Professor James Smithies, Professor of Digital Humanities at King's College London, joined us for a deep-dive discussion and Q&A session on the King's Product Management Career Accelerator. He shared his views on how the role of a Product Manager has evolved over time and how the Career Accelerator's practical approach to learning will help you gain the technical, organisational and human skills that employers are looking for. Watch the full webinar recording here. For more information about the King's Product Management Career Accelerator, request to download the course brochure here: https://onlinecareeraccelerators.kcl.ac.uk/kings-product-management-online-career-accelerator –––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––– TIMESTAMPS 00:00 Welcome and introductions 05:40 Audience poll: What are your reasons for considering studying product management? 08:24 Deep-dive discussion begins 08:26 Views on the evolution of product management over the last 10 years 10:36 How product management training is becoming more formalised and the benefits of programmes like the King's Product Management Career Accelerator for developing the right combination of skills 13:05 Thoughts on the key interpersonal skills needed for a career in product management 18:08 How the King's Product Management Career Accelerator is structured to help learners across experience levels get what they need from the programme to accelerate their careers 21:06 What learners can look forward to when enrolling in the King's Product Management Career Accelerator 22:06 Practical experience learners can expect to get from the programme 25:01 How the King's Product Management Career Accelerator can benefit people with existing professional experience 28:31 Thoughts on the exciting opportunities for those looking to pivot into a Product Manager role 30:57 A high-level overview of the programme: Entry criteria, the application process, support structures, time commitment and fitting studying into your life 33:28 Q&A begins 33:52 How does the career coaching offering work? 35:04 Recruiters normally look for people with real-world product management experience. I'm a "career changer" so have very little product management experience. How practical is this programme? 37:03 What topics are covered in the Career Accelerator? 38:12 What roles have industry representatives played in creating the course content? 41:18 Are there any statistics on how many graduates have found a Product Manager job? 42:22 How often can I meet with Professor Smithies and industry experts during the programme? Are there set classes or is correspondence over email and other formats? 44:42 Does the course focus only on software product development, or also on hardware and more basic product development? 45:57 Are you required to pay the tuition fees upfront? 47:12 End of Q&A and analysis of audience poll results 48:21 Final thoughts from Professor Smithies, including a top tip 50:09 Summary of programme details and event wrap-up 52:28 Final question for Professor Smithies: What are you most looking forward to when the first presentation of the King's Product Management Career Accelerator kicks off?