Self-study guide to prepare for & pass PSPO 1 & PSPO 2 certifications
Hi everyone,
I’ve passed the PSPO I certification from Scrum.org with a 96.3% score on the first try. This certification is internationally recognized in the IT industry and is a confirmation of the high level of knowledge for agile product owners. My preparation included solely self-study in the evenings for several days in a row. So, I decided to share my list of resources I’ve used for preparation.
The PSPO I certification test gives you only 60 minutes to answer 80 tricky questions, and your passing score should be above 85% of correct answers. If you know the Scrum and PO role, you easily can fit below 40 minutes spending on average less than 30 seconds to read and answer each question.
What was the most difficult:
⚠️ Many certification test questions use modal verbs must / should / shall / may / could in formulating the content of the question. Therefore it is necessary to read questions carefully. For example, you can miss the difference between “must” and “may” in the question. The same issue is about the use of and/or prepositions in test questions.
⚠️ There are also many multiple-choice questions, where you can also easily make a mistake by choosing only one wrong option. Also, you need to double-check how many correct answers you need to select (three or two). The method of logical exclusion and understanding of Scrum Guide + Evidence-Based Management work well here.
For my preparation I’ve used:
✅ PSPO I free preparation course by Volkerdon: it has great educational materials + 40 free test questions to check your knowledge: https://www.volkerdon.com/courses/pspo1
✅ Udemy: The New Product Owner Certification of 2021–800 questions with explanations — I passed only 2 of 6 simulation tests. Since my simulation results were above 85% passing score, I did not wait for taking the real test: https://www.udemy.com/course/product-owner-certificate-training-200-questions/
✅ Scrum.Org PSPO suggested readings — scrum.org has many articles for product owners — read topics that you feel knowledge gaps: https://www.scrum.org/resources/suggested-reading-professional-scrum-product-owner
✅ Evidence-Based Management guide for Scrum. A significant percentage of questions do not relate directly to scrum but address the work of product owner within Evidence-Based Management practices: https://www.scrum.org/resources/evidence-based-management-guide
✅ Nexus Guide for Scaled Scrum: some of the questions were about communication between different Scrum teams, and the role of product owner for several Scrum teams: https://www.scrum.org/resources/nexus-guide
I hope my tips for PSPO I preparation will be useful to others aspiring to get PSPO I certification! Wish you good luck in your product career!
P.S. In early 2023, I’ve passed PSPO II certification as well. In fact, I was using the same self-learning resources and followed suggeted readings from Scrum.org: Suggested Reading for Professional Scrum Product Owner™ II | Scrum.org
The exam was definitely harder, than PSPO 1, but I’ve manager to score high results from the first try as well after few weeks of self-learning and refreshing knowledge with suggested readings and study materials.
#PSPO1 #PSPO2 #PSPO #PSPOI #PSPOII #Scrum #Agile #ProductOwner #Certification #Guide #ScrumProductOwner
