What is a Product Management Course, and Why is it important?

In today’s digital age, digital applications and services have become part and parcel of everybody’s daily routine. Netflix, Instagram, Uber, Airbnb, Tinder- the list goes on. Who does not order food or grocery items every once in a while? Got stuck in a place and looking for a quick ride back home? Or, looking for the cheapest and most amazing staycations available? But have you ever wondered, though, about the incredible group of experts working behind the scenes to create these amazing products and services that appeal to everyone?

Although several people are working on these different products in their various stages of development to bring them to life, one person plays a significant role from its conception to its launch—the product manager. 

A product manager is an expert who helps materialize a company’s vision and objectives by identifying the customer needs and creating a product or digital service that is of value to the customers. Thus, a product manager is an integral cog in the organizational growth by rebranding the company’s image Bri, bringing innovative ideas to the table, and assisting them in enacting them by acting as a liaison between the business, design, and software teams. According to Glassdoor, the product manager is the fourth most in-demand job role in the United States for 2023. Product management remains a popular career choice due to its high demand, diverse opportunities, attractive salary packages, and reliable career trajectory.

Therefore, if you plan on becoming a product manager, it is wise to invest your time, effort, and money into an excellent product management course that will equip you with the essential skills and advanced knowledge necessary to kickstart a successful career in this domain.

What is product management?

Product management is a rapidly expanding field, and as the name suggests, it involves a series of ideas, strategies, and teamwork to ‘manage’ a product, which is the hero of any organization. A product can be anything, such as a digital application, a service offering, or both. Managing this product is the most crucial aspect of an organization, as marketing, sales, or even finance will cease to exist if there is no product.

Product management plays a pivotal part in leading a product’s development lifecycle. It oversees the various stages of a product’s lifecycle, from conception to production to its final pricing stage. The focus is always on identifying the customer's needs, developing a product that matches the necessary requirements, and bringing it into the market to satisfy consumer demands.

What does a product manager do?

A product manager analyses the consumer market and collaborates with the engineering and design teams to create a compliant product. Thus, a product manager dons multiple hats, which requires them to carry out varied roles and strategize with different departments, including finance, marketing, and administrative teams, in addition to the technological department. The products thus created play a huge role in driving the company to success and increasing the financial aspect. A product manager conducts extensive research, analyze data, and share their finding with the cross-department team, ensuring that everyone on the team is on the same page in order to work on the product ideas they want to pursue.

How to become a product manager?

The product manager career path involves the following steps: 

1.   Educational qualifications

• Earn the right degree

To pursue a successful career as a product manager, one needs to have a bachelor’s or a master’s degree in the domain you are looking to be a product manager, coupled with an MBA degree. A degree in economics, statistics, marketing, or business can help you gain a comprehensive understanding of the fundamental principles and lay a solid foundation to gain advanced knowledge related to product management.

• Pursue a product management course.

Apart from this, enrolling in online courses like a product management bootcamp program will help you learn the specialized skills and tools that a product manager uses on a day-to-day basis. Moreover, these boot camp programs follow an interactive learning approach that teaches a concept from start to finish through hands-on project-based classes. This will help you get accustomed to the product management lingo and will put you ahead in the game. Let us take a deep peak at what exactly a product management course is and what you can expect to learn from it.

A product management boot camp program is a fast-paced, intensive training program that teaches students in-demand skills in a condensed capsule format within a short period of time. Usually, the course can vary anywhere between a few months to over a year. Also, these product management boot camp programs are highly flexible in nature in that they can be accessed remotely or in person and are full-time programs. However, if you intend to continue working while training in the program, you can think about part-time or self-paced options.

For instance, you can avail an excellent product management professional certification course from SP Jain School of Global Management that is offered on the digital platform of Simplilearn. The program features live sessions by industry experts and teaches you different concepts of Product Management like Product Strategy, New Product Ideation, and Development, Product Lifecycle Management, Design Thinking, UI/UX, as well as tools used by product managers on a daily basis like JIRA, Mixpanel, Google Analytics, and Balsamiq. The program empowers you to become an AI-powered product manager via ChatGPT, Google Bard, Gencraft, Midjourney, and Picsart. You will also gain real-world experience by solving product problems by working on projects for Facebook, Tesla, Instagram, Netflix, and Nike.

2. Gain relevant work experience

Building your experience by undertaking projects within your present organization is a great way to take one step toward your goal. You can do this by taking the initiative to resolve a specific problem or assist with the different aspects of the product development lifecycle. This will help you to develop your analytical and problem-solving skills as well as foster teamwork, which can be a great buildup for your portfolio. You can also learn important skills and gain experience by applying to positions such as a junior product manager, associate product manager, or product owner and work your way up to become a product manager.

Importance of a professional certification

Certified product manager is in high demand as they have the advanced skills and knowledge to build products that meet consumer demands and are in line with the organization’s goals. Typically, having a professional certification helps one to advance in their career as well as avail attractive incentives in the form of higher salary. Statistics from leading job portals suggest that a certified product manager earns a salary that is $20,000 higher than an uncertified product manager. Moreover, a product management certification can attest to your knowledge and increase your appeal in front of recruiters. It also helps you gain advanced knowledge, practical skills, and experience.

In conclusion, product management is an integral part of a product development lifecycle, and product managers play an integral role in carefully planning solutions to solve a particular issue and inspire the team to create something innovative that caters to customer needs.

(Devdiscourse's journalists were not involved in the production of this article. The facts and opinions appearing in the article do not reflect the views of Devdiscourse and Devdiscourse does not claim any responsibility for the same.)