Photo of Product Manager HQ review as a product management bootcamp

A review of Product Manager HQ as a PM bootcamp

Hi, I’m Sam! I have been a product manager for years. Now I work as an industry mentor for the product, strategy, and operations track at Pathrise. I help people land their dream job through workshops and 1-on-1 mentoring. Check out my review of Product Manager HQ.

What does Product Manager HQ do?

Product Manager HQ is an online product management bootcamp and community that helps people launch careers as product managers. Their courses are flexible and self-paced. They also offer a Slack community for product management Q&A, networking, and job assistance.

Their flagship 1 week program teaches students everything they need to know to become a product manager. The course includes over 6 hours of content with 70+ lectures, 5+ downloadable product management templates, plus exclusive interviews with industry leaders. The curriculum teaches students product life cycles, development cycles, development methodologies, product ideation, and user research. Students also create screener questionnaires, write interview guides, create comprehensive product specs, estimate feature development timelines, and learn wireframing/prototyping. The course is fully interactive and students graduate with polished PM projects.

They also offer a 1-week technical product management course called One Week PM. This more technical program features 140+ lectures, 6+ hours of content, 5+ downloadable tech product management templates, and exclusive interviews with successful technical product managers. Students watch recorded lectures, answer challenge questions, and build their own technical PM projects. The curriculum covers system design, architecture patterns, software ops, dev ops, product analytics, plus front-end & back-end web and mobile app frameworks. Students also learn advanced technical product management topics like machine learning, virtual reality, IoT, blockchain, and much more.

Photo of Sample user interview questions
 
More info

Both courses include job support. Students get frameworks for answering popular product manager interview questions and learn to stand out in the recruiting process. The course helps students to optimize their resumes, create product manager case studies, and ace their interviews. They also include live video walk-throughs of real product management case studies.

All students get full lifetime access to the Product Manager HQ community Slack. Their 700+ member community work at over 600 of the world’s premiere companies like Google, Facebook, Netflix, and more. Dozens of members have landed product jobs after joining the community. In addition, new jobs are posted every day. The community also hosts “Ask Me Anything” discussions every few weeks, allowing members to ask career questions and get answers live.

Photo of Product Manager HQ slack community

 

Who is Product Manager HQ for?

People with little to no experience in product management who are looking to start their PM career could benefit from Product Manager HQ’s courses. The program is especially helpful for people with full-time jobs who are seeking a flexible, short course. In addition, product managers of all experience levels can benefit from the active community offered by Product Manager HQ.

What does Product Manager HQ cost? How much work is involved?

The 1-week product management course costs $197. Students can add a week of 1-on-1 mentorship to the course for a total of $497. The cost of the technical product management course is $297. People can also pay $25 for lifetime access to their community without buying the courses.

Their self-paced courses only require 30 minutes to 1 hour of work every day for just 1 week. There is no formal admissions process, their courses and community are open to anyone. Prior technical experience is not mandatory. 

Ratings and reviews

While they do not have many user ratings, so far Product Manager HQ has mostly positive reviews. They were listed among Built In’s top product management courses of 2020 and made it onto the Product Company’s top product management certification courses. Their Slack community was also one of Product Board’s top 15 Slack Communities for product managers.  They have positive user testimonials available on their own site.

The program holds an 8/10 rating on Finances Online, winning a “Great User Experience” award and named a “rising star” of 2018. A Product HQ member on Reddit was impressed by the active community, commenting that “their slack group is a great place to connect with all types of PMs.” The user also appreciated that there was “a dedicated channel to connect with other product managers to practice your interview skills” and prepare for the job search. Overall, people seem satisfied with Product Manager HQ’s community Slack and self-paced courses.

Alternatives to Product Manager HQ

If you decide not to enroll in Product Manager HQ, there are a number of other resources and bootcamps to help you land a job as a product manager. 

  • Another popular product management community, Mind the Product has over 150,000+ active members. They offer workshops, memberships, and networking for aspiring product managers. Their program is virtual and they offer lifetime access to their alumni Slack, just like Product Manager HQ.
  • The product management associations Product Gym, Silicon Valley Product Group, Product Talk Academy, and ProductHood offer training, job support, and networking opportunities for aspiring product managers. Classes are flexible and include remote options.
  • Similarly, Product School and Product Management Studio teach full-time and part-time product management courses. Like Product Manager HQ, students graduate with official product management certificates they can use to get a job.
  • Students seeking a more advanced curriculum can check out Product Faculty, a part-time online product management bootcamp. Grads get an advanced product management (APM)(R) certificate.
  • Likewise, students in Product Innovation Educators and 280 Group courses receive certificates upon graduation.
  • Women, GNC people, and trans people can check out CodeOp, which has courses in web dev, data, and product management.
  • You can also check out Bubble no-code bootcamps to learn how to make products without coding. Learn more about Bubble in our review.
  • The popular tech bootcamp General Assembly teaches full-time, part-time, and 1-day courses on a variety of topics including product management as well as software engineering, data science, UX design, digital marketing, and more. Read more about General Assembly in our review.
  • Similarly, BrainStation is a bootcamp with product management courses. Students work on product management projects, participate in professional development, and get access to 1,000+ hiring partners including Google, Facebook, and more.
More alternatives
  • The bootcamp Product Academia has full-time and part-time PM courses. Graduates get official certificates similar to Product HQ. Their focus is on helping women launch careers as product managers.
  • Students can also check out Thinkful and Knowledge Officer, which have courses in product management, marketing, and more.
  • Similarly, Product Hall and Blackblot are product management bootcamps with live courses and 1-on-1 mentoring opportunities.
  • You can also consider Linky Product, which has self-paced courses and a bootcamp. Beginners can also check out Dorm, which helps people get into startups.
  • Another online bootcamp, GrowthX Academy has courses for people who are interested in product management, UX design, growth marketing, sales, and business development. Their program is self-paced like Product Manager HQ and they have 1-on-1 mentoring opportunities. Likewise, School16 teaches marketing, sales, and product management.
  • edX is a massive online learning platform with courses from top universities like Harvard and MIT, plus big tech companies like Microsoft. Students can choose to learn the fundamentals or dive deeper into specific topics, like data science and Agile systems for product management. Learn more about edX in our review.
  • A good option for students on a budget, Coursera hosts free product management courses taught by professors at accredited universities. Their online courses feature recorded lectures, hands-on assignments, and community discussion forums similar to Product Manager HQ’s Slack community.
  • Students seeking low-cost product learning can also check out Udacity. They offer self-paced courses on product strategy, design, and launch. Students build polished PM projects for their resumes and work closely with experienced mentors. Learn more about Udacity in our review.

How does Product Manager HQ compare to Pathrise?

The courses and community offered by Product Manager HQ are for people interested in starting a career as a product manager. While an interest in tech is recommended, many students start with no experience. Job-seekers in the Pathrise program should already have some background in their chosen field so they can get the most out of our technical interview training. 

Pathrise is a career accelerator that has helped 1,000+ people land their dream job. Fellows work 1-on-1 with mentors on all phases of the job search, including resume and LinkedIn optimization, portfolio building, technical and behavioral interview skills, and much more. The curriculum is tailored to the needs of each fellow.

Our program is flexible with only 4 hours of group sessions per week and 1-on-1 sessions that can be scheduled as needed. The Pathrise income share agreement (ISA) means that our fellows never pay until they land a job they love and start working. We never require deposits or upfront payments.

Pathrise optimizes the job search through 1-on-1 mentoring. Fellows in our program see their interview scores double and their application responses triple, landing jobs in just 3-5 months on average. If you want to land your dream job faster, join a Pathrise. 

Apply today.

Pathrise logo

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *