I have been vacillating over this point for quite some time now and thought it was about time I shared my thoughts on the same with everyone.

What I have found is that an increasing number of businesses are opting for permanent product teams instead of project teams, and this is what is contributing to the consistent need for candidates having practical Scrum knowledge. As per reports I have come across, there has been an approximate increase in the adoption of agile by 37% in the period of 2020 to 2024.

There is also an obvious career track after certification, since almost all certified professionals go from Scrum Master to Agile Coach or Product Owner or even Release Train Engineer. There is also quite a significant variance in salaries depending on the geographic location. The USA remains the largest market, but there are reports that Poland and Germany are developing really quickly now.

However, one thing to consider: certification alone is not seen as equivalent to delivery experience. It should be present together with certification in order to be hired. Also, being proficient in Scrum only, without having an overall understanding of Agile methodology, can become an obstacle when the company decides to implement another framework.

I found a pretty detailed breakdown of the career path, salary ranges, and regional demand here: https://www.certboosters.com/scrum/path/professional-scrum-certifications.

Curious if anyone here has actually gone through the certification process. Was it worth it for you, or did it feel more like a checkbox exercise?