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 Faculty.
- What does Product Faculty do?
- Who is Product Faculty for?
- What does Product Faculty cost?
- Ratings and reviews of Product Faculty
- Alternatives to Product Faculty
- How does Product Faculty compare to Pathrise?
What does Product Faculty do?
Product Faculty is an online product management bootcamp that helps people develop the skills necessary to land their dream job. In fact, their part-time course is a career accelerator. Product managers with 1-3 years of experience are the target audience. They are based in Toronto. But, all their courses are offered online due to Covid-19.
The flagship 8-week product management course meets live on Saturdays from 9:30am to 4:30pm EST with about 60 hours of content total. The course is flexible. Students also meet weekly with mentors, participate in office hours, and graduate with an Advanced Product Management (APM)(R) certificate. The curriculum covers both basic and advanced product management skills including PM foundations, product strategy, roadmaps, Agile methods, business, data, and UX design skills. Students get unlimited lifetime access to the community Slack.
The program includes job support. Students participate in 1-on-1 career mentorship and hands-on exercises that mirror on-the-job challenges. The curriculum offers practical case study reviews, resume critiques, and mock interviews to help their grads become a product manager.
Who is Product Faculty for?
People with 1-3 years of experience in product management who are looking to boost their career could benefit from Product Faculty’s course. The program is especially helpful for people located in Toronto.
What does Product Faculty cost? How much work is involved?
Their full 8-week program costs $3,450 CAD or about $2,580 USD.
The admissions process begins with a brief written form asking applicants to list their background and motivations. Then, applicants participate in a final interview. There is no formal technical interview or exam. But, 1-3 years of product management experience is necessary.
Ratings and reviews
Product Faculty has mostly positive reviews. They hold a 4.93/5 stars on Course Report. In addition, they were on SwitchUp’s top bootcamps list. Graduates praise the program for its in-depth curriculum and positive community, but some had mixed feelings about the job support.
A top reviewer on Course Report raved that “instructors are truly passionate” and “the community they created is very special.” She felt the program was perfect for people in the “early stage of product management” and that its in-depth curriculum made it unique. A grad on Course Compare was also impressed by the “fantastic instructors and the guest speakers” as well as the curriculum. However, the grad “wished they would help you prepare better before starting the course” and felt it was “challenging”, especially “if you don’t have a product background.” The grad was also unimpressed with the job support, only rating it 2/5 stars.
The program holds a perfect 5 star rating on SwitchUp. One reviewer appreciated that the curriculum was “well researched.” They also praised the course for “covering not just the basics but also covering the advanced strategic areas of product management.” Another grad described the program as a “one of a kind PM course” that “not only will teach you advanced Product Management but help you develop a product mindset.” Overall, people seem satisfied with Product Faculty’s bootcamp curriculum, speakers, and community.
Alternatives to Product Faculty
If you decide not to enroll in Product Faculty, there are a number of other resources and bootcamps to help you land a job in product management.
- The product management association Product Gym offers training, career services, and networking opportunities for aspiring product managers. Classes are flexible and include remote options.
- Similarly, Product School, Product Management Studio, and Product Manager HQ teach full-time and part-time product management courses. Like Product Faculty, students graduate with official product management certificates they can use to get a job.
- Another option is 280 Group, which has onsite and online courses in product management.
- Mind the Product, Product Talk Academy, and ProductHood are product management associations that offer workshops, memberships, and community for aspiring product managers.
- 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.
- 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. Students in the product track learn the fundamentals of product management, working with real tools they will use on the job. Read more about General Assembly in our review.
- Similarly, BrainStation is another bootcamp that offers product management courses. Students work on product management projects, participate in professional development, and have access to over 1,000 hiring partners including Google, Facebook, and more.
- Another product management bootcamp, Product Academia has full-time and part-time courses with certificates for graduates. Their focus is on helping women launch careers as product managers.
- Similarly, Product Hall and Blackblot are product management bootcamps with live courses and 1-on-1 mentoring opportunities. Or consider Product Innovation Educators, which has courses with PM certificates for grads.
More alternatives
- Students can also check out Thinkful and Knowledge Officer, which have courses in product management, marketing, and more.
- 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.
- Another online bootcamp, GrowthX Academy has courses for people who are interested in product management, UX design, growth marketing, sales, and business development. Likewise, School16 teaches marketing, sales, and product management.
- OpenClassrooms and The Pragmatic Institute teach courses in product management, product marketing, and other tech topics.
- A lower-cost and self-paced option, Coursera hosts free product management courses taught by professors at accredited universities.
- Similarly, edX is a massive online learning platform with courses from top universities like Harvard and MIT as well as big tech companies like Microsoft. Learn more about edX in our review.
- 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 work on projects for their resumes and work with both technical and career mentors. Learn more about Udacity in our review.
How does Product Faculty compare to Pathrise?
Product Faculty is an online product management bootcamp. While students build their product management skills and networks, Product Faculty does not actually help students find and land a job.
Pathrise is a full service organization that helps product managers with all phases of the job search. We’ve helped over 600 people land their dream job, so everything we do is backed by data. Fellows participate in workshops and 1-on-1 sessions that focus on resume and LinkedIn optimization, portfolio building, technical and behavioral interview skills, and much more.
Our program is flexible. Fellows can schedule 1-on-1 sessions as needed and there are only 2-4 hours of sessions per week. Live sessions are recorded, allowing fellows to review materials later. The Pathrise income share agreement (ISA) means that our fellows never pay until they land a job they love and start working. Fellows in our program see their interview scores double and their application responses triple, landing jobs in just 3-5 months on average.
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 improving your job search by working with an experienced mentor, join a Pathrise.
Apply today.
