Jeff Martin ⋅ Ashburn, VA The Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System ⋅ 25 years experience

I’d suggest that you network at the target company or industry. Use LinkedIn to find people already working there and reach out to them. Ask them the process they used to get hired and ask them to help you navigate the hiring process and if they are willing, ask them to submit you as a referral. These activities require much more time on your part but in my opinion would greatly increase your chances for success. Good luck!

Gary Rossi ⋅ Napa, CA The Coaches ⋅ 18 years experience

Pamela - Jeff is right on - Use LinkedIn reach out and connect with scrum masters on LinkedIn namely in the area that you desire to work, use a tailored connection request and Network into a position - Network, Network, network till you get into the door - do not forget to craft your 90 second commercial. What else I can also offer is my broad and deep LinkedIn network of business professionals for networking purposes especially informational interviews. Here is my profile to reach out and connect - https://www.linkedin.com/in/garyrossibaldrigecoach/ Wish you the very best. Gary

Venkat Narayanan ⋅ San Jose, CA Cisco Systems Inc ⋅ 30 years experience

Hi Pamela, Thank you for your service.

The first step is to educate yourself on what a scrum master does. Richard has posted some excellent links to pursue. The goal is to answer any and all questions in an interview. There is a shortage of good scrum masters, so start with a strong grasp of the concepts and vocabulary. Write an article from a newbie's point of view "What I learned in scrum master training" and publish it on LinkedIn and Medium and other places where hiring managers tend to visit. Include a link to your article on your resume. Then contact as many hiring managers as you can. Sometimes consulting companies are a good place to get an entry-level position. Your options will open up after a few months of experience. If you apply the leadership mindset you gained in the armed forces, progression will be rapid.

Needless to say, don't be disappointed by rejections. Look at it from the hiring manager's point of view, if he/she has responsibility for a high-stakes project, unless they are desperate, they will want the most experienced candidate. There is nothing wrong with starting with an entry-level position.

A scrum master is a strategic role, the best candidates are strong leaders. However, some hiring managers tend to treat the position as a "project manager." You may need to perform to this expectation of a "project manager" while showing the real value of being a scrum master. The best way to gain experience is to apply what you learn. Learning to overcome pushback and driving change is a big part of the role. Not everyone will embrace your suggestions for improvement. Read about change management, I recommend "Switch: How to change things when change is hard" by Dan and Chip Heath.

Best wishes.

Richard Byrne ⋅ Hillsborough, NJ Intel Corporation ⋅ 53 years experience

I've added links to information on how to get MSFT's LinkedIn premium FREE for one year under this section of my EE webpage:
http://eehot.com/ee.html#networking

http://eehot.com/ee.html#pm - project management

Don't know if you are certified yet:
https://www.linkedin.com/learning/cert-prep-scrum-master
Scrum master video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YqAZi5poCmo
Agile Scrum course:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VFQtSqChlsk

https://www.scrum.org
https://www.scrum.org/resources
https://www.scrum.org/resources/blog/how-get-entry-level-scrum-master-jobs

3 Simple Ways to Get Your First Scrum Master Job video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xQP5onZFLIY

Fed Gov Job search scrum no location specified
https://www.usajobs.gov/Search/Results?k=scrum&p=1

Commercial job search, your location:
https://www.indeed.com/jobs?q=scrum%20master&l=Twentynine%20Palms%2C%20CA&vjk=24788cbb49d8e722