The semester has started and for the second time, QUEST is offering a very exciting elective course: Product Management (BMGT438N)! This class is filled with twenty QUEST students, a lovely TA, an amazing professor, and many guest speakers that are excited to help the class learn about Product Management.
This semester, the course has a new professor, Jessica Alves De Sa, a Product Manager at Shopify and QUEST alumna from Cohort 16! She has experience in consulting and product management and is excited to share her knowledge with the class.
When asked about her hopes for this class, Alves De Sa stated that she wants to provide “the cheat codes to enter the tech industry.” She elaborates that this industry has its own culture and languages and can seem daunting for students to enter. However, the alumna believes that QUEST students are suited to enter the tech industry with the skills we develop through the program.
Alves De Sa believes that product thinking is extremely important for all of us – it provides our brains with a framework to make educated decisions in every aspect of life. Here are some example questions during that process:
- What are my priorities in doing this project?
- What are your decisions based on your priorities?
Students with Guest Speaker: Brian Marquardt (Cohort 1) during a recent class session
So far, all of the students are really liking the structure and content! The class is structured in the following way:
- Stand-ups (a two minute summary from each student on a tech industry that they choose to follow through the semester)
- Lecture
- Application of skills in a group setting
- Guest Speakers!
The last item on the list is what the class loves the most. Alves De Sa has a brilliant set of speakers ready to bestow their knowledge about product management to the class. Some honorable mentions are:
- Her fellow Shopify product managers
- Jason Gates (Cohort 16) – Founder of Compology
- Brian Marquardt (Cohort 1) – Senior Director of Product at Youtube
- Dmitriy Portnyagin (Cohort 16) – Product for FinTech
- And many more to come!
Students with Guest Speaker: Brian Marquardt (Cohort 1)
Lastly, when asked about advice on becoming a Product Manager, she strongly emphasized that there are no stupid questions for the job. As Product Managers, your job is to bring clarity to the project, so if you can’t understand, the rest of the team might not either.
We are excited to continue with this class and wish Jessica Alves de Sa all the best this semester!