Product Gym

Product Gym is the program I've been looking for my entire PM career. Product is a nebulous field with no clear requirements, skillsets, or philosophy. As a PM working at a big tech company, I thought I would have an easy time interviewing for PM positions... Read More but I was wrong. Very wrong. Just like interviewing for any other type of position, there is a method to the madness and the gatekeeper for this method is Rich. Hands down. After learning the method from the master himself, I was able to secure 10X more interviews and learn how to speak intelligently about my product experiences. You will not find anyone more qualified to help you secure your next PM job. Rich not only has the understanding of the field and the company landscape, but he also has the drive and determination to push you when the going gets tough. He doesn't quit and will not let you either until you have secured the job and salary you want.

Although Rich is the co-founder of the program, he is still heavily involved in the day-to-day operations and is aware of each student's progress and areas of improvement. His weekly coaching calls provide insight to the black hole that is the job-hunting process. The Product Gym staff offer constant support and answers to any and all questions that a student might have. On top of all of this, Product Gym offers in-depth classes and workshops on improving and refining PM skills.

Let me end with this thought. Rich is a character. He is blunt and won't sugar coat the truth of how hard interviewing for PM positions can be, but he is never wrong. He has a method that he has battle-tested, that he knows will work as long as you listen to him. I guarantee you he will write a book one day outlining it but don't wait for the book. I took the leap of faith and it worked wonders for me. Trust Rich and Product Gym - they are the only people who understand how to get you the PM job that you want.

I’ve only been a student with Product Gym for a few weeks, but it has been an amazing learning experience.

The program maintains a hybrid format. You complete an online course that reviews branding, job applications and interviewing, while attending a... Read More structured 6 week class on nights and weekends.

My personal results have been stellar. Before Product Gym, I was getting a 1% response rate to job applications. After completing the Branding section and having my resume personally reviewed by a working PM, I’m getting a 15% response rate. I had to stop applying for more jobs because I work full-time and have to attend a bunch of weddings outside NYC.

In terms of interview help, Product Gym provides a repository of 100s of interview questions that prior students have gotten from tech companies in NYC and SF. Each week there are also in-person events to help with perfecting your pitch and tackling interview questions.
So far, I’m converting 100% of my Round 1 interviews to Round 2 interviews and 80% of my Round 2 interviews to Round 3 interviews. The DREADED case studies are much less stressful after learning how to break them down and understanding what hiring managers want to see and hear.

I have no doubt I will have multiple offers by the end of the program. I highly recommend this program to anyone that is serious about becoming a PM. Rich and Cody, the two founders, take a personal interest in each and every student and hyper-focus on helping you get a job. No fluff. No BS.

BTW, make sure you can commit 10-20 hours per week. This is very much a you-get-out-what-you-put-in program.

UPDATE: I landed a job with 10 days of my first round 1 interviews.

Product Management Resume and Branding Experts

I have watching Rich’s content for a month before I decided to reach out the Product Gym. After 15 minutes of actually being on the phone with him; I was sold. I was sold on the whole program because Product... Read More Gym gets it. Product Gym’s approach is to first increase the quantity of the interviews you are going on and then improve the quality (conversion ratio) of the interviews you are going on. In both regards Rich and Cody and the best of the best.

Why? Why I am raving about these guys? Its because Rich comes from a technical recruiting background. He has actually posted positions, sorted resumes, screen candidates, negotiated salaries. He has a disgustingly intimate understanding of how technical hiring works. You need a guy like that if you stand to land this job because everybody else that I have spoken to in this field of product management has no clue how to land a job. I have seen the numerous students that have taken jobs with Product Gym. They have something truly special here and it works.

Disclosure - I struggled to write this review because it's hard for me to evaluate the program independent of my background and to organize it so you won't waste your time reading this. I came from a totally non technical, not even software industry background.... Read More I actually took General Assembly AND Product School before Product Gym so its difficult to write a totally unbiased review without comparing all of them but I tried my best. Here it goes...

I'm choosing to be anonymous because I hate speaking ill about my experience at GA and PS. It was great there... But they ultimately could not fulfill their promise, which was to get me a PM job. In fact they weren't even close. I didn't even get so much as an interview even after reaching out to their career services. I largely found their content to be readily available for free online even though the classroom experience was fine. I want to point out here, for people that think getting a 'certificate' at GA or PS will get you a PM job - that is total NONSENSE. Don't fall for it. They don't mean anything. Please Please Please, don't rationalize it by thinking 'Oh GA and PS will give me a certificate' to get me a job. Companies don't care. I have both certificates on my LinkedIn and resume, not a single recruiter called me back or accepted me resume. Its more important to learn how to tell your PM story - a story that Rich and Cody's PG program teaches you. PLEASE don't spend literally THOUSANDS of dollars like me, going to get a silly certificate. It doesn't matter. I know - I've done it.

I found out about Product Gym through their incessant emails sent to me. I had already dropped so much money on GA and PS so, what's another $10 event. I was highly skeptical and Rich was very loud during the event- but I signed up for a consultation call with them because everything they told me during the event went AGAINST what everyone who I talked to was telling me.
But here's why I signed up:
1. I read the reviews (so its only fitting I pay it forward and write one now...) and they were all very positive - but I actually became MORE suspicious. (Again, I took GA and PS - both programs have glowing reviews but both disappointed me.) So I took what I read in all these reviews and asked Rich and Cody almost every technical aspect. Review said they helped a student with their first round interview - I asked them SPECIFICALLY how. Admittedly I probably went overboard and Rich was noticeably annoyed at me. But what actually convinced me was him pairing me with alumni that had gotten the jobs. Suddenly, it wasn't a sales person selling me - it was multiple successful graduates corroborating what the reviews had said. There was no way Rich could have pre-trained all these alumni to tell me different things, each satisfying what I was asking.
2. (Again, I hate comparing, but) Product Gym really is two people - Rich and Cody (of course their staff too). You have to understand that a two to five person business has ALOT to lose if I started writing this review as a negative experience. They have more at stake than PS and GA and it was clear they bent their back to help students get the job. But not knowing that when I signed up, I chose them because they are ultimately accessible. They are not a big conglomerate company. I tried to get facetime with the GA partners and it never happened. Constant rescheduling. I tried to meet with Carlos from PS and he made me wait hours for him and ultimately forwarded me off to other people. I was confident that Rich and Cody would actually hear me out if I had an issue.
3. They were very upfront about their placement rate. They told me that every person that actually follows their entire process, the way they lay it out, has gotten a job. I called them out on it (a 100% placement rate is impossible) and Cody told me explicitly I was right - its NOT 100% for their entire program..but it IS true from people that actually follow through the process - if they do. He told me that this was the 'best experience I NEVER wanted to have ever again'. And its true - there is so much work in this program that I nearly had a mental breakdown balancing my applications, interviews, full time job, my kids AND caring for a sick parent. For the people that follow their process, they get interviews and ultimately offers. But there were people in my cohort that just couldn't hack it - those people didn't follow their process and honestly, I don't blame them. Its really tough. But just the sheer honesty and the fact that Cody was willing to state that blew me away. You can't even find a placement rate on GA or PS website or on their calls let alone try and get them to disclose it.

Pros: Simply put, Rich and Cody know what the f*ck they are doing. I don't want to sound like an ad for them but they know this better than GA and Product School and probably any other bootcamp touting their PM program. I want to be very specific here and point out:
1. With Product Gym, you cannot find this material online. Not even close. Trust me, I tried. Their interviewing skills and working with recruiters class was worth the full tuition alone and probably even more. With GA and PS, I largely found alot of their material freely available. You learn exactly, and I mean EXACTLY how to navigate the interview game with them. With the other programs - they didn't even help me get so much as a phone call back, let alone onsite interviews.
2. The skills you learn will keep you sharp on the job. Their curriculum is ever changing. You actually get taught product marketing and data science from a product marketer and a data scientist. Now being on the job, I learned that PMs fundamental job function is building rapport and meetings. You can't learn PM from just a single instructor like how GA and Product School does it. If you actually want a job and DO WELL on the job, there's just no program (as of this review date) as well structured as theirs. The individual subject matter experts make a HUGE difference in learning about PM and the industry, if you're like me with no software/tech experience.
3. There is no sure-fire formula to getting a PM job but if there was, these guys are the closest. During lunch of my first class, I asked my peers what their background was because I wanted to find someone with my background to compare to. I wanted validation for this (third) bootcamp I was doing. But I learned through this process that it didn't even matter. For those of you reading this, STOP LOOKING for a program that 'fits your background'. Its a stupid idea that cost me thousands of dollars. What matters is, do you have the tools to tell your background in a way that will get you through the interviews. I can tell you now, if you feel like you have a 'unique' background - get over it, you're not special. I wasted so much time thinking that what PG was telling me didn't apply to me because I had such a unique background. My peers in the PG cohort and the mentors/former alumni all came from considerable different backgrounds. What got me interviews and the job was learning how to use the tools that PG gave me effectively to tell the story and background I wanted.
4. At the end of the day - Rich and Cody actually care that you get a job. Its more than I can say for PS and GA who largely don't support you after the program ends (and its not that they don't want to, perhaps, its just clear that they don't know HOW to - especially the way Product Gym knows how to)

Cons: The program is NOT perfect though so here is my honest view:

1. There's a TON of reading upfront. I'm talking pages and pages - probably took me 20ish hours to get through all of it. I really wish Cody could have condensed it but now, 4 months on the job, I can understand why. Product Management is so broad and vast, you just can't 'summarize' it. And honestly, as I'm writing this review, I'm glad he gave all that reading upfront because there should be no reason why class hours should be used to review reading material. It was helpful for me because I was able to learn to basics but I was just not prepared to comb through so much material on my own. Again, I'm glad it was there and done that way though, but I'm not paying thousands of dollars for someone to tell me basics.

2. There's a lag with their Student Portal and the building. Specifically, there was a day when the building had no water. Its out of their control but it severely impacted my opinion of the program - how can these guys be operating out of a space with no water? There also seems to be a consistent lack of reliable IT - whether that's webinar links being broken or wrong, my student login password suddenly inaccessible, A/V issues if you try and join remotely, calendar invites with conflicting times, etc. These are all things that I would have expected them to have figured out, as this was NEVER an issue at GA and PS. But to PG's credit - their core service, the coaching and classes, were still operating - and in fact delivered when all the functioning IT and fancy worksheets, etc at GA and PS could not.

3. There isn't much 'personalization' - I really expected a private one-on-one coach as this was how it was sold to me. Looking back, I think it was a silly expectation because there's only a handful of staff members at Product Gym, there's no way they could provide that level of coaching. There was alot of 'read this article' or 'watch this video' or 'submit it via this process' instead of walking me through specifics of my background etc. I was a bit disappointed because I started to feel I got duped like I did with the other two programs. I'm glad I stuck with it though because, much of those questions that I had didn't really require actual coaching or analysis. (Cody, this part is for you ->) Hindsight is always 20/20 but I wish I spent less time expressing my frustration to the lack of personalized attention to Cody rather I should have just followed the written guidelines and used more of Cody's time to help with the areas of my interview that WERE NOT (and frankly so specific to my case) covered in the written material. Both Rich and Cody are entirely accessible and amenable to feedback. Its just clear that they get alot of the same questions I've asked before - which is why they already have answers to them.

I guess coming into the program, there was a level of general professional engagement that I expected, which I received from GA and PS, that was lacking. I've learned now that that expectation is completely irrelevant because NO program will actually hand you the job. It takes hard work and the right tools - tools that PG clearly provided me despite the lack of professional engagement. I also want to point out that students have a lifetime access to their Student Portal so I see that current cohorts are learning different things than I did. Their program is changing and they are iterating just like a 'Product' should. I don't think they will ever STOP having areas to improve on and nor should they. They should be constantly improving drastically and if you're reading this: you should be wary of programs that haven't introduced any change in their curriculum or the way they operate. To call out my experience, GA and PS's curriculum hasnt changed the past 2 years. I know this because one of my peers at Product GYM took Product School almost a year ago and when we compared our Product School course materials, it was the same.

I'm ultimately giving Rich and Cody 5 stars because they set out to do exactly what they tried to sell me on - which was to get a PM job. This seems like a low barrier and expectations for 5 stars, but again, I took GA and PS - neither of them did what they promised to do. For all of PG's faults, Rich and Cody ultimately delivered. I'm also 4 months into my PM job and I'm doing great. In fact, when I look back at my experience - over half (maybe 7?) of my Product Gym peers in my cohort got offers and PM jobs. I even see their reviews here too. For my classes at GA and PS (maybe total of 23 peers?) only ONE person got a PM job - ME.

Rich and Cody and team have figured it out. All you need to do is show up and do the work. The jobs are out there, but with PM it seems like we all need to be tweaking our job search approach in order to be successful in getting them. Rich and Cody have... Read More figured this out. The time and effort are worth it - but don't go in thinking you can blow off any part of the course or "homework". Do it all - and the job will be there. The instructors are fabulous! The class and admin support is top notch.

A year after I transitioned into the my new Product Manager role. I want to give a big shout out to Rich and Cody for helping me out.

A year ago I was stuck at Barclays having the worst time of my life in an absolutely toxic environment stuck with people... Read More I did not find inspiring at all. Now I am a Product Manager for a finch company based in Soho. I wake up right now feeling refreshed about what I am doing, because I know I am making an impact. I have to admit the journey was hard, but the upon arriving at my desired destination my journey after I started the job has also been challenging.

I love everything that I do. There are some days and weeks that I work longer hours than I did in banking, but its worth it for me now. I no longer feel the anxiety I had on Sundays when I dreaded going into the office.

For the people that really want to know I get this question all the time, “did Product Gym prepare you well enough for the job?” 100%!

Even though I come from banking, I can definitely hold my own against anyone of my peers.

This is a scary journey but you don’t have to do it alone. Go and schedule a consultation with Rich and Cody. Its the best investment you will ever make!

I really like Rich and Cody’s approach. These guys are the best. I first met Rich when he was presenting How to Land Multiple Offers in 45 Days in San Francisco. I have to admit at first his attitude kind of rubbed me the wrong way, but something he said... Read More to me made a whole lot of sense. Getting the job and doing the job were 2 different things. At the end of the day, I have met so many people that were great at “doing” the job, but horrible at “getting” the job. The best part was I also met other working Product Managers that felt the same way.

Considering that Rich had come all the to SF from New York and he brought with him a few success stories two other people that were a part of his program, I was sold! This turned out to be the best investment I had ever made. Within 2 and half weeks I had more phone screens than I could possibly handle! This was insane! I couldn’t handle all these calls and work full time anymore, but I really grinded through it all. The most helpful thing was how Rich PERSONALLY conducts weekly coaching calls. I mean who does that?

Every week he checked with me and my group to make sure we were good. We were okay. Thanks to Rich I landed 3 offers in 5 weeks with more to come.

I learned more about how to do this job interviewing than I ever did reading. I was averaging 16 interviews per week. Sometimes even taking interviews in the staircase or in my car on my lunch breaks.

Pros

Man just keep doing what you guys are doing!

Cons

Coaching calls are getting bigger, you might want to start splitting people up.

Rich is a breath of fresh air. He knows this process better than anybody else alive and he was able to back that up with me. No joke. I felt so defeated coming out of getting laid off. I thought that getting a Product Manager job was going to be easy,... Read More but things had changed dramatically since I was last interviewing. The questions had changed too. I was getting really scared that perhaps I may have been too old to go for another PM job. But what else was there. Lost and feeling hopeless I found Product Gym on the web and scheduled a call. To much of my amazement Rich spent 2 hours with me on the phone and walked me through the entire pm hiring process. I learned more about pm interviewing during that time than my entire life. I felt renewed and more confident.

Pros - He really knows his stuff and the instructors along with the coaching staff here is very on point.

Cons - Product Gym is getting bigger and its getting harder to fight for coaching time, but they are putting new practices in place to keep supporting students. Keep it up.

I was in Banking prior to my current PM position. My initial thought from trying to make a transition into Product Management was to find a well known course with decent reviews and took a course with Product School. This course did not meet my expectations... Read More and even felt like it was a lackluster process where they did not care, but just needed to be there. Their material was consistently blocked by my financial firm and the content felt unorganized, “copy and pasted” together with a bunch of pictures from Google, not to mention the homework was vague with little direction. My experience at Product School was subpar and left me with a feeling with regret and made me reconsider my decision to make the transition into Product Management.

Luckily, I came across Product Gym from another Product School student who shared the same feelings. I worked with Rich and Cody from Product Gym and they actually focused on the important aspect on making the transition, generating interviews. They provided me tons of practice, getting rid of my bad habits, and made me feel like I had a professional makeover. They taylored my resume, linkedin, and cover letter and coached me on how to respond on various questions. They even have a ton of interview questions with answers that will get you prepared. I felt very safe in the hands of Product Gym, and they gave me a very hands on experience. If you are in banking and finding it hard to make the transition, you need to take this course. They will guide you in the right direction.