I occasionally get asked by someone who has their sights on a job as a Scrum Master or Product Owner how they can get the experience the job adverts ask for. It also is regularly asked in a certain agile Slack community I frequent (you know who you are, awesome people).
One of standard replies is to find an organisation who would appreciate some help on a voluntary basis. That sounds like good advice to me but I've always wondered, does anyone actually follow it?
My mind has turned to this recently from a personal perspective. I feel I have things to offer for which my current client have no direct need. For example, it has been a while since I worked with a team in a start-up company and I miss the challenge of getting a fledgling product to a new market. Could there be a company out there who has a need for what I can offer who are also wondering how to connect?
Now that I think of it, one of the reasons I visit the aforementioned Slack community is to exercise muscles that I don't use everyday. There's no denying the altruistic rush when the someone likes my answer, whether it's from my respected peers or the person in need saying, "Thanks, that helps!" It goes some way to meeting the need I have to feel I am contributing to the wider community but I certainly have more to offer.
So how does someone go about finding an organisation willing to take on a volunteer agile practitioner? Are there organisations out there that already know an agile coach is exactly what they need? Are they looking for more general 'business' help for which a Scrum Master is a fairly good fit? Do companies really bring someone in and share intimate details of their business without the person they are engaging being 'invested' in the outcome the same way as, say, an employee would?
If you have any insights, please leave a comment.
