how well respected if general assembly product manager course

by Neil Hoppe 10 min read

The General Assembly Product Manager Course is pretty good overall. However, there is an aspect of the course that is not so good: It might be a little too expensive. In general, I think this is a good course to take if you want to learn more about managing products and how they are made.

Full Answer

Which institute is best for product management?

Comparing The Best Online Courses For Project Management.#1) Digital Product Management.#2) Udemy Become a Product Manager.#3) Edx Digital Product Management.#4) Google Project Management Professional Certificate.#5) Edx Product Management.#6) One Week Technical PM.#7) Product Management Course by Product School.More items...•

Is product manager high in demand?

Growth Demand For Product Managers? Glassdoor puts a product manager position as the 4th best job in the United States for 2020. The job portal currently has about 12,173 product manager listings. In the U.S., interest in product management has doubled in the last five years.

Is product manager a good position?

The salaries are generous, the perks are good, the work is rewarding, and the position is in high demand; if that sounds good to you then, yes, Product Manager is a good career. In 2016, the Wall Street Journal reported that Product Manager was the most coveted job title among MBA graduates.

What are the top 3 things that make a good product manager?

Aspiring PMs should consider three primary factors when evaluating a role: core competencies, emotional intelligence (EQ), and company fit. The best PMs I have worked with have mastered the core competencies, have a high EQ, and work for the right company for them.

Are product managers respected?

Product managers are amongst the highest-compensated, most well-respected professions in the world today, even though they're among the least understood. In business schools around the world, MBA students have set their sights on product management as their dream job.

Do product managers make good money?

Product management is a well-paid job and has a high level of job satisfaction. The product manager's salary is primarily based on years of experience, job location and skills. The average annual salary for product managers can range from $61,000 to $200,000 per year.

What is the future of product manager?

The product management market is expected to reach USD 31.84 billion by 2025. Thus, for aspiring and existing product managers who are planning to climb further ahead in the domain, the future is as bright as the sun, if not brighter. All that they need is the right training and mentorship.

Which company pays highest for product manager?

The top-5 companies offering the highest median base salaries for Product Management jobs are Flipkart, Microsoft, Amazon, PayTM and Oyo Rooms.

Can a product manager become CEO?

With hands-on experience in this approach, a product manager can prosper in an executive leadership position. In sum, product managers play a crucial role in product development and acquire the right skills that will help them flourish in their career and ascend to the CEO post.

Is being a product manager stressful?

With great responsibility, comes great stress. Due to its versatility, the role of a product manager is extremely challenging. Although this career is also very rewarding and fulfilling, it can often be frustrating for many reasons.

Is product manager a technical role?

People assume that product managers need to have technical knowledge and skills to become technical product managers. The truth is, any tech person in product management can be a technical product manager. All you need is a technical background and enough experience in the field.

How do I become a Google product manager?

Minimum qualifications: Bachelor's degree or equivalent practical experience. 4 years of technical product management experience such as creating strategic product roadmaps and working with cross-functional teams. Experience driving product vision, go-to-market strategy, and design discussions.

Is product manager a hard job to get?

Is it hard to become a product manager? Because product management blends so many skills and responsibilities, it can be a difficult role to achieve. Product managers often work in other jobs before demonstrating the ability to develop a new product and lead a team.

Who gets paid more product manager or engineer?

Yes, Product Managers are usually paid more than Engineers. The average base pay for Product Managers is $109,000/year, while the average base pay of Engineers is $92,000/year. There are some exceptions to these income levels. However, Product Managers generally earn higher incomes than Engineers.

Is a product manager a stressful job?

With great responsibility, comes great stress. Due to its versatility, the role of a product manager is extremely challenging. Although this career is also very rewarding and fulfilling, it can often be frustrating for many reasons.

Who pays the most for product managers?

The United States of America holds the highest average base pay of $108,992. In contrast, India pays an average of $21,687 per year to product managers. Read more about salaries in our product manager salary and career guide.

General Assembly Product Management Review

Over the years, General Assembly has helped transform hundreds of students into successful product management experts.

Alternatives to General Assembly Product Management Courses

General Assembly provides some practical and reliable courses. But what about others?

Final Verdict

All things considered, are General Assembly product management training courses really worth your time and money?

What is a product management course?

General Assembly’s online part-time product management course is an instructor-led course that teaches students how to lead products and teams through the entire product lifecycle, from research to launch, while staying customer-focused throughout the whole process.

How much has the product manager role grown?

In 2019, LinkedIn published an article reporting that product management roles grew an incredible 32 percent from 2017 to 2019 in the US. This upward trend continues, and the product manager’s role is now considered essential in most organizational structures.

Why did Aileen understand product management?

Because of the variety of real-life experiences that other learners brought to class, Aileen understood the course material better. Hearing how other people used product management gave her a broader view of the topics discussed.

What influenced Aileen to take bootcamp?

Aileen was quick to name three things that influenced her decision of taking the bootcamp’s product management course: the hands-on and practical training, the diverse learning community, and the quality of instructors.

What did Aileen Jiang do after her business degree?

After completing her business degree at NYU with a minor in social entrepreneurship, she interned in Buzzfeed and Huffington Post. These internships sparked her interest in ads and helped her land a sales job at Google.

What is the curriculum of product management?

The course curriculum mirrors the real-world practice of product management. Students learn how to create a product roadmap based on a product vision. They also gain a practical and industry-relevant skill set on product strategies and how to launch viable products that solve customers’ pain points. The course’s updated curriculum focuses on Agile best practices, stakeholder and team management, and how to work with data.

What is a product manager?

A product manager sit s at the center of customer needs, business strategy, and technology. They play an essential part in building an organization’s digital fluency, allowing it to evolve and transform its digital products to meet customer demands.

Why are product management skills relevant today?

Lying at the intersection between business, design, and technology, product management is the practice of identifying and building out products that are viable, feasible, and desired by your customers.

What are the professional backgrounds of product management students?

Product Management is the best course for new product managers, entrepreneurs, and others exploring a career that bridges business, design, and tech. You’ll find a diverse range of students in the classroom, including:

Can I work full-time while enrolled in this product management course?

Yes! All of our part-time courses are designed for busy professionals with full-time work commitments. Depending on your location, classes meet twice per week in the evenings, or all day on Saturday. If you’re able to dedicate a full week to learning, we also have a full-time, accelerated 1-week option. You may opt to take this course in-person at one of our 30+ campuses or online via our Remote classroom setup.

What projects will I work on during the course?

For your final project, you’ll apply all of the concepts and tools learned in the course to develop a product or feature of your choice. You’ll get hands-on practice with each step in the PM process and create professional-standard documentation spanning market research, prototyping , health metrics, and more. You’ll also deliver a final presentation, which can serve as a case study for stakeholders, future employers, and your portfolio.

What is a non-PM professional?

Non-PM professionals such as UX designers, engineers, and project managers who work with product teams and are looking to build fluency in the discipline.

What is GA instructor?

GA instructors are committed to providing personalized feedback and support to help you gain confidence with key concepts and tools.

What is Skills Up?

Solution: As part of its Strategic Workforce Planning initiative, the SKILLS UP programme is a five-year partnership with General Assembly to train employees in future-facing topics, including product management.

What skills do product managers need?

It is vital for a product manager to learn certain skills such as user design, engagement and growth, analytics, market research, product development, and planning.

Why is product management important?

Product management is an important role that makes companies understand and analyse the requirements of the users and deliver solutions as products that will be beneficial in organisation growth.

What is upgrad basecamp?

Interaction with peers - We at upGrad organise BaseCamps which includes an informative and career-building workshop by industry professionals and professors and you will get to participate in group activities with your peers and alumni. This will help you build your network within the industry. We also include live sessions by experts on various industry topics and one on one discussions with industry professionals.

Will Product School open doors?

Will it open some doors? Definitely — both Product School and General Assembly have a strong network of connections in the industry to get your foot in the door. Is it enough to break into a job? Maybe — Product Management is a hot role right now, and there are hundreds of applicants for every PdM role that’s open in any serious market right now. If any of those people have practical experience in the role, they’re going to move ahead of you in line — even if they don’t have a certificate from any of the existing schools out there.

Who teaches this product management course?

Our instructors represent the best and brightest product managers who have worked for Google, eBay, and Zendrive. They combine in-depth knowledge as practitioners with a passion for nurturing the next generation of talent.

Why are product management skills relevant today?

Lying at the intersection between business, design, and technology, product management is the practice of identifying and building out products that are viable, feasible, and desired by your customers.

What projects will I work on during the course?

For your final project, you’ll apply all of the concepts and tools learned in the course to develop a product or feature of your choice. You’ll get hands-on practice with each step in the PM process and create professional-standard documentation spanning market research, prototyping , health metrics, and more. You’ll also deliver a final presentation, which can serve as a case study for stakeholders, future employers, and your portfolio.

How to graduate with a polished capstone project?

Graduate with a polished capstone project. Apply the end-to-end PM process to develop a product or feature that’s aligned to both customer needs and business goals. Compile documentation and deliver a compelling stakeholder presentation to share your insights.

Who is the senior project manager at Cantina?

Solari, senior project manager at Cantina, tackled the problem of choice overload among adult readers with Litspiration, a recommendation app. She used competitive analysis, risk assessment, and feature roadmapping to highlight its product/market fit.

Can I work full-time while enrolled in this product management course?

Yes! All of our part-time courses are designed for busy professionals with full-time work commitments. Depending on your location, classes meet twice per week in the evenings, or all day on Saturday. If you’re able to dedicate a full week to learning, we also have a full-time, accelerated 1-week option. You may opt to take this course in-person at one of our 30+ campuses or online via our Remote classroom setup.

Critiques on Marty Cagan's Product Management

I recently heard from a senior PM that the way Marty Cagan envisions Product Management is a bit pie in the sky. Do other people feel this way? I'm having a hard time finding any sort of critique or criticisms on the materials he's put out so I was very curious if anyone has come across such materials

What's the best hiring process you've been through and why?

I read a lot of questions in this sub about how to "nail an interview" from the applicant side, but what about from the company side...

Transitioning from Systems Engineering to a PM

I'm 34, have a background in software development (BSc, never worked as a developer), and I work as a SE in a defense company, we have a big system of systems that in the center of it, there's a fancy software, I'm the SE of that software system.

Any recommendations for good books on product management?

Background here is I am working in a scale up environment, I am responsible for product strategy, scoping, delivery and testing with a team of 6 engineers for all products right now, but as we grow I need to scale product team side and put more robust processes and standards in place to maintain quality output.

How do you go about requirement gathering?

I'm a project manager who transitioned to internal technical product owner and while I love product, I'm in a new industry and I'm already overwhelmed. When I was a project mgr I also gathered some requirements but the app I work on has no UI which makes it even more difficult.

How to transition to Head of Product or a role that manages PMs?

How do you manage to get in a position where you start gaining the skills required of becoming a Head of Product or a position that ultimately leads other PMs?

Carlos Gonzalez de Villaumbrosia Follow

It’s time for the showdown! Who offers the best product management course in San Francisco? Is it the big player, General Assembly, or the up-and-comer, Product School? Well… Turns out that both are really good, it just depends on what you want to get out of it. Let’s elaborate.

Course content

The first thing to consider when making a decision. Both courses offer education on the most important topics of business, technology, design and communication. You’ll learn the essential product manager skills: from persona development to prototyping.

Instructors

The quality of both courses relies deeply in the quality of its instructors. We recommend that you assess this yourself. Just go to the info sessions and talk to the team and instructors. Product School even offers 1-hour workshops on the side of the 8-week course, which is useful if you want to get a taste what the program is like.

Class schedule

As its name suggests, General Assembly’s course is comprised of whole day classes during weekdays and sometimes weekends. This is great if you’re looking for an immersive experience, but not so great if you want more flexibility.

Price

Huge gap here. The General Assembly immersive course’s price tag reads $10,500 for a 10-week program, whilst Product School’s course costs $3,500 for an 8-week program.

BIG OBVIOUS DISCLAIMER

This content was written by the Product School team. The fun fact is that this program was built by our CEO, Carlos González de Villaumbrosia, after his experience as the Lead Instructor for General Assembly’s product management course. It was not created to compete, but to serve the needs of a more specific target.

Pooja Agrawal

" Huge gap here. The General Assembly immersive course’s price tag reads $10,500 for a 10-week program, whilst Product School’s course costs $3,500 for an 8-week program" I do not think it is fair to compare a full time program with part time program. General assembly has a part time course for product management for $3,2500.

What is the difference between Product School and General Assembly?

However, Product School’s approach is more hands-on (including a final project deliverable), whereas General Assembly’s is more theoretical.

Is General Assembly a day course?

As its name suggests, General Assembly’s course is comprised of whole day classes during weekdays and sometimes weekends. This is great if you’re looking for an immersive experience, but not so great if you want more flexibility.

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