These online project management and product management classes can help you build skills, gain certifications and stand out as a business leader.
Project management skills can be lucrative and are transferable across industries, which makes it much easier for project managers to make significant career jumps, offer value to their new companies and earn higher salaries. Many aspiring project managers learn skills and receive their certifications from online courses—some earn them within a few weeks.
If you want to gain project management skills and get certified to enhance marketability, consider enrolling in one of these project management and product management classes from Coursera. You can enroll in these courses for free with a seven-day trial; after the trial ends, Coursera will charge you $39 per month to continue participating in them.
Google Project Management: Professional Certificate
No experience or degree is required to enroll in this project management course offered by Google. On top of that, the program will provide you with in-demand project management skills that will help you become job-ready in just six months.
The certificate program will immerse you in all things project management. It could increase your chances of getting hired for an entry-level project management position. Almost 700,000 students were enrolled in this course at the time of this article.
Project Management Principles and Practices and Specialization
This project management specialization is a prerequisite for the Applied Project Management Certificate, which is offered by the University of California, Irvine. You’ll gain practical, working knowledge of the basic principles of project management and be able to apply that knowledge to manage various projects effectively.
Specialization courses on Coursera allow you to master a skill, so keep that in mind if this course interests you. This course will require you to complete hands-on projects. Still, you can go at your own pace and even pause your specialization subscription if necessary.
Six Sigma Yellow Belt Specialization
Are you interested in learning more about Six Sigma? If so, this is the course for you. You can also take this course if you want a good refresher on Six Sigma and Lean basics. Acquiring the Six Sigma methodology knowledge can help in various project management roles, particularly those focusing on quality assurance.
Six Sigma skills are in high demand by companies globally. Complete this specialization offered by the University System of Georgia (USG), and you’ll earn the Yellow Belt level certification, which is needed to enroll in the Green Belt specialization, also offered by USG on Coursera.
Digital Product Management Specialization
The University of Virginia Digital Product Management Specialization is intended for current and new project managers working in digital. This course will help you build up a portfolio of modern project management skills, so you can help companies develop their products and boost their teams’ performances.
The specialization consists of five courses that cover the following topics:
- Product design applications
- Modern product management practices and skills
- Hypothesis-driven development and agile project management
Additionally, this beginner-level program earns 4.8 out of 5 stars with over 2,000 ratings from past students.
Software Product Management Specialization
The Software Product Management Specialization on Coursera, offered by the University of Alberta, can help you create software using agile software management practices.
Upon completion, you’ll have mastered agile development, allowing you to improve the skills needed to perform well in a software project management role. The specialization offers real-world, applicable experience and usually takes around six months to complete.
Is Coursera right for you?
Coursera is a huge online course provider founded by two professors at Stanford University. According to Coursera’s website, you can choose from its catalog with over 5,000 online courses to develop your professional skills, build your résumé and even help you break into a new industry.
You can enroll in individual courses, specializations and degree programs on Coursera. Decide how much time you want to spend learning, what you can afford, and the types of skills you want to improve before enrolling in a course.
SEE: Hiring kit: Project manager (TechRepublic Premium)
The platform connects with some of the most prominent colleges, universities and organizations. For example, Coursera collaborates with:
- IBM
- Duke University
- Yale University
- Princeton University
- Imperial College London
- Meta
- Amazon Web Services (AWS)
- Salesforce
In general, e-learning courses are cheaper than traditional learning programs. On Coursera, you can search for free or affordable courses to find one that suits your budget.