Product Management Certification
Should product managers get certifications? Ask a Good Product Manager asked us to answer.
Is There Value in a Product Management Certification?
In a recent question / article at Ask a Good Product Manager, an MBA student with a background in engineering and an interest in product management asked:
Among the certifications from organizations like Pragmatic Marketing, AIPMM, 280 Group and others, what are the aspects I should look for in deciding about product management certification?
For my complete answer, please check out the response on Jeff’s blog. And if you’re new to it, sit back with a cup of joe, there’s a big pile of great questions and answers there.
I re-framed the question to match the title of the article - “Should I get product management certification?”
No and Yes and No
[ Thanks Wendy for the photo]
In my response to the question at Jeff’s blog, I pretty much start and end with the “no” side of the argument.
When I’m interviewing a product manager candidate, I don’t care if he or she has any certifications. I care a little bit about what they know (what skills do they have), and a lot about what they will be able to learn.
[...]
I’ll also add that I haven’t heard anyone I’ve ever worked with express that they “care about” certifications for product managers.
I mixed some “yes” into the middle:
Personally, I have the Pragmatic Marketing “practical product management” certification, which I believe is useful shorthand for “think strategically” and is a primer for discussion, but otherwise does not provide value. Their practical product management training is to this day the best single training class I’ve attended in any topic. I would place significant value on a product manager having the perspective that Pragmatic espouses, and being able to demonstrate their ability to apply it. Having the associated piece of paper is secondary.
I’ll add that someone who has attended Pragmatic Marketing’s training probably gets the benefit of the doubt. I still “trust, but verify” their perspectives when interviewing a candidate or deciding to rely on someone to make a product great.
What, Then, Should You Do?
Is platitude format: Get good at product management.
What does that mean?
It means you need to learn how to manage your time and focus on strategic activities that add a ton of value. It means you need to make sure you aren’t spending time doing other people’s work (because they won’t be doing yours).
Strategic activities?
- Understand your market and market segment - and understand the problems your customers face.
- Determine the value of solving your customer’s biggest problems.
- Learn how to really listen, and become a great communicator.
- Include the cost of solutions when prioritizing them by ROI.
- Create product roadmaps that communicate the vision of your product.
- Learn how to lead, especially people you aren’t managing.
A certification won’t help you develop those skills. And to date, I don’t know of one that vouches for them either.
(3 votes, average: 4.33 out of 5)
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July 10th, 2008 at 4:34 pm
I would add “position your product in the market and maintain that positioning over time” to your list of strategic product management activities.
I agree about the value of certifications.
July 11th, 2008 at 2:24 pm
As a hiring manager, I needed a way to separate the wheat from the chaff in the pile of resumes I’d get. If the Pragmatic Marketing certification had existed then, and had been as common as it is now, I would have used it in this way.
Granted, ‘trust then verify’ is the way to go. Back then, and still today, what I look for is -evidence- of results that affected a firm’s financial health. Phrases like “increased market share 27%” or “doubled revenue over a 15 month period” really catch my eye. Not just because they represent prior successes, but also because they show the candidate cares about measurement!
Thanks for another great post.
All the best,
Jim
Jim
July 12th, 2008 at 9:18 am
Great addition, Roger!
July 12th, 2008 at 9:24 am
Jim (or is it Jim Jim? :)), thanks for the great comment!
Filtering a stack of resumes is always tough, and will always be a problem. I don’t intuitively believe that presence of a certification is an effective predictor of quality.
So if I used that as a filter, I would expect to get a lot of false-positives - people with the certification who would not be great product managers.
More dangerously, I would expect to get a lot of false negatives - people who would be great product managers, but who don’t have certifications.
I agree completely with your past and present filter - results oriented catch phrases within the work descriptions. Not only does it indicate success and a focus on measurement, but it also indicates to me the ability to communicate effectively.
Further, I get excited when someone takes that same information and formats it in an easily scannable presentation. A great product manager would have the insight that I am likely to be filtering a big stack of resumes, and therefore will be quick-scanning them. When she presents her results-driven successes in a concise list, I am very likely to see them.
Thanks again!
July 12th, 2008 at 9:29 am
I’ll also add, about scannable metrics -
They present fantastic fodder for the conversation. When the candidate has “increased market share of 27%” on her resume, I can ask an open-ended question of “tell me about that.”
She can choose to let me know if 27% was a failure or success(maybe the goal was 50%, maybe the ROI projections relied upon 20%). We can talk about the reasons for the goal, the methods of measurement, the strategic trade-offs that were made (what other goals were back-burnered to get market share, etc).
Or the product manager might be a great requirements person, who can talk all day about the measurement, ramifications, associated requirements and development, etc.
A fantastic starting point for a conversation, that will really help me know how a particular applicant’s skills would best benefit my team. It also opens the door for discussions around how effectively my team and vision will meet the candidate’s goals and needs.
July 27th, 2008 at 5:25 pm
Hi Scott,
Thanks a lot for your inputs on my question about certifications. Your blog is a great resource especially for somebody like me trying to start and build a career in product management, Thank you.
Regards,
Mahesh.
July 28th, 2008 at 7:25 am
Thanks Mahesh, very much. Welcome to Tyner Blain, I appreciate your comment very much, and hope you find a lot of stuff that is helpful!
Feel free to comment on any of the articles, or shoot me an email if you think of a topic that is under-represented.