Certified Scrum Trainer^®
(CST^®) Certification

Formal Interview & Simulation Overview

This is an opportunity for the TAC to ask questions about the candidate’s application and course materials, and an opportunity for the TAC to learn more about the candidate and their journey.
For candidates that are re-interviewing, the TAC will focus a portion of the Q&A on the candidate’s process of inspecting/adapting since their last interview and over the course of their CST journey.

After the Q&A session, the candidate will be asked to leave the room while the TAC selects learning objective(s) for the candidate’s training simulation. The learning objective(s) selected will be unique to the candidate, and the TAC will select one LO or a small grouping of LOs that they believe can be reasonably covered in the simulation timebox.

Learning objectives are chosen from the current Scrum Foundations or CSM (or CSPO) learning objectives, based on the candidate's CST application path.

The expectation is that a candidate should be able to train on any learning objective from the references listed above. To prepare, we suggest that candidates practice timeboxed trainings with ALL learning objectives; making sure to clearly indicate what is Srum and what is outside of Scrum.

The candidate will be invited back into the room to learn of the learning objective(s) selected, to gather their thoughts, and to prepare for their training simulation.
The candidate may ask clarifying questions as part of this timebox.

The TAC makes sure the candidate is aware that they are responsible for monitoring their own time.
The TAC will participate as students during the training simulation.
The TAC would like to see how the candidate responds in the moment, as if responding to students who have questions along the way during a typical CSM (or CSPO) course. The training simulation is intended to be impromptu and a means to evaluate and assess the candidate’s professionalism, presentation, delivery effectiveness, audience/question management, Scrum knowledge, and coverage of LO(s).

Candidates are encouraged to use their own training style and to demonstrate to the TAC what the experience would be like as a student in their course.
Candidates should utilize this timebox in the most constructive, advantageous way possible to allow the TAC to see their Scrum knowledge and training ability come to life.
Candidates should NOT use any formal training materials nor virtual training tools.

Candidate Note: please prepare for your formal TAC interview and simulation using the Scrum Guide version and Learning Objectives version that are effective at the time of your formal interview (even if this version is different from when you submitted your original CST application).

After completion of their training simulation timebox, the candidate will be asked to leave the room and use the time to reflect on their performance and provide a personal retrospective upon returning to the room.
Each TAC member will use this time to individually evaluate the candidate’s performance against the CST Certification Standards.

The candidate will share their personal retrospective with the team. The TAC will listen and not provide feedback at this stage.

Once the candidate's scoring is tabulated, the resulting certification decision will be shared among the TAC and discussed. At this time, the team will also discuss a few strengths and areas of growth to share with the candidate, as well as a re-interview date for the candidate (if the candidate is not approved).