Product Manager Bootcamp — Program
Product Manager Bootcamp — Program
A paced, ~10-week program that turns the PM path from a self-serve course into a bootcamp: it sequences the lessons (Topics 1–14), the capstone deliverables (real artifacts, AI-reviewed against rubrics), the interview drills, and career services into one journey with weekly milestones. An optional 2-week advanced extension covers Part 5 (Topics 15–20).
It's self-paced — the weeks are a recommended rhythm (roughly 5–8 focused hours each), not hard deadlines. Pick your capstone product in Week 2 and carry it through every deliverable.
Core program (Weeks 1–10)
| Week | Learn (topics) | Capstone deliverable | Interview practice | ~Hours |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Foundations: Topics 1–2 (+ general Core Tech Baseline alongside) | — | Behavioral: start drafting your STAR stories | 5 |
| 2 | Topics 3–4 | Choose your capstone product | Behavioral drills (D1–D3) | 5 |
| 3 | Topic 5 (Discovery) | D1 — Discovery summary | Behavioral drills (D4–D6) | 7 |
| 4 | Topic 6 (Prioritization) | D2 — Roadmap | Product-sense drills (D1–D2) | 7 |
| 5 | Topic 7 (Specs) | D3 — PRD / spec | Product-sense drills (D3–D4) | 8 |
| 6 | Topic 8 (Working with eng/design) | (revise D1–D3 from feedback) | Mock-interview checkpoint #1 (behavioral + product-sense) | 6 |
| 7 | Topic 9 (Metrics) | D4 — Metrics framework | Analytical/estimation drills (D1–D3) | 7 |
| 8 | Topic 10 (Experimentation) | D5 — Experiment design | RCA & metrics drills (D1–D3) | 7 |
| 9 | Topics 11–13 (GTM, stakeholders, tools) | D6 — Go-to-market plan | Product-sense (D5–D6) + RCA (D4–D6) | 8 |
| 10 | Topic 14 (Landing the job) + general Employability & Job Hunting | Assemble the portfolio (all 6 deliverables) | Mock-interview checkpoint #2 (full mock) + career services (below) | 8 |
By the end of Week 10 you have: the full curriculum learned, a 6-artifact portfolio for one product, repeated interview practice across all four drill types, and your resume/LinkedIn ready.
Advanced extension (Weeks 11–12, optional)
For those going deeper toward senior/competitive roles — Part 5:
| Week | Learn (topics) |
|---|---|
| 11 | Topic 15 (Strategy & vision), Topic 16 (OKRs), Topic 17 (Business acumen) |
| 12 | Topic 18 (Technical literacy), Topic 19 (Growth deep dive), Topic 20 (Specializations) |
These deepen your range and give you stronger answers for tougher interviews; the capstone deliverables can be revisited with this advanced lens (e.g., add a strategy/OKR layer, sharpen unit economics in the metrics deliverable).
Career services (lite)
Delivered mainly in Week 10, drawing on the general Employability & Job Hunting track. These are self/AI-reviewed against rubrics (no human mentor required).
Resume review rubric
- Outcome-focused bullets — 1: duties only · 2: some results · 3: quantified outcomes ("reduced X by Y%").
- PM vocabulary & relevance — 1: generic · 2: some PM terms · 3: clearly reframed for PM (discovery, roadmap, metrics, stakeholders).
- Portfolio linked — 1: none · 2: mentioned · 3: linked and tailored to the role.
- Clarity & format — 1: cluttered/typos · 2: clean · 3: crisp, one page, scannable in seconds.
LinkedIn review rubric
- Headline signals target role — 1: old title only · 2: mentions PM · 3: clear target + value ("Aspiring PM | ex-[field]").
- About tells the pivot story — 1: empty/generic · 2: present · 3: confident pivot story (where heading, what you bring, why, proof).
- Skills & proof — 1: none · 2: some · 3: PM skills listed + portfolio/projects shown.
- Activity — 1: inactive · 2: occasional · 3: connecting/engaging in the field.
Mock-interview checkpoints
Use the AI mock interview (interview/mock-interview.md): Checkpoint #1 (Week 6) — behavioral + product-sense; Checkpoint #2 (Week 10) — a full mock across all four types. Track which rubric criteria you repeatedly miss and focus there.
Salary-negotiation practice
A short drill: given a sample offer, practice (1) asking for time to consider, (2) researching the market range, (3) making one polite counter tied to your value, and (4) evaluating fit/growth — not just pay (Topic 14). The AI can role-play the recruiter and give feedback.
How it fits together
Lessons teach the concept → the matching capstone deliverable makes you do it (and the AI reviews it) → interview drills rehearse explaining it → career services package it for the job hunt. That loop — learn, do, get feedback, present — is what makes this a bootcamp rather than a reading list.