[Course Review] I Finished Google’s Project Management Course in 1 Month

My pace was 33% of Google’s suggested 10 hours/module. Would I recommend it?

5 min readMar 8, 2023

If you’re reading this, you’re probably wondering if you have time to take Google’s Project Management Course.

Courses can be expensive, and signing up for one can be a significant time and financial commitment. But does it have to be? Google claims that the course would take 6 months at under 10 hours per week. My goal was to earn the certification in 1 month so I didn’t have to pay the $39 monthly subscription fee more than once.

And now, I’m going to share with you my strategies for how I did it.

Planning: The Course Breakdown

In order to earn the certification, I had to complete 6 courses, with each course broken up into 4–6 modules¹ of course material — a total of 27 modules. The course material included videos, readings, quizzes, and various assignments.

Foundations of Project Management (4 modules)
Project Initiation (4 modules)
Project Planning (5 modules)
Project Execution (6 modules)
Agile Project Management (4 modules)
Applying Project Management in the Real World (4 modules)

Duration (Number of Weeks to Completion)

Google suggests one week per module, so 27 modules would take 6.75 months:

On average, I completed 1.25 modules per day, or 8.75 modules per week:

Therefore it took about 3 weeks to finish the course:

Pacing (Hours Per Module)

Your own hourly pace may vary, but I worked about 4 hours a day, or 3.2 hours per module:

Essentially, each module took me about 33% of Google’s suggested 10 hours per module!

Execution: Condensing 6 months into 1

Did speeding through the course negatively impact the quality of my learnings? It’s possible. However, here’s what enabled me to minimize the likelihood that I missed something important.

I was unemployed. My usual 9–5 schedule was repurposed for skilling up. Having no income also lights a fire under you to get your sh*t together.
My professional experience overlapped with project management responsibilities. My background in tech — leading projects as a software engineer in agile teams, people management, and consulting — echoed many responsibilities of a project manager. As a result, much of the vocabulary and concepts were familiar, and this allowed me to move faster.

While these circumstances are unique to me, here are more generalized strategies I implemented in my own learning.

Strategies to move fast

Batch the type of work based on my energy during the day. My energy levels are highest in the mornings, so that’s when I would do assignments and quizzes that reviewed the previous day’s content. Afternoons and evenings were great for consuming new video content and readings on the next topics.
Skip every Discussion Prompt. They’re optional.
Skim all the readings. These are often written in bulleted lists that add structure to the video content you just watched.
Ace the quizzes. No one is going to see your report card but the quizzes do ask about the most important concepts. Getting the answers right (regardless of whether you guessed) also presents concise feedback that explains why your selection was correct.
Take notes. I took notes on Notion and linked out to my corresponding assignments on Google Drive, which enabled me to jog my memory efficiently.

Closeout: Would I Recommend This Course?

Would I recommend this course? The short answer is yes! If you’re just getting started in project management, this course gives you a taste of what the day-to-day could look like.

Pros

You get a professional certificate. It’s issued through Credly from Coursera and can be shared on social media to mark your accomplishment.
A great start for continued education. This program qualifies you for over 100 hours of project management education², which helps prepare you for Project Management Institute Certifications like the globally-recognized Certified Associate in Project Management (CAPM)®.
The price — $39/month. If you need more time, it could cost $68 — if you try to cancel the subscription on Coursera at the end of the first month, it offers you 50% off an additional month to continue your subscription.
Diverse group of quality instructors. Google nailed it here. Representation from people from many walks of life.

Cons

Sometimes Google-specific. In terms of theory, naming, and definitions, some topics covered were specific to Google’s processes.
More of a breakdown than an in-depth course. I found many topics covered could use more elaboration. However, at this price point, it’s a great introduction into project management. I think it can help someone who is on the fence about pursuing project management make a more sound decision on whether to pursue this career further.
Lacking in networking opportunities. It’s an online self-paced course, so this is to be expected.

This post was originally published on The Budget PMP Newsletter on Substack.

[1]: For the purpose of this article, I decided to rename what Google calls a “Week” of work to a “Module” of work, to avoid confusion with the measurement of time.

[2]: Source: https://www.coursera.org/professional-certificates/google-project-management