An honest review of the Upraised’s Career Accelerator Program for people looking to get a product management job.
About Upraised: In layman's terms, Ed-Tech for Product Management. This article is going to be about experience with Upraised doing the Career Accelerator Program for transitioning into product roles.
If you are here, you are trying to make a switch to Product Management. There is a lot of chatter about how EdTech is as scandalous as our traditional education and painful for being expensive. To add to that, these are the days when people are earning more by teaching Product Management than by doing Product Management.
Well, as an Upraised alumni, who witnessed experiences of many cohort members, I shall help you with the Upraised review. And, I’ll try to keep my review transparent and honest :)
The article discusses the order:
- What are the red flags about the upraised course?
- Are the red flags worth it? What is the bright side?
- What about the placements at upraised?
- Summary
— — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — —
What are the red flags about the course?
Let’s start with the negatives because many of us already have them in mind and probably this is the reason you are looking for validation to purchase or reject the course…
- Expensive: It is expensive, yes. Is it worth it? read further.
- Poor placements: Why are the placements bad? is it a false promise?
- Demands time and effort: Why should it demand so much effort despite paying so much money?
While I understand where this is coming from, I want to share the bright side of it because it deserves it. Keep reading…
Are the red flags worth it? What is the bright side?
I have definitely benefited well from the Upraised Program. For full transparency, I spent 2 lakhs Indian rupees to be a part of their cohort!!! Yes, it was a huge sum for me. (I am still paying off the loan lol) It took me one year to make this decision. Within that one year, the price went from 1 lakh to 2 lakh. With a referral, I joined the program apprehensive about my decision.
“Can I learn these with free resources?”
“Am I getting sold to good sales?”
“Am I throwing away money due to peer pressure?”
……..these were my thoughts.
After completing the program, I realized that there are a few things I would have taken more time to do on my own that would have put me behind in the race. I regretted that I didn’t take it much earlier. So, what are the benefits?
- Structure: I used to proactively network and I procured product management resources from various mentors. And yet, to put different product skills and concepts together is difficult for me. The Upraised program did that job for me and all I needed to do was consume it.
- Discipline: Learning from free resources and mentors was great but I used to get overwhelmed from time to time. Studying Product management is a lot and whenever I was overwhelmed, I would lose my confidence and take a break. But during my time at upraised, I had 50 others to share this feeling with. And every interaction pushed me to do a bit more. Upraised also has all modules scheduled. So, I just needed to follow a schedule that was realistic.
What could have taken me 1 year or more, with the Upraised course, I was able to do it in 4 months.
- Quality of content: Hands down the quality of the content at Upraised was impeccable. It was broad and deep. It includes YouTube channels, Articles, Frameworks, Case Studies, Product Phenomena, UX basics, Tech basics, and interview preparation. Everything is presented in a structured manner for the learner to grasp easily. Only with the help of this knowledge, I was able to ace my interviews after completing the course.
While I am still paying the debt, every day I can see how this acted as a catalyst in my professional learning journey.
- Network: The Upraised network includes the members of Upraised (The PMs, Program managers, and Mentors), and Upraised cohort community, and the Upraised Coaches. I have gotten referrals and found friends through this community.
If not the least, I have found fellow Product Managers to share the pain of PM-ing and learn from each other.
- Mentoring (PM Coach & Mock interviews): I understand that I was lucky to find good mentors through networking on LinkedIn but even that was not promising as they have their own lives to live. However, with Upraised, I got a dedicated mentor who was extremely critical of the quality of my work which pushed me further and got noticed with my portfolio. They get paid to mentor you and you can always hold them accountable. Likewise, I have gotten mock interviews with PMs from top tech companies which helped me navigate the interview process and gain confidence.
I got a job interview by networking with a Guest PM who I did the mock interview with. So if you are someone who can spot and take advantage of the opportunities, Upraised is a gold mine.
- Portfolio: A portfolio creates a huge impact on someone wanting to schedule an interview with you. It serves as a proof of work. Upraised helps you create it. Honest review is that you can leverage this and multiply how much you can create but for someone starting off, this is a huge benefit.
But what about the placements?
I haven’t gotten placement or a single interview call via Upraised. And that is sad, indeed. But I did see that efforts put in by the upraised team because of the transparency on their job board.
As someone who applied to 200 applications and got 3 calls, I can understand why it is difficult to get interviews. Many factors affect the placements such as previous experience, current compensation, preferences for position, location, company, salary, and so on. Bottom line, I wasn’t satisfied with placement services by Upraised. However, I secured decent offers with my skills and efforts along with the learnings from Upraised. So I am okay to not cry about it.
If your goal for purchasing the course is only securing a job offer or an interview, then CAP by Upraised may not satisfy you.
Upraised Members:
Upraised support (placement and cohort) is flexible. They adjust deadlines, help with material, help with networking, help with resume tips, and so on. The mentors are skilled.
Special mention to Sayantani, Bhaskar Devatha & Varshini Kudaligi ❤
And my PM Coach: Aravinth ❤
Summary of the review:
If you are confident with your PM skills + you are disciplined + your networking skills are great– , sure, go ahead and do it on your own without spending any money.
But if you aren’t, which is many of us, Upraised is a quality shortcut for your transition to a product role. Of course, MBA is an option but that’s a long and costlier journey.
Let me know if you’d like me to cover anything else (comment below). Happy to help! My LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/snehankitha/ to connect.
