frameworks. This is a labour-intensive course and there is a reason for that. Agile-Lean has been a proven methodology for many years now and has been proved to be useful by some of the top companies. This makes anyone with such a certification a coveted candidate by every company. This one single certification allows an individual to look towards the future since their career is made. Any company strives to make their organization a tight-knit and seamless. Leading SAFe 4.5 allows an organization to be exactly that. So, it is the perfect framework for everyone to know.
