Blackblot^® Product Management Expertise™

The transition to a PMTK product manager is a major conceptual career change and a preparation step for a future opportunity. It is not the endgame but a turning point where the practitioner has decided to move from the technical world, the solution space, to the business-oriented problem space.

Fundamentally, the transition to a PMTK product manager is not about acquiring a new skill set with new responsibilities but a personal internal change in which deterministic technical thinking is replaced by strategic market thinking.

The first thing you should do is gain a basic understanding of the Blackblot PMTK Methodology™, its fundamental concepts, and the PMTK foundation rules. This is to verify that the methodology resonates with your way of thinking and fits your personality.

Start by viewing the What is Product Management? narrated video presentation, which explains the definition of product management according to the Blackblot PMTK Methodology™. Then, expand your knowledge with more in-depth content by reading the Definition of Product Management - Blackblot PMTK Book Chapter.

Similarly, you now need to gauge at a cursory level the degree of product management maturity that your current company exhibits by completing the Blackblot Product Management Maturity Evaluator. Then proceed with a more in-depth analysis and explore the effects and degree of the technology-driven environment at your workplace by completing the Blackblot Technology-Driven Evaluator, who will provide a score and an assessment.

At this stage, you should be able to estimate your own disposition to become a PMTK product manager and simultaneously determine the level of receptiveness you can expect from your organization to accept and help with this move.

Should you decide to proceed, then now comes the learning part when you must invest time and effort to learn the Blackblot PMTK Methodology™. Your learning options include comprehensive instructor-led classroom training with a full training package of supporting products and services or self-study.

The self-study option is a viable route that many have taken. Begin by reading the second edition of The Product Manager's Toolkit: Methodologies, Processes and Tasks in Technology Product Management book. Then review the many short posts and articles in the Powered by Blackblot™ Knowledge Base, a dynamic repository of PMTK core knowledge.

Self-learning continues by engaging all available Blackblot Content Retention Tool™ questionnaires that correspond to the PMTK book chapters. The Blackblot CRTs further deepen PMTK knowledge with a series of multiple-choice questions. Also, review the major templates in the Blackblot Product Manager's Toolkit® (PMTK) professional template collection.

By now, you should know the Blackblot PMTK Methodology™ well enough to confidently take and successfully pass the Blackblot Product Management Professional™ (BPMP) certification program tests. You should strive to become a Master BPMP as it is emerging as the top career and professional differentiator for product managers.

The Blackblot Certified Product Coach™ accreditation is awarded to individuals who pass all available Blackblot Product Management Professional™ (BPMP) certification tests. This advanced accreditation is for you if your job mandates you provide internal product management coaching and mentoring to your co-workers.

Culminate the effort and complete the Blackblot Qualified Professional™ Evaluator who will help human resource managers and recruiters objectively assess your professional competency level in product management, according to the Blackblot PMTK Methodology™. It is recommended that you attach the resulting evaluator PDF report to your CV.

It is the end of your preparation journey, and you are now at a formidable vantage point in your quest for a strategic and career-changing opportunity as a PMTK product manager.