King’s College London and FourthRev have launched the first career accelerator in product management, with a course designed to equip students with technical and interpersonal skills.
The programme has been developed for career starters taking their first step into product management. It’s also suitable those already working in product management wanting to formalise their skills.
As the digital economy continues to evolve, many companies are experiencing a step-change in the skills they need to thrive and grow. One key area where skills are in highest demand is in product management roles.
Therefore, a key part of the programme is developing in-demand skills and experience expected of product managers in today’s digital world.
Product managers often have to oversee and have knowledge of vastly different areas of a business. Therefore, the King’s Product Management Career Accelerator has been designed to expose learners to both the technical knowledge and human skills required in the role.
For example, digital skills such as product and UX design, as well as interpersonal skills such as structured thinking and decision-making, communication and stakeholder management.
The 6-month programme has been developed by the Department of Digital Humanities at King’s, in collaboration with organisations such as Atlassian, Dropbox, Mr Yum, Linktree, and industry expert, Janna Bastow, CEO of ProdPad.
Participants will be assigned a Career Coach for the duration of the programme, providing access to one-to-one coaching. The Career Accelerator’s capstone Employer Project will also allow students the opportunity to work with an employer partner on real life industry problems.
Janna Bastow, CEO of ProdPad said: “I’m excited to see this course and its curriculum put together by King’s College London. For too long, product management has been a role that so many of us ‘fell into’ by chance or accident, and certainly didn’t have training or dedicated courses to guide the path there.
“When hiring for a product manager, I look for a good mix of practical knowledge and know-how about how the process works, along with experiences and stories that show the person has put those skills to use in a real-world environment.”
The King’s Product Management Career Accelerator will open for applications in July 2022, with the first learners beginning their studies later this year.
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