{"id":78708,"date":"2022-09-15T09:59:50","date_gmt":"2022-09-15T08:59:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.prodpad.com\/?p=78708"},"modified":"2025-01-13T16:25:50","modified_gmt":"2025-01-13T16:25:50","slug":"product-management-certifications","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.prodpad.com\/blog\/product-management-certifications\/","title":{"rendered":"6 Product Management Certifications That Are Worth the Hype"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

I\u2019m going to be real with you, I\u2019m not sure product management certifications are all that. There I said it. Now you know. BUT, don\u2019t click away now you know the truth, because it means you can trust me. I\u2019m not recommending for the sake of recommending. I\u2019ve done my research, and I\u2019ve found 6 product management certifications that are worth the hype<\/strong>.

Being a product manager means that you are constantly learning; learning about your product, your market and most importantly, and likely most often, from your mistakes. It\u2019s a job where things are more likely to be in a state of flux, so learning is inherently what we do day in and day out. 

But, how did we become who we are, how did we get where we are, how did the many millions of us product managers get into this line of work, and what training did we do to get here? 

The path to product management is different for different people, I didn\u2019t go to university, I fell into product management and learned on the job. Which has its merits, I worked hard and learned from my mistakes – I too used to think a roadmap in a spreadsheet with dates on it was best practice – none of us are perfect.

I will say though, for too long too many of us have found ourselves product managing, with no formal training, and find ourselves muddling through till we\u2019ve got to a place where we somehow have cobbled enough knowledge together to look like a successful product manager. Wouldn\u2019t it be nice to have a clear path to follow, led by someone or a group of someones who know what they are talking about? <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Why get a product management certification?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

There is always value to be found in furthering your knowledge, the late great Henry Ford once said, \u201cAnyone who stops learning is old, whether at twenty or eighty. Anyone who keeps learning stays young. The greatest thing in life is to keep your mind young.\u201d There is no shortage of learning resources out there; books<\/a>, podcasts<\/a>, events, blogs, and slack communities<\/a>. But the way people product manage evolves and changes – what might have been gospel in 2012 (like gantt charts), isn\u2019t what\u2019s considered good product management now. We know now<\/em> that it\u2019s better to work lean with Now, Next, Later roadmapping<\/a>. 

My biggest piece of advice for you is please don\u2019t get hung up on the actual certification – the badge. Anyone can knock up a badge design and throw it around – and plenty of people have! Professional certifications have been cheapened by the proliferation of this sort of thing. So the badge is not where the value is. The value is in the learning; the course content, the opportunity to talk to experts, and the chance to hear how other people are approaching the discipline. And THAT is what this list is based on – the courses (some of which will give you a badge at the end) that will provide the best learning experience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The pros of a product management certification<\/h3>\n\n\n\n