What is the career path for a product owner?

The career path for a product owner includes jobs as a scrum master, product director, and product owner.

Product owners often start their careers in project management or another business-related field. Product owners need to be detail-oriented and have skills related to being a team's primary leader.

Most have at least a bachelor's degree in business management or another relevant field. Many also obtain more advanced degrees. Skills that are associated with the product owner career path include:

• APIs

• Agile

• Analysis

• Azure

• Business Analysis

• DevOps

• Information Technology (IT)

• Communication

• Teamwork

• Leadership

One job on this career path is scrum master, and this is a role that is growing in demand, and usually commands a high salary.

Scrum masters benefit from obtaining relevant certifications. A Certified Scrum Master (CSM) is a certification in Scrum that proves an individual has skills in Scrum methodologies, values, and team performance. This certification is administered by the Scrum Alliance.

This certification is great for those in the project and product management field, as agile practices are gaining in popularity. In particular, this certification is highly recommended for the role of Scrum master, which is an important leadership role in agile development.

The benefits of obtaining a CSM certification are:

• Credibility as a leader

• Additional opportunities and responsibilities at organizations using agile practices

• Displays proficiency and knowledge of Scrum

There are not any requirements to enroll in Scrum training, although training in Scrum is required to be certified. To obtain a CSM certification candidates must have a comprehension of the Scrum framework, its practices, and principles.

The Scrum Alliance offers several resources on the foundations of Scrum, including:

• Scrum Alliance expert blog

• Scrum Alliance member articles

• Scrum Alliance videos

• Scrum Alliance presentations

• Scrum Alliance reports

To obtain the certification candidates must attend a two-day course (8 hours per day) taught by a Certified Scrum Trainer. The course is designed to give a macro view of how to oversee, organize, and support a Scrum team.

The course also covers these specific areas:

• Scope

• Lean

• Agile

• Scrum

• Agile facilitation

• Coaching

• Service to development teams

• Service to the product owner

• Service to organizations