Which Product Management Training Format Is Right for Me?

We are in the Golden Age of Product Management, with product management jobs increasing as much as 33% a year. It’s a great time to add product management skills to your resume or launch a new career as a Product Manager. When comparing types of product management training, there are many factors to consider. Everyone learns differently, and choosing the proper training is critical to your experience.

Keep reading to learn more about the different formats of product management training, how they compare, and how to determine which is best for you.

What is Product Management?

Product management is the process of managing a particular product, including physical products, software programs, and other digital products. A Product Manager oversees a product through the four stages of what product management calls “The Product LifeCycle:” introduction, growth, maturity, and decline. In product management, Product Managers are often referred to as the "CEO of the product."

Product management is at the intersection of tech, business, and design. Successful Product Managers must train in all three core product management skill sets: coding, user-driven design, and project management. Product management connects the different teams who develop a product. For example, a Product Manager might work simultaneously with a development team, a design team, a marketing team, stakeholders, and customers to manage the development and launch of a successful product. 

The Product Manager is an advocate for the customer and serves as a liaison between the teams developing a product and the users of the product. User experience is a critical part of product management, so Product Managers are expected to incorporate user-driven design principles and conduct user reviews of their product during the development and after launch. 

Read more about what product management is and why you should learn it. 

What Can You Do with Product Management?

Product management is a combination of tech, design, and business. You’ll need creativity, technical knowledge, and leadership skills to become a Product Manager. You will need to develop skills in all three to launch a new career in product management. However, the variety of skills creates a lot of flexibility in product management. 

Coding skills are essential to an aspiring product manager. You don’t need to be an expert coder, but you will need to understand the process of building a digital product. As you probably already know, coding skills are highly desired by employers. You could even work as a coder while continuing the rest of your product management education. 

Design skills are invaluable in many industries: design, digital design, fashion design, publishing, manufacturing, software development, art, marketing, web design, and animation. Product managers must know user experience (UX) and user interface (UI) design. Training in these includes learning programs like Adobe XD, Adobe Sketch, and Figma. 

Project management skills are required for Product Managers. Developing project management skills is great for the job market: the Project Management Institute (PMI) estimates that more than 22 million new jobs will be created for people with project management skills by 2027. Project management skills are also highly versatile since Project Managers are in demand across industries. 

Training Formats for Product Management

Product management training comes in two primary formats: live instruction or self-directed. Live training, whether in-person or online, provides more interaction and engagement. You’re also guaranteed to learn up-to-date, relevant skills. On-demand training can be free or paid but is typically self-directed.

In-Person Product Management Training

In-person training is the most traditional form of learning a new job skill and most likely the method you have the most experience with. Learning face-to-face can offer considerable advantages in networking and mentoring, particularly for those new to product management who don’t have any current contacts in the field. One potential drawback of in-person training is that in-person class options might be limited in hyper-specialized fields such as product management.

You’ll need to see if there are in-person product management classes in your area before you enroll. Noble Desktop offers in-person product management courses at its state-of-the-art campus in Midtown Manhattan. Students are provided high-speed Wi-Fi, a computer lab, a student lounge, and complimentary coffee while learning. 

Product Managers need a combination of tech knowledge, design skills, and management education. Since Noble Desktop is a business, coding, and design school, they have a unique ability to teach the three parts of product management. For example, they offer a Software Engineering Certificate to help you build technical and coding skills. Their UX & UI Design Certificate trains students in user-driven design principles, user research, and product design software applications. And Noble Desktop’s Project Management Bootcamp provides comprehensive management training. One advantage of combining bootcamps in each focus is that you receive more in-depth training than you might in a course dedicated only to product management. 

Other in-person product management classes include UC Irvine’s Technology Project Management Boot Camp, which prepares graduates to become professional Scrum Masters. UC Irvine also offers a UX/UI Design Bootcamp relevant to aspiring Product Managers. Residents of New York and Toronto can train in product management with BrainStation, which offers courses in product management and design thinking. 

Live Online Product Management Training

The recent explosion in product management jobs has created a demand for more structured forms of job training. In-person course options might be limited in your area because product management is still relatively new as a career path. However, just because there are no in-person courses in your area doesn’t mean you can’t start a lucrative and exciting career as a Product Manager. 

Live online classes offer all of the same benefits as in-person classes. Because the course is happening live, you will be able to communicate and interact with your instructor in real time. You can ask questions whenever you need. You can collaborate on projects with your classmates. You can even receive direct feedback on your work via screen-sharing software. One huge advantage of live online classes is that you can launch your new career as a Product Manager without ever leaving your home. You’ll also reduce commute time and leave more flexibility in your current schedule.

Noble Desktop specializes in training students in business, design, and coding: the three primary skill sets required for Product Managers. Noble Desktop offers live online product management courses taught by expert instructors to small class sizes. Their expert instructors begin with a “micro-lecture” introducing a topic. Students are then guided through hands-on, real-world projects to apply what they just learned. Courses also come with a “learn the skills guarantee” via their “free retake” option, which allows students to retake any course for free to continue developing their skills. 

Students interested in product management can receive extremely in-depth training through a sequence of three of Noble Desktop’s live online programs. Understanding coding is critical for a Product Manager who must oversee the development of a product. Noble Desktop’s Software Engineering Certificate provides comprehensive training in websites and applications' front and back end, including hand coding in HTML, CSS, JavaScript, Python, and React. Aspiring Product Managers can gain user-driven design skills with Noble Desktop’s UX & UI Design Certificate. Topics covered include design thinking and principles, conducting user research, and prototyping. To acquire business and management training, you should consider their Project Management Bootcamp. Students gain experience managing projects through real-world case studies and acquire project management education hours that they can apply toward certification. 

You can see other live online product management courses using Noble Desktop’s Classes Near Me Tool. Some schools offer product management courses, including Thinkful, General Assembly, BrainStation, and 280 Group. Course options include beginner courses, intermediate courses, and single-day workshops. 

Free Online Courses & Tutorials

If you’re not quite ready to commit to product management, free online courses are a great way to see if it’s a career path that you’d like to explore. You can learn some of the foundations of product management before you fully commit. For example, Udemy offers a free tutorial, Fundamental Steps of Product Management which covers the basics of product management using a real-world case study. A few colleges, such as the University of Maryland College Park, offer free product management lectures on their website. Or, you might consider Product Crash Course, which delivers its free introductory product management course directly into your email inbox. 

Read about more free product management videos and online tutorials.

On-Demand Classes

If you’ve decided to study product management, you’ll need to decide how you want to study product management: live or on-demand. Product management is currently ranked as a “Top 10 job in the U.S.” by Glassdoor. The average salary for a Product Manager is around $125,000 annually. Product management is also a skills-based job, meaning you can become a Product Manager without a bachelor’s degree. On-demand courses and resources are a great way to learn the basics of product development. If you’d like to pursue product management more seriously, you should consider enrolling in a more structured product management course. 

Comparison of Product Management Training Formats

Product management combines business, coding, and design into a creative and lucrative career. Product Managers earn an average base salary of $125,000 annually. It’s a great time to start a career as a Product Manager: product management jobs grew around 33% from 2017 to 2019. Choosing the proper product management training format will depend on your goals: do you want to learn a few things about product management, or do you want to start a new career as a Product Manager? 

Live classes, whether in-person or online, are the most dynamic and trustworthy format. Students can ask questions and gain invaluable feedback from an expert instructor. There are more opportunities for mentorship and portfolio building. Live online classes make world-class courses available to everyone. You can train in product management no matter where you live. 

On-demand courses are recommended for people who want to learn the basics of product management or explore their career interests. On-demand courses are typically less expensive than other formats; however, they lack live instruction, retake options, 1-on-1 mentoring, and hands-on instruction. 

Is it Possible to Teach Yourself Product Management?

Free online resources are a great way to explore an interest in product management or gain some knowledge of the basics. While it is great to be self-taught when starting your journey, you’ll need verifiable, trusted training to get hired as a Product Manager, such as live instruction from a highly-rated school, such as Noble Desktop or Stanford. 

How to Decide the Best Way to Learn Product Management

Deciding the best way to learn product management will come down to how you want to use the skills you learn. If you’re planning to launch a new career as a Product Manager, your learning goals will differ from someone looking to add product management skills to their current job. 

If you’re a beginner exploring an interest, introductory courses and resources are a great option. Many of these are free online, and they will allow exploring product management without cost or time commitments. If you want to develop a solid working knowledge of product management, a bootcamp is recommended. Bootcamps typically offer immersive and comprehensive training in topics geared toward improving your career or launching a new one. 

If you’re already serious about a new product manager career, you’ll want to consider a Certificate program. Certificates and certifications are the gold standards in skills-based fields like product management. A Certificate demonstrates to employers that you’re qualified as a Product Manager and helps you get hired. 

Learn Product Management with Hands-on Training at Noble Desktop

Since product management is a relatively new career, there is no single path to becoming a Product Manager. To become a Product Manager, you do not typically need a bachelor’s degree. You will need a mix of the three product management core skill sets: coding, user-driven design, and project management. Bootcamps in coding, UX design, and project management are a great way to acquire the knowledge you need to become a Product Manager. 

Noble Desktop offers bootcamps in coding, design, and business live online and at its state-of-the-art campus in Midtown Manhattan. Since Noble Desktop offers bootcamps in all three core product management skills, it is an excellent choice for aspiring Product Managers. All of their courses have guaranteed small class sizes. Noble Desktop’s expert instructors teach a “micro-lecture” introducing a topic and then guide students through applying what they learned through hands-on, real-world projects. There is a “free retake” option on their courses, allowing students to retake the course free to refresh their knowledge or continue developing their skills. 

Noble Desktop’s Software Engineering Certificate is a great option for aspiring Product Managers who will need to understand how applications are made. This bootcamp immerses students in coding and building applications using HTML, CSS, JavaScript, React, Python, Django, and Node.js. Expert instructors will guide students through hands-on projects to develop skills in coding the front and back ends of websites and applications. Students receive over 500 hours of live, hands-on instruction and twelve 1-on-1 mentoring sessions. Graduates earn a New York State Licensed Certificate in Software Engineering. 

Product Managers are required to put users first. Understanding user-driven design is critical for a Product Manager. Noble Desktop offers a UX & UI Design Certificate that provides comprehensive training in user experience (UX) and user interface (UI) design. Students in this project-based bootcamp master user-centered design essentials, conduct research and product testing, and digital product design. Students become experienced users of Figma, Sketch, and Adobe XD. Students develop a professional portfolio and receive 1-on-1 job mentoring. Graduates earn a verifiable digital certificate which is shareable on Linkedin. 

The successful development and launch of a product is a project. Product Managers are required to have highly-developed project management skills. Noble Desktop’s Project Management Bootcamp provides comprehensive training in project management principles, practices, and methodologies. Topics covered include the “Project LifeCycle,” risk management, resource management, budgeting, and project management terminology. This boot camp includes training in project management methodologies Waterfall, Critical Path, and Agile, including Scrum, Kasan, and Extreme Programming (XP). Graduates earn a Certificate in Project Management which is shareable on Linkedin.