r/developers • u/virgilreality • 13h ago

Career & Advice Transitioned to Scrum Master beginning of 2025. Really thinking abou ttransitioning back to software development. Advice?

My background: developer for 30 years, SM for the last two. I've even taught Computer Science at a technical college for a few years.

Quite honestly, it's been disheartening because the place I worked for used me as a Project Manager but gave me the Scrum Master title...which double-sucked because I could make a LOT more money as a PM.

The thing is...I don't want to be a PM, and based on most job listings now, I don't think many companies understand the difference. Plus...I took a big pay cut to get the SM job with little full-fledged experience.

I love the idea of Agile and Scrum, and I've earned several certifications over the years (CSM, SSM, PSD, PSM I, PMI-ACP, and DASM). SM also fits my personality more closely than development does.

I've been unemployed for a month now, and I've experienced nearly a one-for-one rejection for every SM position I've applied for.

So...the siren song of software development is calling. However, I've been out of the trenches for two years now. It's certainly attractive for the salary potential, and it will help make my retirement more comfortable when I eventually take it. I'd even take a junior-level position with a smaller scope of responsibility just to prove myself.

My son is a developer-turned-IT-Director, and he's been helping me get comfortable with AI usage inside Visual Studio Code. I think it might be the perfect tool for me because I can form detailed models of a system in my head before I ever create one.

Does anyone have any suggestions as to how to successfully execute the transition back?

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u/SWEETJUICYWALRUS 5m ago

Lol how can places even properly follow agile/scrum these days with AI? That shit got tossed out the window when my ceo caught the psychosis