Everything You Need To Know – Forbes Advisor

Product managers are the wizards behind innovative rebranding and new product launches. They play a crucial role in bringing streaming services and AI to consumers’ homes.

Product management is a fast-growing field with ample room for innovation. Pursuing a degree in product management is ideal if you enjoy analyzing consumer behavior and collaborating in a team environment.

Read on to explore essential skills, career options and various degree options for product managers.

What Do Product Managers Do?

Product managers oversee the various stages of a product’s life cycle, whether the product is a mobile app or your favorite coffee brand. A product’s life cycle starts when the product enters production and ends with its eventual retirement.

Role and Responsibilities

Product managers wear many hats, and their roles require them to collaborate and strategize with many departments, such as engineering, marketing, finance and executive leadership teams.

These professionals play a pivotal role in driving an organization’s growth. They create products that not only meet consumer needs but generate revenue. To achieve this, they conduct extensive consumer research, analyze data and collaborate with cross-department teams to gather ideas. Based on their findings, product managers determine which product ideas or iterations to pursue, ensuring they align with consumer requirements and revenue goals.

Work Environment

Larger organizations commonly have multiple product managers specializing in different areas, such as marketing and the technical aspect of products. On the other hand, smaller organizations with fewer products often have a single product manager who oversees a product’s entire life cycle.

Do You Need a Product Manager Degree?

The educational requirements for product manager positions vary by company, and these preferences can vary depending on factors such as company size, job responsibilities and product type. Advancing into a product management role typically requires several years of experience.

While a bachelor’s degree in a business-related subject is common, some product managers also hold a master’s degree in product management.

What Can You Do with a Degree in Product Management?

Aspiring product managers can start their careers by specializing in specific stages of a product’s life cycle, such as graphic design, copywriting or market research. They can also step directly into a product management role. Working closely with a product manager can provide valuable insights into which type of product management role you should pursue.

The associate product manager is the entry-level role most commonly associated with product management. They assist product managers with fulfilling their responsibilities. They may also perform consumer research, collect survey data and perform administrative tasks while learning more about the role.

Some standard job titles for product managers include:

• Associate product manager
• Product manager
• Technical product manager
• Growth product manager
• Strategy manager
• Software development manager
• Product marketing manager

What Skills Do You Need as a Product Manager?

Product managers must possess effective cross-functional communication skills to collaborate with engineers, designers and marketers to bring a product to life and position it effectively in the marketplace. They must also stay attentive to the market, monitor product performance, recommend functional changes and adhere to strict timelines.

Additionally, product managers need relevant industry-specific knowledge and a combination of the following soft and hard skills.

• Strategy
• Empathy
• User experience (UX)
• Critical thinking
• Product design
• Data and analytics
• Budgeting

Admission Requirements for a Product Management Degree

Admission requirements for a degree in product management depend on the program and whether you’re applying as a first-time college student, a transfer student or a returning adult learner.

Typical admission requirements for a bachelor’s degree may include a high school transcript, SAT or ACT scores, a personal essay and letters of recommendation.

Admission requirements for a master’s in product management typically include a bachelor’s degree from an accredited institution, an application and application fee, transcripts, applicable test scores such as the GRE or TOEFL, an essay or statement of purpose and your résumé.

Product Management Degree Options

Bachelor of Business Administration

Students interested in a career in product management often pursue business-related majors, such as business administration, computer science, economics, finance or marketing. As an aspiring product manager, you might seek business administration programs that offer product management as a specialization or course.

Master of Science (MS) in Product Management

A master’s degree is not required to become a product manager, but it can offer advantages for advanced roles and specialization. Earning a master’s degree also provides an opportunity to conduct original research and contribute academic insights into the field.

An MS in product management provides an in-depth exploration of the field, covering advanced strategies and hands-on applications.

City University of Seattle offers an online MS in technology and product management, which requires students to complete 33 credits. This takes about one year to complete, depending on enrollment status; part-time students take longer to complete their degrees. Core courses cover topics such as disruptive business models, and the three-credit capstone course requires an internship or participation in a new venture competition.

Master of Business Administration (MBA) in Product Management

An MBA with a concentration in product management combines the multidisciplinary advantages of an MBA degree with specialized expertise in product management. MBA programs typically require two or more years of study, depending on your enrollment status.

In addition to gaining a strong foundation in product management principles, MBA students develop advanced leadership and management skills. For example, Regent University’s 42-credit MBA in product management offers courses in design strategy and core business concepts such as finance and operations management.

Certificate in Product Management

A product management certificate offers an efficient and cost-effective option for students seeking to maximize their time and save on tuition expenses. Certificate programs can range from 36 hours up to 10 weeks, like the online product management courses and certificate options from Stanford’s School of Engineering.

While shorter than full-length master’s programs, certificate programs provide valuable knowledge in areas like strategy building, product launching and leveraging user research to understand customer preferences.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) About a Degree in Product Management