Top 40 Agile Scrum Master Interview Questions & Answers

Before heading out for your scrum master job interview, do check out our list of top 40 agile** scrum master interview questions **to crack this job opportunity!

Scrum framework is becoming the top choice of the organizations, as they have started realizing the benefits of adopting agile methodology.

As the demand of the scrum framework is witnessing unprecedented growth, so is the requirement of competent scrum master is shooting up! Because they are the ones who ensures team aligns to the Scrum frameworks and successfully completes the assigned project.

Scrum Masters with formal Scrum training and agile certifications have higher salaries than those without. This information will give you another reason to prepare hard for your scrum master interview questions.

According to reports, the median base salary of the role is USD 103,000 and it has a year-over-year job growth of**2,000+**.

As per LinkedIn’s survey reports- The Scrum Master role is found at the #10 position in the LinkedIn’s release of the most promising jobs of 2019.

Here are our top 40 scrum master interview questions and answers–

Scrum Master Interview Questions

Scrum master interview questions

1. Explain Agile

Answer–

Agile is a framework of approaches and behavior that encourage “just-in-time” production that enables customers to receive quality software sooner.

2. What Are the Roles in Scrum?

Answer–

Scrum prescribes only 3 roles:

Product Owner
Scrum Master
Delivery Team

These roles ideally be cross-functional and not shared among other projects. Many Scrum Masters have not had the opportunity to work with a team that was cross-functional or dedicated due to the organization’s resistance.

Also, this may lead the interviewer to ask how you would handle working with a team that did not have a designer or tester within the team or how you would handle a team that was not dedicated. So, be prepared to answer connected , relevant questions as well in your scrum master interview questions.

3. What is a Daily Stand-Up?

Answer-

Every day, preferably in the morning, the team meets for not more than 15 minutes to discuss 3 questions:

1. What did you do yesterday?

2. What do you plan on doing today?

3. Are there any blocks that keep you from doing your work?

#career #guides #remote developer #interview questions #scrum master #scrum master interview

What is GEEK

Buddha Community

Top 40 Agile Scrum Master Interview Questions & Answers

Alayna Rippin

1598108400

35 Scrum Master Interview Questions and Answers [2020]

From the desk of a brilliant weirdo #1:

Are your hand shivering and pouring yourself with sweat right before your scrum master interview?

Do you feel quite uncomfortable, maybe unprepared, or maybe even lost in the darkness to what you can expect from the interviewer?

I’ve gone through some of the most common scrum interview questions and provided answers as well.

Big credits to Stefan Wolper, an agile coach, and his ebook about Scrum Masters.

Without further ado:

Scrum Master Role & Responsibilities (Overview)
It’s the Scrum Master’s responsibility to bring the development team on the same page by teaching them all the values and principles that fundamentally shape Scrum and, respectively, Agile.

The Scrum Master’s role revolves around helping and guiding the scrum team rather than managing it. He is also responsible for keeping the project-related stakeholders in the loop as well.

One of the Scrum Master’s primary responsibilities is to ensure a distraction-free environment for his team. The Scrum Master also participates in creating the product backlog helping the PO (product owner) prioritize tasks by importance.

And he is the one ultimately responsible for imbuing the organization with the Scrum values & principles by communicating with other scrum masters, stakeholders, etc.

So, if you are determined to follow a Scrum Master career path, earn the respective salary of a certified scrum master, and qualify for tons of scrum master interviews with the help of your brilliant scrum master resume, then this article can get you prepared for your first or next interview.

Now, before we dive in, here are a couple of…

Things (+ Tips) To Know Before The Scrum Master Interview
The questions you will encounter during a scrum master interview can vary widely based on the interviewer’s company and its values.

You might get asked kinds of questions about indifferent team members, keeping stakeholders in the loop, agile metrics, the barebones of scrum, and more. We’ll pretty much cover everything from exam-like, SDLC, and behavioral to more advanced technical and testing-related interview questions.

Of course, your experience will impact the interview process, as well. Senior scrum masters will get asked questions that an entry-level scrum master wouldn’t stumble upon until later in their career.

Also, regardless of your experience as a scrum master, you should always display curiosity and excitement in front of your interviewer. Tell the interviewer about your background and experience as a scrum master. Share what excites you (and what you think makes you a good fit) about the job position you are applying for. It will, without a doubt, boost your chances of getting hired.

Alrighty, let’s get you prepared for your scrum master interview…

Scrum Master Interview Questions and Answers
[Agile & Scrum-Related]
Explain to me the Agile mindset in your own terms?
If you can’t answer this question on your own then it’s best to go over the Agile Manifesto a couple of times.

How can you say that Agile is working in your organization?
When the products you deliver to the end-user result in higher customer retention rates, upsells, and more customer acquisition.
When the team genuinely feels happy, it can be considered that you are doing alright. There are no team members complaining about work environments. Nobody is leaving (or getting fired) the team.

Lots of submitted job applications can also be considered as a metric for a well-performing Agile organization.

If there aren’t piles of technical debt, bugs aren’t present, and there’s less time spent on maintenance, you can say that Agile is going well in your company.

What is the difference between Agile and Scrum (another newbie question)?
If you still struggle with explaining in simple terms, here’s a more straightforward definition that can make things easier for you: Agile is a philosophy. Scrum is a framework and subset of Agile.

Agile describes a set of ideals and values. In contrast, Scrum gives you principles through which you can make your project management easier.

What’s your criticism of Scrum?
This can be quite an interesting question as it’s quite unusual. It shows your point of view and rationalization process to a degree. That’s something you should personally answer without having someone else tell you the “correct” answer. Some developers consider the daily scrums to be a waste of time to a certain degree. Others believe that sprints can be managed better allocating more time to fixing the technical debt.

#scrum #scrum master #interview questions #interview answers #agile coach #scrum guide #scrum agile #scrum master certification #scrum leadership #scrum master role

Marielle Rippin

1595098800

Android Interview Questions – Get ready for your next interview

Android – one of the hottest technologies, which is having a bright future. Get ready to crack your next interview with the following android interview questions. These interview questions start with basic and cover deep concepts along with advanced topics.

Android Interview Questions for Freshers

1. What is Android?

Android is an open-source mobile operating system that is based on the modified versions of Linux kernel. Though it was mainly designed for smartphones, now it is being used for Tablets, Televisions, Smartwatches, and other Android wearables.

2. Who is the inventor of Android Technology?

The inventors of Android Technology are- Andry Rubin, Nick Sears, and Rich Miner.

3. What is the latest version of Android?

The latest version of Android is Android 10.0, known as Android Q. The upcoming major Android release is Android 11, which is the 18th version of Android. [Note: Keep checking the versions, it is as of June 2020.]

4. How many Android versions can you recall right now?

Till now, there are 17 versions of Android, which have their names in alphabetical order. The 18th version of Android is also going to come later this year. The versions of Android are here:

Android 1.0 – Its release is 23 September 2008.
Android 1.1 – Its release date is 9 February 2009.
Android 1.5 – Its name is Cupcake, Released on 27 April 2009.
Android 1.6 – Its name is Donut, Released on 15 September 2009.
Android 2.0 – Its name is Eclair, Released on 26 October 2009
Android 2.2 – Its name is Froyo, Released on 20 May 2010.
Android 2.3 – Its name is Gingerbread, Released on 06 December 2010.
Android 3.0 – Its name is Honeycomb, Released on 22 February 2011.
Android 4.0 – Its name is Ice Cream Sandwich, Released on 18 October 2011.
Android 4.1 – Its name is Jelly Bean, Released on 9 July 2012.
Android 4.4 – Its name is KitKat, Released on 31 October 2013.
Android 5.0 – Its name is Lollipop, Released on 12 November 2014.
Android 6.0 – Its name is Marshmallow, Released on 5 October 2015.
Android 7.0 – Its name is Nougat, Released on 22 August 2016.
Android 8.0 – Its name is Oreo, Released on 21 August 2017.
Android 9.0 – Its name is Pie, Released on 6 August 2018.
Android 10.0 – Its name is Android Q, Released on 3 September 2019.
Android 11.0 – As of now, it is Android 11.

5. Explain the Android Architecture with its components.

This is a popular android developer interview question

Android Architecture consists of 5 components that are-

a. Linux Kernel: It is the foundation of the Android Architecture that resides at the lowest level. It provides the level of abstraction for hardware devices and upper layer components. Linux Kernel also provides various important hardware drivers that act as software interfaces for hardwares like camera, bluetooth, etc.

b. Native Libraries: These are the libraries for Android that are written in C/C++. These libraries are useful to build many core services like ART and HAL. It provides support for core features.

c. Android Runtime: It is an Android Runtime Environment. Android Operating System uses it during the execution of the app. It performs the translation of the application bytecode into the native instructions. The runtime environment of the device then executes these native instructions.

d. Application Framework: Application Framework provides many java classes and interfaces for app development. And it also provides various high-level services. This complete Application framework makes use of Java.

e. Applications: This is the topmost layer of Android Architecture. It provides applications for the end-user, so they can use the android device and compute the tasks.

6. What are the services that the Application framework provides?

The Android application framework has the following key services-

a. Activity Manager: It uses testing and debugging methods.

b. Content provider: It provides the data from application to other layers.

c. Resource Manager: This provides users access to resources.

d. Notification Manager: This gives notification to the users regarding actions taking place in the background.

e. View System: It is the base class for widgets, and it is also responsible for event handling.

7. What are the important features of Linux Kernel?

The important features of the Linux Kernel are as follows:

a. Power Management: Linux Kernel does power management to enhance and improve the battery life of the device.

b. Memory Management: It is useful for the maximum utilization of the available memory of the device.

c. Device Management: It includes managing all the hardware device drivers. It maximizes the utilization of the available resources.

d. Security: It ensures that no application has any such permission that it affects any other application in order to maintain security.

e. Multi-tasking: Multi-tasking provides the users the ease of doing multiple tasks at the same time.

8. What are the building blocks of an Android Application?

This is a popular android interview question for freshers.

The main components of any Android application are- Activity, Services, Content Provider, and Broadcast Receiver. You can understand them as follows:

a. Activity- It is a class that acts as the entry point representing a single screen to the user. It is like a window to show the user interface.

b. Services- Services are the longest-running component that runs in the background.

c. Content Provider- The content provider is an essential component that allows apps to share data between themselves.

d. Broadcast receivers- Broadcast receiver is another most crucial application component. It helps the apps to receive and respond to broadcast messages from the system or some other application.

9. What are the important components of Android Application?

The Components of Android application are listed below:

Widgets
Intents
Views
Notification
Fragments
Layout XML files
Resources

10. What are the widgets?

Widgets are the variations of Broadcast receivers. They are an important part of home screen customization. They often display some data and also allow users to perform actions on them. Mostly they display the app icon on the screen.

11. Can you name some types of widgets?

Mentioned below are the types of widgets-

a. Informative Widgets: These widgets show some important information. Like, the clock widget or a weather widget.

b. Collective Widgets: They are the collection of some types of elements. For example, a music widget that lets us change, skip, or forward the song.

c. Control Widgets: These widgets help us control the actions within the application through it. Like an email widget that helps check the recent mails.

d. Hybrid Widgets: Hybrid widgets are those that consist of at least two or more types of widgets.

12. What are Intents?

Intents are an important part of Android Applications. They enable communication between components of the same application as well as separate applications. The Intent signals the Android system about a certain event that has occurred.

13. Explain the types of intents briefly?

Intent is of three types that are-

a. Implicit Intents: Implicit intents are those in which there is no description of the component name but only the action.

b. Explicit Intents: In explicit intents, the target component is present by declaring the name of the component.

c. Pending Intents: These are those intents that act as a shield over the Intent objects. It covers the intent objects and grants permission to the external app components to access them.

14. What is a View?

A view is an important building block that helps in designing the user interface of the application. It can be a rectangular box or a circular shape, for example, Text View, Edit Text, Buttons, etc. Views occupy a certain area of the screen, and it is also responsible for event handling. A view is the superclass of all the graphical user interface components.

15. What do you understand by View Group?

It is the subclass of the ViewClass. It gives an invisible container to hold layouts or views. You can understand view groups as special views that are capable of holding other views, that are Child View.

16. What do you understand about Shared Preferences?

It is a simple mechanism for data storage in Android. In this, there is no need to create files, and using APIs, it stores the data in XML files. It stores the data in the pair of key-values. SharedPreferences class lets the user save the values and retrieve them when required. Using SharedPreferences we can save primitive data like- boolean, float, integer, string and long.

17. What is a Notification?

A notification is just like a message that shows up outside the Application UI to provide reminders to the users. They remind the user about a message received, or some other timely information from the app.

18. Give names of Notification types.

There are three types of notifications namely-

a. Toast Notification- This notification is the one that fades away sometime after it pops up.

b. Status Notification- This notification stays till the user takes some action on it.

c. Dialog Notification- This notification is the result of an Active Activity.

19. What are fragments?

A fragment is a part of the complete user interface. These are present in Activity, and an activity can have one or more fragments at the same time. We can reuse a fragment in multiple activities as well.

20. What are the types of fragments?

There are three types of fragments that are: Single Fragment, List Fragment, Fragment Transactions.

Single Transactions can only show a single view for the user.
List Fragments have a special list view feature that provides a list from which the user can select one.
Fragment Transactions are helpful for the transition between one fragment to the other.

Frequently asked Android Interview Questions and Answers

21. What are Layout XML files?

Layout XML files contain the structure for the user interface of the application. The XML file also contains various different layouts and views, and they also specify various GUI components that are there in Activity or fragments.

22. What are Resources in Android Application?

The resources in Android Apps defines images, texts, strings, colors, etc. Everything in resources directory is referenced in the source code of the app so that we can use them.

23. Can you develop Android Apps with languages other than Java? If so, name some.

Yes, there are many languages that we can work with, for the development of Android Applications. To name some, I would say Java, Python, C, C++, Kotlin, C#, Corona/LUA.

24. What are the states of the Activity Lifecycle?

Activity lifecycle has the following four stages-

a. Running State: As soon as the activity starts, it is the first state.

b. Paused State: When some other activity starts without closing the previous one, the running activity turns into the Paused state.

c. Resume State: When the activity opens again after being in pause state, it comes into the Resume State.

d. Stopped State: When the user closes the application or stops using it, the activity goes to the Stopped state.

25. What are some methods of Activity?

The methods of Activity are as follows:

onCreate()
onStart()
onPause()
onRestart()
onResume()
onStop()
onDestroy()

26. How can you launch an activity in Android?

We launch an activity using Intents. For this we need to use intent as follows:

ntent intent_name= new Intent(this, Activity_name.class);
startActivity(intent_name);

27. What is the service lifecycle?

There are two states of a service that are-

a. Started State: This is when the service starts its execution. A Services come in start state only through the startService() method.

b. Bounded State: A service is in the bounded state when it calls the method bindService().

28. What are some methods of Services?

The methods of service are as follows-

onStartCommand()
onBind()
onCreate()
onUnbind()
onDestroy()
onRebind()

29. What are the types of Broadcast?

Broadcasts are of two types that are-

a. Ordered Broadcast: Ordered broadcasts are Synchronous and work in a proper order. It decides the order by using the priority assigned to the broadcasts.

b. Normal Broadcast: These are asynchronous and unordered. They are more efficient as they run unorderly and all at once. But, they lack full utilization of the results.

30. What are useful impotent folders in Android?

The impotent folders in an Android application are-

build.xml- It is responsible for the build of Android applications.
bin/ – The bin folder works as a staging area to wrap the files packages into the APK.
src/ – The src is a folder where all the source files of the project are present.
res/ – The res is the resource folder that stores values of the resources that are used in the application. These resources can be colors, styles, strings, dimensions, etc.
assets/ – It provides a facility to include files like text, XML, fonts, music, and video in the Android application.

31. What are the important files for Android Application when working on Android Studio?

This is an important android studio interview question

There are following three files that we need to work on for an application to work-

a. The AndroidManifest.xml file: It has all the information about the application.

b. The MainActivity.java file: It is the app file that actually gets converted to the dalvik executable and runs the application. It is written in java.

c. The Activity_main.xml file: It is the layout file that is available in the res/layout directory. It is another mostly used file while developing the application.

32. Which database do you use for Android Application development?

The database that we use for Android Applications is SQLite. It is because SQLite is lightweight and specially developed for Android Apps. SQLite works the same way as SQL using the same commands.

33. Tell us some features of Android OS.

The best features of Android include-

Multi-tasking
Support for a great range of languages
Support for split-screen
High connectivity with 5G support
Motion Control

34. Why did you learn Android development?

Learning Android Studio is a good idea because of the following-

It has a low application development cost.
It is an open-source platform.
It has multi-platform support as well as Multi-carrier support.
It is open for customizations.
Android is a largely used operating system throughout the world.

35. What are the different ways of storage supported in Android?

The various storage ways supported in Android are as follows:

Shared Preference
Internal Storage
External Storage
SQLite Databases
Network Connection

36. What are layouts?

Layout is nothing but arrangements of elements on the device screen. These elements can be images, tests, videos, anything. They basically define the structure of the Android user interface to make it user friendly.

37. How many layout types are there?

The type of layouts used in Android Apps are as follows:

Linear Layout
Relative Layout
Constraint Layout
Table Layout
Frame Layout
Absolute Layout
Scrollview layout

38. What is an APK?

An APK stands for Android Package that is a file format of Android Applications. Android OS uses this package for the distribution and installation of the Android Application.

39. What is an Android Manifest file?

The manifest file describes all the essential information about the project application for build tools, Android operating system, and google play. This file is a must for every Android project that we develop, and it is present in the root of the project source set.

#android tutorials #android basic interview questions #android basic questions #android developer interview questions #android interview question and answer #android interview questions #android interview questions for experienced #android interview questions for fresher

Sigrid Farrell

1623718560

Scrum Master Interview Questions (1): The Role

Scrum has proven time and again to be the most popular framework for software development. Given that software is eating the world, a seasoned Scrum Master is nowadays in high demand. And that demand causes the market-entry of new professionals from other project management branches, probably believing that reading one or two Scrum books will be sufficient. Which makes a suitable set of Scrum Master interview question more necessary than ever to help you identify suitable candidates

If you are looking to fill a position for a Scrum Master (or agile coach) in your organization, you may find the following Scrum Master interview questions useful to identify the right candidate. They are derived from my fourteen years of practical experience with XP as well as Scrum, serving both as Product Owner and Scrum Master as well as interviewing dozens of Scrum Master candidates on behalf of my clients.

scrum master interview questions

Introduction

Maybe ‘Agile’ in general is a fad as opposed to a trend. Though whatever the case, we can say for sure that Scrum is very popular in software development. Demand for seasoned Scrum practitioners and the entry of new professionals into the market are both on the rise.

If you are looking to hire a Scrum Master for your organization, you will find the following interview questions useful in identifying the right candidate. Being cognizant of what to listen for in a candidate’s answers to these questions will allow you, as an interviewer, to more quickly understand not only a candidate’s familiarity with Scrum — but also their agile mindset. Given the complexity of applying agile practices to any organization, multiple-choice questions are mostly insufficient when you need to discern a candidate’s agile mindset.

Topics of the Scrum Master Interview Questions Guide

The interview guide comprises eight topics, from the role and artifacts to collaboration with the Product Owner to Scrum anti-patterns. This article will cover the largest category of them — the role of the Scrum Master:

The Background on the Role of the Scrum Master

Scrum is not a methodology, but a framework. There are no rules that apply to every scenario — just good practices that have worked before in other organizations.
The good practices of other organizations cannot simply be copied to your own. Every good practice requires a particular context to work.
As somebody hiring for a Scrum Team, you need to determine for yourself what works for your organization — which is a process, not a destination.
The role of a Scrum Master is primarily one of servant leadership and coaching. It is not a mere management role. (Although the Scrum Master role also has management aspects, for example, regarding the responsibility for promoting and supporting Scrum within the organization.)
A Scrum Master should recognize that different stages of a Scrum Team’s development require different approaches: some, teaching; some, coaching; and some, mentoring.
A Scrum Master should know of the Shu-Ha-Ri (Japanese martial arts) method of learning new techniques.
A Scrum Master’s principal objective should be to remove themselves from daily operations by enabling the Scrum Team to be self-organizing.
Being a Scrum Master does not entail, and should never entail, enforcing processes.
Scrum is not designed for bean counters, although some metrics help understand the health of a Scrum Team. Generally, insisting that the team achieve specific KPI (e.g. forecasts vs. velocity) does not help.
Scrum doesn’t elaborate on the process that enables a Product Owner to add valuable, usable, and feasible work items such as features to the Product Backlog. Product discovery using the Design Thinking, Lean Startup, or Lean UX frameworks help, but in any case, a good Scrum Master will want the Scrum Team to be a part of this process (whether by participating in user interviews or running experiments).
A Scrum Team’s communication with stakeholders should not be run through a gatekeeper (e.g. solely through the Product Owner) because this hurts transparency and negatively affects the team’s performance. Sprint Reviews, conversely, are a good way to stay in close contact with stakeholders and to present the value delivered by the Scrum Team during each previous Sprint.

The Interview Questions Regarding the Role of the Scrum Master

Question 01: The Scrum Master Role as a Contradiction?

The Agile Manifesto infers people over processes. Isn’t a Scrum Master — whose role is meant to “enforce” the process — therefore a contradiction?

Scrum Masters do not wield any real authority but act as servant leaders. The Scrum Team does not report to them. This question is meant to help reveal whether your candidate understands that their role is to lead — as opposed to managing — the team. Asking this question is also likely to reveal why your candidate is interested in the role of a Scrum Master in the first place.

Acceptable answers should emphasize facilitation and support, for example:

“I am the servant-leader for the Scrum Team. It’s my job to make them successful.”
“I am neither a project manager nor a people manager. I support the Scrum Team in achieving self-organization. I do not tell people what to do.”
“I am the Scrum Team’s facilitator as teacher, coach, or mentor, encouraging them to excel as a team.”

Question 02: Success Factors of “Agile”

What indicators might there be that demonstrate agile practices are working for your organization, and which of these would demonstrate your efforts are succeeding?

There is no standard or general definition of ‘agile success’ that can be used to measure an organization’s agility. Every organization must develop its own criteria. Increasing team velocity is usually not considered to be a meaningful indicator.

However, although mostly indirect, various indicators may be useful in determining success:

Products delivered to customers are resulting in higher retention rates, better conversion rates, increased customer lifetime value, and similar improvements to the business. (A successful Scrum Team provides a good return on investment to the business.)
The improved organizational agility allows pursuing market opportunities successfully, which previously would have been considered futile.
There has been a reduced allocation of resources to low-value products.
Lead time, from validated idea to shipped product, has been reduced.
The cycle time for hypotheses validations has been reduced, speeding up the product discovery process.
Improved team happiness is exhibited by reduced churn and an increase in the number of referrals from team members.
Increased competitiveness in the war for talent can be demonstrated by an increase in the number of experienced people willing to join the organization.
Increased software quality can be demonstrated by measurably less technical debt, fewer bugs, and less time spent on maintenance.
There is greater respect among stakeholders for the product delivery teams.
Stakeholders are increasingly participating in events, for example, during the Sprint Review.

#scrum master #hiring #job interview #interview answers #agile coach #agile coaches #scrummaster #hiring and recruiting

Top 40 Agile Scrum Master Interview Questions & Answers

Scrum Master Interview Questions

1. Explain Agile

2. What Are the Roles in Scrum?

3. What is a Daily Stand-Up?

What is GEEK

Buddha Community

35 Scrum Master Interview Questions and Answers [2020]

Top 130 Android Interview Questions - Crack Technical Interview Now!

Android Interview Questions – Get ready for your next interview

Android Interview Questions for Freshers

Frequently asked Android Interview Questions and Answers

Top 10 Critical Spring Boot Interview Questions and Answers [For Beginners & Experienced]

Basic Spring Boot Interview Questions And Answers

Technical Spring Boot Interview Questions And Answers

Conclusion