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 Academia!
- What does Product Academia do?
- Who is Product Academia for?
- What does Product Academia cost?
- Ratings and reviews of Product Academia
- Alternatives to Product Academia
- How does Product Academia compare to Pathrise?
What does Product Academia do?
A women-owned organization, Product Academia is a product management bootcamp. Their primary goal is to help women get back into the workforce by landing a job as a product manager. They offer in-person courses at their campus in Santa Clara, CA, as well as live online options. Students choose from subjects such as project management professional (PMP) certification, Scrum certification, Scrum for marketing, Agile transformation programs, and Agile for HR professionals.
Certain courses, such as the PMP certification and the product management essentials courses, must be taken in-person. Other courses can be taken either in-person or online. Each course requires 2-4 days of classroom instruction for a total of 16-36 hours of work. Online courses are live. So, attendance is mandatory. At the end of the PMP and Scrum certification courses, students take a mock certification exam in an environment that resembles the one they will be tested in. To earn their certificates, students must register for and take the exam on their own.
A relatively new bootcamp, Product Academia students can create a custom plan. They frequently host free meetups and workshops as well.
Who is Product Academia for?
Women who are looking to learn the basics or advance their skills in a specific product management topic could benefit from the bootcamp. In particular, the program is targeted at women who are re-entering the workforce and looking to land a job as a product manager.
What does Product Academia cost? How much work is involved?
Tuition for courses range from $599 for the Scrum for Marketing and Agile for HR professionals courses to $1,799 for the product management essentials course.
To enroll, candidates select a course and fill out a brief application. Then, they make a payment via credit card.
Ratings and reviews
As a relatively new program, there are no online reviews of Product Academia.
Alternatives to Product Academia
If you decide not to enroll in Product Academia, there are a fair number of online resources and alternative bootcamps in product management.
- edX is one of the largest online learning platforms. They have courses from top universities like Harvard and MIT as well as big tech companies like Microsoft. Learn more about edX in our review.
- You can check out Udacity and Springboard. These online educational platforms can be used to brush up on the basics or advance current tech skills. Read more about Udacity and Springboard in our reviews.
- Those who are interested in online learning platforms, as opposed to bootcamps, can also consider Coursera and Udemy. They offer courses that teach product management tools and metrics.
- With part-time and full-time programs, Product School is a product management bootcamp. They provide weekly mentorship and career support as well.
- Similarly, aspiring product managers can also check out Product Faculty, Product Management Studio, and 280 Group. They offer part-time and full-time bootcamps to help people learn the skills to land a job in product management.
- Those looking to advance their product management skills and network with a community of peers can check out membership and classes at Product Gym, ProductHood, Product Talk Academy, and Silicon Valley Product Group.
- Similarly, product managers with some experience can check out the community and courses on Mind the Product.
More alternatives
- One of the most well known bootcamps is General Assembly. They offer full-time, part-time, and 1-day courses on a variety of topics like software engineering, data science, UX design, digital marketing, product management, and more. Read more about General Assembly in our review.
- Pragmatic Institute, Pluralsight, and OpenClassrooms are tech bootcamps and online resources with courses in product management, data science, and product marketing.
- 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.
- Likewise, aspiring product managers might like One Week PM. Created by Product Manager HQ, both programs teach product management fundamentals and include networking with aspiring and current PMs.
- You can also consider Product Innovation Educators, which has courses that give grads official certificates.
- BrainStation and The Tech Academy have in-person and online offerings in product management, data science, and other topics.
- 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.
- 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.
- Likewise, School16 teaches marketing, sales, and product management.
How does Product Academia compare to Pathrise?
Product Academia is an online product management bootcamp. They are focused on helping women learn new tools and prepare for certification exams, such as the PMP. While students can customize their own plan and receive 1-on-1 feedback from a career coach, their courses do not provide job search guidance.
Pathrise is a full service organization that helps product managers land the best job possible. Fellows participate in workshops and 1-on-1 sessions that focus on resume and LinkedIn optimization, portfolio building, technical and behavioral interviewing, and more.
Our program is flexible. There are only 2-4 hours of sessions per week. Fellows can schedule 1-on-1 sessions as needed. Workshops are live, as well as recorded, so fellows can revisit previous material and keep learning.
Pathrise is a career accelerator that works with students and professionals 1-on-1 so they can land their dream job in tech. If you are interested in optimizing your job search by working with a mentor, become a Pathrise fellow.
Apply today.
