Your #productmanagement certification could be worthless.
Let me correct that a bit – it has some value,
If you are getting your first job in product,
If you don’t have real world exposure to building products,
If you have never really learnt the theory,
Does that mean all training for #productmanager is a waste of time and money?
No, not all of it, but most places offering certifications are wasting your time and money.
Whether it is a training institute or a reputed MBA college.
Any PM learning based on theory alone is a waste.
Product Management is not a theoretical skill
There is some value in knowing the theory
But knowing how to apply that,
Knowing how to navigate the real world,
Dealing with practical challenges and team dysfunction,
Dealing with changing priorities, executive interference,
Dealing with stonewalling by other teams
Winning your early customers
Building systems for scale and growth
That has real value.
If you are thinking of getting a certification or even paying for training
First ask the following questions:
– Who will be teaching?
– Has the trainer built products? Did they succeed? Did they scale?
– Will they be talking about theory or will they share real world examples?
– How will you learn to apply everything you learn?
– Will there be any support for solving problems you face at work?
– Is the curriculum updated with latest changes in tech and approaches?