Product management courses can deliver a major boost to your career development, whether you’re trying to break into the field or climb further up the career ladder. Courses teach new skills that can help professionals land their first product manager role, and they can strengthen the credentials of more experienced PMs, priming them for a senior position.
We’ll dive deeper into product management course options, the benefits of taking courses and numerous examples to jumpstart your career advancement.
How to Choose the Right Product Management Course
Choosing a product management program should depend on your goals, said Nancy Wang, general manager of data protection services at Amazon Web Services and CEO of Advancing Women in Tech.
Three Questions for Choosing a Product Management Course
- Is the instructor someone who has done the work? Does that person have a career path you admire or see yourself doing?
- Are there sufficient hands-on exercises in the course that give you a real taste of what product management is like?
- Are you learning the right skills to be successful for the type of product role that you want to pursue?
Those looking to become a more valuable contributor to their product team may take courses, which focus on a specific topic or skill and sometimes offer self-paced options. Meanwhile, those who want to become a viable candidate for a higher product role may look at MBA programs in product management and certification programs, which can include up to several courses, a final assessment and a certificate at the end. Both types of programs also provide instructor feedback, interview tips and other professional development services.
In addition, be sure to review your instructor’s background. Do they have experience working in product management roles? Are they tied to a credible institution or organization? Do they specialize in any topics that match what you’re interested in learning? Ensuring your instructor’s background aligns with your own goals will allow you to get the most out of a course.
Whatever course you select, it should include plenty of real-world examples on subjects like customer journeys, user research, pricing models and competitive analysis methods.
“To be frank, I’ve interviewed over 100 PMs now for Google and Amazon,” said Wang. “I never asked the question, ‘What courses have you taken? My questions are always ‘What have you built?’ or ‘Walk me through a time when you negotiated requirements with customers?’ If you’ve done that, it will come out. If you haven’t done that, no amount of book instruction is going to teach you how to answer that question.”
That said, product management courses come with benefits that can carry lasting implications for your career trajectory.
Benefits of Further Education in Product Management
No matter what stage you’re at in your career, product management courses can accelerate your career growth and advancement due to several advantages.
Increase Your Value
Acquiring new skills qualifies you to take on more responsibilities while helping you become better at completing current tasks. Being a multi-faceted worker allows you to contribute to your team’s performance in more ways than before, and company management will view you as a more valuable employee as a result.
Diversify Your Portfolio
Product management is a very hands-on field. The case studies and real-world examples you engage with in courses enable you to reinforce your portfolio with relevant applications of your knowledge. Being able to show what you know sets you apart as a top candidate.
Expand Your Network
Who you know within the product management field matters just as much as what you know. The students and instructors you meet in product management courses can serve as valuable resources later down the road. For example, an instructor-turned-connection may assist you with writing a letter of recommendation, finding other course offerings and even securing a job.
Earn a Promotion
The skills and experiences accumulated through product management courses can be the difference in you earning a promotion. Besides expanding your knowledge, taking courses and certifications shows your commitment to learning and mastering topics within your field.
20 Product Management Courses
If you’re ready to bolster your career advancement, we’ve compiled a list of the top 20 product management courses for you to explore.
1. Product School’s Product Management Certifications
Product School offers certificate courses taught by product leaders at companies like Twilio, Meta and Google. With weekly live online sessions, the program is designed to ensure instructors and students can keep up with their full-time jobs. In addition to covering product management topics, these courses also provide access to mentoring, resume help, mock interviews and other career services. Courses examine real-world use cases and follow a progressive career pathway that awards certificates for product managers, senior product managers and product leaders.
Cost: $154 per month for each certification
Length: Eight-week part-time course; five-day intensive course
2. University of Virginia’s Digital Product Management: Modern Fundamentals
This University of Virginia course is broken into four one-week modules focused on leveraging customer insights and data to successfully manage digital products. The course targets product managers interested in revamping their methods and moving up the ladder. Those who complete this course can count it as credit toward the Digital Product Management Specialization or Leading the Modern Day Business Specialization.
Cost: Free
Length: 11 hours with a self-paced option
3. Advancing Women in Tech’s Real-World Product Management Specialization
Nancy Wang is the lead instructor for the Real-World Product Management Specialization, a four-course Coursera sequence that applies the product curriculums of Amazon and Google. The course focuses primarily on business and pricing models that product managers use to demonstrate their success. Current and aspiring product managers also watch live Google and Amazon interviews to hone their interview skills.
Cost: Free
Length: Four months with flexible scheduling
4. Product HQ’s Product Manager Certification Course
Product HQ’s product manager certification course introduces students to the basics of project management while providing opportunities to complete their own hands-on projects. Participants get access to over 70 lectures, downloadable templates and interviews with industry leaders. In addition, those who finish the course earn a certificate and the right to join a global Slack community of product management leaders.
Cost: $350
Length: Self-paced course
5. Product HQ’s Technical Product Manager Certification
Product HQ also offers a technical product manager course that caters to those curious about the technical product manager track, teaching both the fundamentals and career skills needed to land a role in the field. Students can review over 140 lectures, 15 hours of content and five product manager templates. Successful graduates of the course gain access to a product manager Slack community, which features some of the industry’s top leaders.
Cost: $399
Length: Self-paced course
6. Udemy’s Become a Product Manager | Learn the Skills & Get the Job
This popular product manager course from Udemy is structured around 13 hours of videos, activities, interviews and other resources. Students get to explore topics like the product lifecycle, wireframes, prototypes, software development concepts and Agile methodologies. The course also provides guidance on how to craft a resume and search for a product manager job, empowering students to succeed beyond the class itself.
Cost: $99.99
Length: 12 hours and 55 minutes of content with self-paced option
7. Product Lessons’ Product Toolkit
The Product Toolkit is an online course module designed for both newcomers eager to learn and experienced product managers looking to level up their skill sets. Besides covering the ins and outs of being a product manager, the kit also touches on subjects like salary negotiations. The starter kit option comes equipped with 60 lessons, 65 real-world examples and 27 product manager templates. However, students have the option to choose more customized plans.
Cost: $119 for the starter kit
Length: Self-paced course
8. General Assembly’s Product Management Course
General Assembly’s product management course spans topics like Agile methodologies, stakeholder management and data management. Students can also beef up their portfolios with real-world projects, such as designing a product feature or delivering a stakeholder presentation. Post-course lessons on resumes, interviews, job searches and other career development areas allow students to prepare for securing a product manager position.
Cost: $4,500 with flexible payment options
Length: 10-week part-time course; one-week accelerated course
9. LinkedIn Learning’s Product Management First Steps
This product management course from LinkedIn Learning eases beginners into the waters of project management, providing an overview of the six stages of the product lifecycle — research, plan, build, release, refine and retire. The course touches on areas like product pitches, product tests, user personas and product evaluations. Besides online videos, students can sharpen their knowledge with two exercise files and eight quizzes. Those who finish the course are rewarded with a certificate of completion.
Cost: $24.99
Length: 96 minutes with a self-paced option
10. Boston University’s Product Management with Lean, Agile and System Design Thinking
Boston University’s product management course encourages students to embrace alternative approaches to lean, Agile and waterfall methods. Participants apply this creative thinking to the product launch process, touching on subjects like product roadmaps, defining minimum viable products and crafting go-to-market strategies. Through these lessons, students can become data-driven thinkers while designing user-focused products.
Cost: Free
Length: Self-paced; four to eight hours per week recommended
11. 280 Group’s Optimal Product Management
280 Group offers a slate of product management courses, including its Optimal Product Management course. Participants study product-market fit, user research techniques and product lifecycle frameworks. While the course is 24 hours total, students can break it up into live online sessions, three eight-hour days of in-person learning or a self-paced option. To earn certification, students must take either a product manager or product marketing manager exam.
Cost: $1,495 starting price
Length: 24 hours total with online, in-person and self-paced options
12. Udacity’s Become an AI Product Manager
This Udacity nanodegree program focuses on AI in business and guides participants through the process of designing AI products. Students learn AI concepts while developing data sets for machine learning models, applying training data and evaluating data models. The course revolves around three projects that the Udacity reviewer network examines. This way, students can diversify their portfolios while receiving in-depth feedback.
Cost: $678 for two-month access
Length: Two months if taken at 10 hours per week
13. Skillshare’s Fundamentals of Product Management
Skillshare offers an online Fundamentals of Product Management course for first-time entrepreneurs. Taught by CEO Ellen Chisa, the course consists of 13 lessons and covers topics like creating a feature list, expanding a user flow, creating wireframes and scoping a project. Skillshare’s course is geared toward beginners and allows learners to develop their own product management side project.
Cost: Free
Length: 29 minutes total with a self-paced option
14. BrainStation’s Product Management Course
BrainStation provides an online, part-time product management course. Students learn how to identify market opportunities and user needs, create a comprehensive product launch and gain a greater understanding of product management frameworks like Agile. Students conclude the course by developing a go-to-market plan for a new product, forming the foundation for a product manager portfolio.
Cost: Submit request for more information
Length: Two months in a part-time format
15. Northwestern’s Product Strategy: Discovering, Developing, Managing, and Marketing Products as a Business
Northwestern’s Kellogg School of Management offers an online product strategy course. The two-month course is intended for business managers and leaders from a wide range of industries who are involved in the product lifecycle. Led by Professor Sawhney, the course consists of live webinars, real-life case studies and customized assignments and quizzes. Upon completion of the course, learners should know how to build a wireframe, create a strategy roadmap and calculate the revenue and profit analysis for subscription businesses.
Cost: $2,423 starting price
Length: Two months at a pace of four to six hours per week
16. Mind The Product’s Product Management Foundations
Mind The Product hosts a Product Management Foundations remote training workshop geared toward working product managers. Over the course of two half-day sessions, learners will take part in online lectures, discussions, Q&As and group activities. The workshop covers a variety of topics such as design thinking, goals alignment, persona development, lean testing, user stories, wireframes and prototypes.
Cost: $799
Length: Two consecutive half-day sessions
17. Blackblot’s Strategic Product Manager Course
Blackblot provides an online Strategic Product Manager training program that gives learners the skills needed to plan and manage complex products. The program covers a variety of areas related to the topic including product planning, sales and marketing. Each program attendee receives a training package, which includes a toolkit, a digital seminar slides booklet and access to Blackblot’s career networking group.
Cost: Submit request for more info
Length: Submit request for more info
18. Cornell University’s Product Management Certificate Program
Cornell University’s Product Management Certificate Program equips learners with the skills needed to develop and manage products end-to-end. Over six courses, students will cover topics such as product hypothesis development, product vision and prototyping. Cornell University’s flexible, online program is personally developed by the university’s faculty and is designed to complement learners’ professional schedules.
Cost: $3,900
Length: Three months at a pace of three to five hours per week
19. Institute of Product Leadership’s Product Management Fundamentals
The Institute of Product Leadership offers a digital learning course that covers the fundamentals of product management. Conducted via live seminars, the two-week course teaches students a broad range of skills including value proposition design, design thinking, Agile user stories and marketing and launch planning. The course is intended for project managers, software developers, marketing professionals and more.
Cost: $99
Length: Two weeks at a pace of four to five hours per week
20. RMIT Online’s Product Management Fundamentals
RMIT Online provides a remote product management fundamentals course. The eight-week course covers a broad range of areas such as product vision and opportunities, market and competitor analysis, go-to-market strategy, prioritization frameworks and strategic product roadmaps. Throughout the course, participants are granted access to a network of industry experts and have the opportunity to build a portfolio for future employers.
Cost: $1,200
Length: Eight weeks at a pace of five to eight hours per week
