PSPO certification: PSPO 1 certification without a 2,000 euro course?

With the Professional Scrum Product Owner(PSPO 1) certification, you can prove your knowledge of the role of Product Owner. Especially the preparation for the Scrum Product Owner certification PSPO 1 can deepen your understanding of the role of the Product Owner & SCRUM.

We'll show you what you need to bear in mind for this certification and how you can save yourself a course costing 1,000 to 2,000 euros.

First of all: What is Scrum?

We probably don't need to explain this much here, but we will anyway, as it often leads to misunderstandings. According to the SCRUM Guide, SCRUM is "a lightweight framework that helps people, teams and organizations generate value through adaptive solutions for complex problems". An important aspect of SCRUM are the various scrum roles, such as the scrum product owner, who is responsible for the rights and duties within the SCRUM framework and works effectively with other scrum roles to ensure customer and stakeholder engagement, customer satisfaction and value creation.

Generally speaking, it helps software teams in particular (but not only) to create solutions for complex problems and to improve through continuous self-reflection in order to create real value for the customer.

The "lightweight" here is code word for: We have deliberately left out many methods that are essential for product development because we believe that the teams should choose these methods for themselves.

Sebastian's path to Scrum PSPO 1

Sebastian, one of our coaches, is actually a software developer. He worked in this field for over ten years and then switched to product management. Before his certification as a Scrum Product Owner, he had already worked in product management for five years. He wanted to consolidate his knowledge of Scrum again, but didn't want to invest 2,000 euros in a course. With a little research, he found out how he could obtain this certification through self-study for 200 dollars.

Types of certification PSPO vs. CSPO

There are several routes to Product Owner certification. There are basically two major providers: Scrum.org and Scrum Alliance, which differ in name. Scrum.org also offers certification at different levels. After PSPO I, further advanced certificates can be obtained.

An advanced course for experienced Product Owners is the PSPO II certification. This training deepens the understanding of responsibilities and improves the ability to create more value for customers and stakeholders. There is also a discounted certification fee for the PSPO II certification. Compared to other certifications such as PSPO I and PSPO III, PSPO II provides more comprehensive training for advanced product owners.

The Professional Scrum Product Owner (PSPO) III certification is an advanced certification for Product Owners who want to improve their skills, tools and methods beyond Scrum. Compared to other certifications such as CSPO and PSPO I & II, PSPO III is valued for its practical application of Scrum and technical excellence and is recognized as an international certification.

Scrum.org certification: Professional Scrum Product Owner short PSPO

Scrum.org offers a self-study exam for which you can prepare without attending a seminar. The Product Owner certification (PSPO I) is a basic certificate in professional training and certification, as it emphasizes the role of the Product Owner in the Scrum framework and is internationally recognized.

Cost: The self-study test at Scrum.org costs only 200 dollars.

There are also seminars to prepare for the Scrum.org certificate. The prices here are in a similar range to the seminars for the Scrum Alliance exam (see below) and include the costs for the test.

Scrum.org is the better known and more recognized certification, although it is significantly cheaper than the Scrum Alliance certification.

Scrum Alliance certification: Certified Scrum Product Owner, CSPO for short

• To take the Scrum Alliance exam, you must first complete a course.
• Costs: This preparatory course is usually organized as a seminar, lasts one to two days and costs around 1,400 to 1,500 euros.

Does Scrum certification make sense?

In our opinion, it makes absolute sense to take a Scrum certification, as this is one of the absolute basicsin product management or as a product owner.

However, we recommend that you complete this certification as quickly and cost-effectively as possible and use your budget for further training such as the Product Masterclass.

In contrast to the Scrum certification, we provide an insight into successful companies and accompany you in your job for 8 weeks with coaches from business, tech, design and development. With this certification, you will learn a lot more practical tips, tools and methods. Click here for the Product Masterclass.

Tips for self-study at Scrum.org

We think it is realistic to prepare for the test within one weekend. All you need to do is block off a whole day to read up and then take the test. Here are two tips from Sebastian:

1. read the Scrum Guide.

Sounds simple. In practice, however, not many product developers are 100% familiar with the Scrum Guide. In fact, it's only a few pages long. It won't take you more than 20 minutes to familiarize yourself with this guide. It is rather short, but contains all the important rules and information about Scrum.

2. use the Scrum.org Product Owner Learning Path.

This collection of articles relates to specific topics, such as "Product Owner as Value Maximizer". If you are particularly interested in certain areas, you can look them up in more detail here.

3. take a look at our PSPO I Guide

We have compiled the most important learnings for the test in a free video course for you. The course also includes a cheat sheet for the test:
To the free PSPO I course

What you should know about the exam

The exam for PSPO 1 contains 80 questions. You must answer 85% of the questions correctly in 60 minutes.

These are multiple-choice questions. As with similar tests from school or driving school, the most difficult part is reading the questions correctly. Some of them are very tricky.

Some answers use negations or small but crucial differences in wording. The questions are therefore the trickiest part of the PSPO 1 exam.

What is the added value of PSPO 1?

According to Sebastian, this test makes perfect sense. Once again, you are looking at an essential part of your toolbox: SCRUM.

We do not recommend a preparation course. Spending a budget of 2,000 euros on a rather small part of the daily skills required in product management & your role as a product owner is not a good option for us. This is especially true if the certification is realistic for a tenth of this amount, even if you study it yourself.

The costs for seminars of this type are usually covered by your employer's training budget. It is therefore better to use such an investment elsewhere for broader-based further training. At face-to-face seminars or conferences, you can network in person and exchange experiences with other product developers. Online, you save on your training budget and can instead focus on several subject areas to gain knowledge across a broader spectrum. You can also take a look at the Product Masterclass, which we have designed to cover the entire product development cycle and not just SCRUM (but also 😉).

The most important facts in brief

• You can do the PSPO I certification without a self-study course.
• The PSPO 1 exam will cost you 200 dollars.
• The self-study can be completed in one weekend.
• Read the Scrum Guide and watch our free PSPO I course.

Links to the article & video

• To the free Scrum PSPO I course
• To the Scrum Guide

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