Has anyone had a good experience with Product School in SF? Considering going there. Seems like a great value. Has anyone found success getting a job after graduating?
This is a certification program. Enables you with tools and metrics thats been used by PMs.. not recommended for 10+ experienced folks in any industry. Good for folks who are new and less experienced
Depends on where you are coming from . Are you in a role that's well aligned transition to product management ?
I’m also considering a weeklong product mgmt class in SF. Currently a Growth Mktg Mgr at a large startup. There may be opportunity to convert but I want to formalize some skills. Advice?
PM Certifications are useless. You could learn more about product management by reading the Gayle laakmann book.
An old co-worker wrote their curriculum and textbook called "the product book." I read some of the book, and it's thorough/clear/useful.
I interview pm candidates at fb. Product school won't really teach you anything unique and it means nothing to have it on your resume. You're better off just reading three books: 1. Cracking the pm interview (teaches you what pms do and how it varies from company to company) 2. Swipe to unlock (teaches you how tech works on a high level under the hood which is valuable if you aren't coming from an engineering background but the core value of this book is it goes into a lot of tech strategy of all the major companies which is extremely valuable context) and finally 3. Decode and conquer (teaches you how to think about how to approach pm interview questions via an actionable framework) Product school is a glorified networking opportunity. I'm told it's "fun" for what that's worth though lol
Great. Thank you
OP making a career switch, I take it? Also, have you looked into General Assembly? I made a career switch and went to GA.
Trying to make a switch from Operations to PM. Heard great things about GA. I think that’s the move. I’ve built a few apps already but a more formal schooling like GA would be great. Glad to hear you’ve had success through them. I appreciate the advice!
That’s great! Will your current company allow you to make the switch once you complete a program? If you’re looking to stay at the same company, I’d def let them know you want to advance (within the same company) and that you’re taking steps outside of work to put yourself in a better position to do so.
My roommate did the PS course and hated it. He ended up not even finishing it because it was so boring and he didn't feel like it would help him actually get a product job. I echo everyone else's sentiment. Just read Gayle's book.
I have a couple of friends who wanted to break into PM who did this and it didn’t help at all. At the beginning they talk through helping network towards potential opportunities but there is no referral or any way to why interview calls. You’re on your own. As far as content is concerned, it’s basically stuff you can get on Youtube or through $10 courses on Udemy. Like someone above said it’s a very expensive networking exercise. Kinda like an MBA ;)
I want to know as well, trying to convert into product management