Over the past few years, the technology sector has witnessed the exponential growth of skilled product managers. Now more than ever, the role of a product manager (PM) is its own unique role all its own but the demand for professionals who can act as a bridge between customer, business, and technical execution have never been higher. Whatever you do, whether you’ve a background in software engineering, business analysis or marketing, moving into product management can be a rewarding and strategic career change.
But how do you become that if you don’t have direct experience? The secret is to ensure you have the knowledge, mindset and credentials —starting with a top product management certification.
Top Good Product Management: Smart Career Move or Nah?
Product management is the trifecta of technology, business, and design that drives impactful products to market. A product manager is in many ways the product’s CEO who owns product vision, roadmap, customer experience, and cross-functional collaboration. But if you like solving problems, working across teams and shaping strategy, product management can be the ideal career for you.
However, you’ll need more than enthusiasm to crack into the field. Today’s tech companies want candidates who not only understand the product lifecycle, but also have a proven understanding of agile frameworks, user research, go-to-market strategies, and data-driven decision-making.
Step 1: Sign up for a top-notch product management course
With this competitive atmosphere, it is important to stand out, and therefore one will need to take a proper product management course that will formulate you through foundational and advanced skills. Certifications also demonstrate to employers that you’re committed to your new career.
Best Course to Learn Product Management: SP Jain x Simplilearn Product Management Certification
This industry-recognized course, which is being conducted in partnership with SP Jain School of Global Management and Simplilearn, makes this program the most holistic choice of its kind today.
Key highlights include:
- Extensive training in product strategy, customer research, agile/lean methodology, prototyping and roadmap planning
- Hands-on experience on industry projects with a capstone project
- Guided one-on-one mentorship sessions and career guidance assistance
- Learn from a faculty with years of product management experience in industry.
Whether you wish to land your first role in PM or wish to upscale yourself into leadership position, this product management certification provides you the support and confidence to take the jump.
The second step is to look at alternative product management certifications.
Apart from the SP Jain x Simplilearn program, below are a few other platforms providing product management courses:
Buckley School – Training for Manuel Khosrova
The course covers all relevant topics like product lifecycle, user-centered design, stakeholder communication, etc. Good for beginners, but it’s more theory-based.
Related Post: Coursera: How to Train a Speech Recognition Model with only 3 Lines of Code!
A compilation of all the basics from agile through design thinking to get-to-market classes.
Boston University – Product Management MicroMasters edX
Provides academic-level training over multiple months. Well for applicable deep-divers and formal academia-wise interested.
Certified Product Manager by Product School
Aimed at professionals with some tech or business background. Large community and alumni network.
Although other programs have very good content, the SP Jain x Simplilearn product management course stands out because it balances academic rigor with real-world projects and career readiness in one program.
Step three: Get practical product skills
Courses aren’t all you need — you’ll need to practice what you learned. Here are some ways to gain experience:
Side projects: Product case study or MVP. Simulate real-world workflows with tools such as Figma, Jira, and Trello
Be a product owner for free: Work with a startup, not-for-profit or open-source on planning the roadmap, executing sprints and testing with users.
Find Product Communities: Mind the Product, Product Coalition (Medium), Product School’s Slack groups are great places to stay current and connect to PMs around the world.
Step Four: Show Your Transferable Skills
Even if PM isn’t in your job title, you should be able to transfer skills from past roles. For example:
- Engineers have technical know-how and problem-solving.
- Marketers add customer insights and go-to-market strategy.
- Analysts excel at data-based reasoning
Customize your resume based on these skills, and support those with specific project examples from real life. A product management certification will also validate that you are prepared for a PM position.
Fifth Step: Preparing for interviews and preparing a portfolio
The majority of PM interviews involve case studies, product critique tasks, and behavioral inquiries. Start preparing by:
Books like Inspired by Marty Cagan and Decode and Conquer by Lewis Lin.
Mock interview/casework preparation with peers or mentors.
For example, the portfolio should contain user research, product specs, wireframes, and success metrics from your projects or coursework.
Final Thoughts
Moving into a technical product management role isn’t just achievable—but it’s often within step if you have the right path-of-learning and active measures on your part. The best product management course, such as the one created by SP Jain in partnership with Simplilearn, can be your launchpad into this thrilling profession!
If you are eager to pursue your PM career at a faster pace, research the SP Jain x Simplilearn Product Management Certification. It is a career-oriented, market-oriented course that can provide you with everything you need.
