Course knowledge is easy to recite in Scrum, so a scrum master's first screen should confirm they have worked with a real team through many sprints and can describe changes they helped the team make. Plan on 15 to 20 minutes, and ask about specific sprints and what changed because of them.
What does a scrum master do?
Scrum is defined in the 2020 Scrum Guide, which says the scrum master "is accountable for establishing Scrum as defined in the Scrum Guide." Day to day, that means making sure the Scrum events happen and stay useful (Sprint Planning, the Daily Scrum, the Sprint Review and the Sprint Retrospective), coaching the team to manage its own work, helping the product owner keep a clear backlog and getting obstacles out of the team's way. The guide says the team decides "who does what, when, and how," so a scrum master doesn't hand out tasks.
Which skills should you check at each level?
| Level | What they should be able to talk about |
|---|---|
| Junior (0 to 2 years) | Running the Scrum events within their time limits, keeping the Jira board current, tracking obstacles the team raises (the Scrum Guide calls them impediments), basic charts such as velocity and burndown |
| Mid-level (2 to 5 years) | Coaching a team toward self-management, retrospectives that lead to change, backlog refinement with the product owner, handling outside interruptions, dependencies on other teams |
| Senior (5+ years) | Several teams or a scaled framework such as SAFe, coaching managers and leaders, flow measures such as cycle time, organizational obstacles |
What screening questions should you ask a scrum master?
We wrote these questions for this page.
Walk me through a sprint on your current team, from planning to retrospective.
It shows whether they have run the events or only read about them.
Strong answer: gives the sprint length, how planning works and what the last sprint goal was, how the Daily Scrum runs, who comes to the review and how retrospective actions are tracked. The Scrum Guide sets sprints at one month or less and the Daily Scrum at 15 minutes, and their answer should fit inside that.
Weak answer: a general description from a course, with nothing about their own team.
Tell me about a retrospective that led to a real change.
Strong answer: the problem, the format they used, the action the team agreed, who owned it and how they checked that it stuck.
Weak answer: "We discuss what went well and what didn't."
A manager keeps adding work to the team in the middle of a sprint. What do you do?
Strong answer: talks to the manager directly, routes new requests through the product owner and the backlog, makes the cost of interruptions visible and escalates if the pattern continues.
Weak answer: lets it happen, or flatly refuses without a conversation.
The Daily Scrum has turned into a 40-minute status meeting. How do you fix it?
Strong answer: brings it back to a short check on progress toward the sprint goal, moves problem-solving into separate conversations, and coaches the team to run it themselves.
Weak answer: "I run the meeting and ask each person for an update."
How do you know whether your team is improving?
Strong answer: looks at trends over time, such as cycle time, how often sprint goals are met and defects found after release, plus how the team feels. They warn against comparing velocity between teams or turning it into a target.
Weak answer: "Our velocity went up," as the only measure.
What's the difference between your job and the product owner's?
Strong answer: the product owner decides what goes in the backlog and in what order; the scrum master coaches the team and clears obstacles. They give an example of helping the product owner without taking over.
Weak answer: says the scrum master prioritizes the backlog.
Tell me about an obstacle you removed that the team couldn't remove on its own.
Strong answer: something specific, such as getting test environment access, untangling a dependency on another team or speeding up an approval, and who they worked with to do it.
Weak answer: "I removed blockers," with no example.
What red flags should you note?
- Describes the job as assigning tasks, collecting status or managing people.
- Has certifications but little time with a team. Scrum Alliance's Certified ScrumMaster (CSM) is earned through "16 hours of training" and a 50-question test, so it shows training rather than experience.
- Can't say what their last retrospective changed.
- Uses velocity to compare teams or individual people.
- Talks only about tools and ceremonies, never about the people on the team.
Note them and ask in your own call. If you suspect someone is being fed answers or replaced, read how to spot a proxy interview.
How do you run this screen with Simplehire?
Create the role with the skills the client wants as its required skills, for example Scrum events, coaching, backlog refinement, Jira, agile metrics and SAFe if the client uses it. Send the interview link; the candidate talks with our AI interviewer in the browser and you get a screening report before you submit them.
| Tier | Price and length | Scrum roles it fits |
|---|---|---|
| Basic | $2 per screen, about 15 minutes | First screens and high-volume reqs |
| Adaptive | $3 per screen, about 20 minutes | Scrum masters you plan to submit. Follow-up questions and a per-answer AI assessment help separate lived examples from course material |
| Advanced | $5 per screen, about 30 minutes | Senior and multi-team roles, with deeper follow-ups on strong answers |
Read the Screen summary with the red flags above in mind, especially whether the candidate talks about the people on the team or only about ceremonies and tools. The verdict, Skills demonstrated X/Y and Areas to probe sit alongside it, and you make the final call. Every screen runs in enforced full-screen mode, with copy and paste restricted or flagged and tab switches recorded with timestamps; a person reviews every alert. You can also require a paired second device that shows the candidate's desk.
There are 25 free Basic screens a month, and you don't need a credit card to use them; see pricing. For related roles, see the IT project manager and business analyst questions.
Frequently asked questions
Is a scrum master the same as a project manager?
No. The Scrum Guide makes the scrum master accountable for establishing Scrum and describes coaching the team in self-management. A project manager plans and controls a project's scope, schedule and budget. Some companies combine the two jobs, so check what the client means by the title.
Does a Certified ScrumMaster (CSM) prove experience?
No. Scrum Alliance's CSM requires a course of about 16 hours and a 50-question test. It shows the candidate learned the framework. The screen should find out whether they have done the job with a real team.
Which Simplehire tier fits a scrum master screen?
Because course material is easy to recite, we'd use Adaptive ($3 per screen, about 20 minutes) for most scrum masters: its follow-up questions show whether a retrospective or obstacle story came from a real team. Basic ($2, about 15 minutes) works for high-volume first screens, and Advanced ($5, about 30 minutes) for senior or multi-team roles.
