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How to Become a Technology-Literate Product Manager?
Top 6 free tech courses that will help you land a new job (or keep the existing one). Updated: 8/9/2023.
Recently I spoke with a few Product Managers from my network. They do not have a technical background. And they struggle with many technical terms and concepts.
The Product Manager doesn’t have to be a tech expert, but she has to be a technology-literate person.
Here are the top 6 free tech courses that will help you land a new job (or keep the existing one):
1. SQL by SQLBolt
Quickly learn SQL in your browser using a set of interactive lessons and exercises.
Completing this course will help you understand:
What relational databases are
How to write SQL queries
How to filter and sort data
How to use aggregates
How to manipulate database rows
Details:
Price: Free
Level: Beginner
Time: 4-8 hours (18 lessons)
Certificate: No
Course: https://sqlbolt.com/
2. Programming for Everybody by the University of Michigan
This course will help you understand basic concepts.
You will:
Write your first application in Python
Understand the basics of Python
Use variables to store, retrieve and calculate data
Utilize functions and loops
Details:
Price: Free
Level: Beginner
Time: 19 hours
Certificate: Yes
Course: https://www.coursera.org/learn/python?specialization=python
3. HTML5 & CSS3
Everything you need to know about two pillars of web apps: HTML and CSS.
This course will help you understand:
How to define the content of web apps
How to add paragraphs, images, lists
How to nest elements
How to change colors, fonts, text size, and borders
Details:
Price: Free
Level: Beginner
Time: 3h 5m video
Certificate: Paid
Course: https://www.udemy.com/course/master-the-basics-of-html5-css3-beginner-web-development/
4. JavaScript
A short but powerful introductory course.
An experienced developer explains basic concepts like:
Conditions
Loops
Functions
Objects
Arrays
Details:
Price: Free
Level: Beginner
Time: 1h 40m video
Certificate: No
Course: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hdI2bqOjy3c
5. Algorithms and Data Structures
A fantastic course on Algorithms and Data Structures.
After completing the first part, you will:
Have an overview of data structures
Learn terms like list, stack, queue, binary tree, and hash table
Know algorithms like binary search, quicksort, and mergesort
Details:
Price: Free
Level: Beginner (required basic programming skills)
Time: 5h 37m video
Certificate: Paid
Course: https://www.udemy.com/course/data-structures-part-1-lognacademy/
6. Generative AI learning path by Google Cloud
An eye-opening course on what AI is. I recommend taking the first seven modules:
Introduction to Generative AI
Introduction to Large Language Models
Introduction to Responsible AI
Generative AI Fundamentals
Introduction to Image Generation
Encoder-Decoder Architecture
Attention Mechanism
Transformer Models and BERT Model
Create Image Captioning Models
Introduction to Generative AI Studio
Details:
Price: Free
Level: Beginner
Time: 2 days (realistically)
Certificate: Free
Course: https://www.cloudskillsboost.google/journeys/118
7. BONUS
Here are a few additional terms every PM should understand:
Webhooks: https://zapier.com/blog/what-are-webhooks + free video course
Microservices: https://www.atlassian.com/microservices/microservices-architecture/microservices-vs-monolith
Design Patterns: https://refactoring.guru/design-patterns
Cloud Computing: https://youtu.be/eZLcyTxi8ZI
DevOps and CI/CD: https://jfrog.com/devops-tools/what-is-devops/
WebService vs. API: https://blog.hubspot.com/website/web-services-vs-api
Business Intelligence: https://youtu.be/l98-BcB3UIE + free certification course
25 functional testing types: https://shiftsync.tricentis.com/testing-strategies-methodologies-42/25-functional-testing-types-examples-tips-more-274
Test Driven Development (TDD): https://www.guru99.com/test-driven-development.html
YouTube hack: Technologies explained < 100 seconds: https://www.youtube.com/@Fireship/videos
How to Become a Technology-Literate Product Manager?
Great post Pawel. Just a heads up, the link for the WebService vs. API - hubspot article is missing the "i" in "API" at the end of the URL.
https://blog.hubspot.com/website/web-services-vs-api