In spring of 2023, we partnered with Nordstrom to launch a Product Management Track where college students within the Atlanta University Center Consortium had the opportunity to register for these courses and learn more about a career in the retail industry.
Product Management is a high-growth profession with a strong job outlook and high earning potential. This is a field that welcomes people with technical, leadership and analytical skills, allowing them to follow different paths in technology, user experience, or business. There is a vast opportunity to spread awareness and share the impact of this business field with students, and we are proud to have been able to partner with Nordstrom to offer these courses.
This past semester, Nordstrom leaders and technologists taught and mentored students on Product Management. We spoke to a few students to learn about their experience as they took part in the newly created courses.
Jordan Bonaparte Morehouse College, Computer Software Engineering
What specific knowledge or skills did you acquire during the course that you consider most valuable?
The most valuable skills that I learned were the soft skills and templates that are used within the industry. They offer a good starting point to what direction to take a project in. While every project has different parameters and requirements, they can all have the same starting point.
How did the industry professional guest speakers impact your experience?
Having current-working industry professional speakers had a positive impact on my experience. They offered insight into the industry and spoke about challenges they’ve faced and how they overcame them.
How did this Product Management course help you, shift your perspective, or change your career goals?
This course expanded my horizons, in terms of what career path I could take. Most of the classes offered at Morehouse, regarding the tech field, revolve around programming and hard skills so naturally, I was looking at roles that fell into those categories. Since taking this class, I have learned that there are a lot of non-coding tech jobs in the industry.
Emmanuel Bradford - Morehouse College, Computer Science
How confident are you that you can explain what Product Management is, why the job exists, and what it takes to be a successful Product Manager?
I am confident in my ability to explain what Product Management is, why the job function exists, and what it takes to be successful in this career. Throughout the course, there was not a single piece of information that I felt we did not go over. From the knowledgeable professors, insightful conversations, and the abundance of resources shared with us, I felt well prepared to start my journey as a Product Manager after finishing this course.
What specific knowledge or skills did you acquire during the course that you consider most valuable?
In this Product Management course, I learned about the importance of having a User-Centric mindset. As a part of the research I am involved in this summer, I am tasked with building a web interface for experimentalists to share and input their data. Since we need users to use our website, I have started to acquire this mindset and become an advocate for users to help establish a more user-friendly design that can satisfy their needs. This has been very valuable as it has helped me make strides within this project and has transformed the way I think about user experience.
How did the industry professional guest speakers impact your experience?
The industry professional guest speakers impacted me and my life in ways I could have never expected. Just hearing their individual stories of how they overcame hurdles and reached success was truly inspiring. What has impacted me the most is how every leader was willing to help us. In fact, I still contact some of them today who continue to give me great advice and guidance. It is because of these guest speakers that I am doing great now. And for that, I am thankful.
How did this Product Management course help you shift your perspective or change your career goals?
I ended up coming out of this experience with way more than just another career option. Because of this course, I was able to evolve not only in my work life but in my personal life as well. Now, when tackling new challenges, I have begun to think more like a Product Manager. One specific habit I picked up from this course is asking why. I didn't know the importance of this question, but why is very crucial when thinking about the grand scheme of things as it helps us gain a deeper insight into problems and drives some of our decisions in career and in life.
This course is one of my favorite college courses I have taken thus far. This was only possible because we had professors who cared about us succeeding. To put it simply, they cared about us and wanted to see us achieve.
Kailon Jackson Spelman College, Computer Science
What specific knowledge or skills did you acquire during the course that you consider most valuable?
This course helped me understand the background information about product management and what the role entails. I had an internship in product management last year, but this course gave me an in-depth view on Product Management which has really helped me connect the dots.
How did this Product Management course help you, shift your perspective, or change your career goals?
This course deepened my understanding of Product Management and inspired me to think about what I could do in the future—I really enjoyed the course. The information was not overwhelming, and the professors ensured everything was easily digestible for us students.
You can learn more about these courses and our partnership with Nordstrom here.