Product Manager Certifications: Meet Your Career Goals
Product Manager Certifications: Meet Your Career Goals
Emily Rivers
Marketing & Product
Apr 11, 2024
5m
TABLE OF CONTENTS
TL;DR: There are product management certifications available for product managers of all levels, including those who want to learn about agile processes and scrum. While the certification from Product School is perfect for beginners, the Certified Product Manager Credential by AIPMM is best for managers looking to take the next step in product management. But keep in mind that real-life experience is one of the best ways to grow their careers and use product management certifications to boost their practical skills and knowledge.
Best for Aspiring Product Managers: Product Manager Certification (PMC) by Product School
The Product Manager Certification by Product School is perfect if you've just started or want to start a career in product management. Led by top Silicon Valley product leaders from tech companies like Google and Meta, you'll get hands-on experience through live lectures and real-world scenarios.
Course content
What makes great product managers
Understanding your customers
Strategic alignment
How to bring concepts to reality
How to create a go-to-market plan
How to win over hiring managers
Why Productlane recommends it
Get unlimited access to course materials for 2 years
Formal training in small online classes
Industry recognized certification
Course duration and cost
30 hours, either part-time over 2 months on weeknights or weekends, or full-time over 5 days
From $1,760 per month
Prerequisites
None - no prior experience needed
Best for Improving Your Product Management Skills: Certified Product Manager Credential by AIPMM
The Certified Product Manager certification by AIPMM is ideal for product managers looking to take their career to the next level. Offering both online and in-person learning, this course helps you to learn key skills and strategies for marketing throughout the product life cycle and how to create a marketing plan for your product. There's a certification exam at the end to show off what you've learned.
Course content
Developing case study materials
Crafting business plans
Performing competitive analysis
Product life cycle modeling
Why Productlane recommends it
Learn at your own pace with live, on-demand and in-person teaching
Review program structure and video samples before you commit
Internationally recognized professional association for PMs
Course duration and cost
Up to 20 hours
From $125 for an AIPMM membership
$395 for self-paced study
Prerequisites
Recommended for product marketing managers and product owners with at least 3 years of experience
Best for Senior Product Managers: Product Strategy by Kellogg at Northwestern
The Product Strategy certification course is ideal for a senior product manager looking to step into leadership and strategy roles. It teaches a growth-oriented approach to product strategy, taking into account user research and techniques that cover the entire product roadmap. This product management course prides itself on giving PMs hands-on experience to help them progress in their careers.
Course content
Analyzing new product opportunities
Assessing the pros and cons of different business models
Creating buyer personas and other product marketing essentials
Using agile processes grounded in the jobs-to-be-done framework
Why Productlane recommends it
Helps project managers and product owners break into higher-paid product management roles
Has more of a focus on product marketing
Offers an applied learning project to help learners apply their new skills immediately
Course duration and cost
2 months, 4-6 hours per week; mix self-paced and live online classes
$2,850
Prerequisites
Anyone can take this product management certification, but it's recommended that you have prior experience in product management from any point of a product's life cycle
Best if You Want to Learn About the Scrum Framework: Certified Scrum Product Owner (CSPO) by Scrum Alliance
Scrum Alliance's Certified Scrum Product Owner certification is ideal if you've got some experience in agile development but want to master Scrum. It teaches you how to maximize your product's value and how backlog grooming within the scrum framework can help you achieve more.
Course content
Product owner core skills
Goal setting and planning, including using sprints
Understanding your customers
Validating product assumptions
Why Productlane recommends it
Offers a professional product management certificate without an exam, which suits many learners
Helps you gain skills that you can apply immediately to your product process
Explains scrum in a simple-to-understand way to open the door for other opportunities
Course duration and cost
Approx. 16 hours over 2 days, online live
$895, but offers run regularly
Prerequisites
None, but it's recommended that you've been a product manager or project manager for at least 3 years
FAQs on Product Manager Certifications
You might also like