Cisco Devnet has tons of free resources now, I was just using CML2 to build and test typologies. I would be cautious looking at old Cisco content if you do plan to get CCNA/NP/IE level certs since the whole curriculums changed in Feb2020.

Regardless thank you for sharing these links the Fortinet one looks intriguing, esp being on furlough I got enough time on hand.

On a tangential topic, do respectable online certifications for product management exist?

Plenty of Udemy courses and the like, but nothing I've found with certification.

Is certification generally reserved for specific technical skills like networking, security, cloud infrastructure, etc.?

I think certification gives the holder some potential credibility in a narrowly defined area IF an employer chooses to believe that a specific certification sufficiently covers the skills required for a business process.

That is clearer for roles that primarily need to operate software packages (word processing, CAD, etc) or systems where there is training content created by a solution vendor (cisco, juniper, etc), than it is for a multi-disciplinary "squishy" role like product management.

Consider that a product manager role might greatly by company size or by level of product / market fit. I'd say that an employer shopping for a PM might be looking for a combination of: subject matter expertise, deep knowledge of a specific market, and maybe a track record with KPIs. All of which are probably not easily evaluated by a common certification.

Actually with Project management the case is a bit different. There is a central body called "Project management institute". They have a selected number of certification options that are recognized globally. You can defnitely attend free courses but only PMI can certify you to be certified Project Management Professional.

He said product management, not project.

Then Udacity nano-degree is probably best imo.

Oops I mistook it for "Project" management. For such a certification in Product management you could check out Coursera's Brand management course: https://www.coursera.org/learn/brand

Can anyone comment on which (if any) of these are respected in industry?

To me, anything is better than nothing. At the same time, I'd expect that if you put a cert like this on your resume, you can speak knowledgeably about something the cert might cover. (e.g., What's a netmask for? What happens if you get it wrong?)

Perhaps I could add that I know little about most of the world's certifications. For example, people from other countries show up with various degrees, sometimes expecting that I'll know about their (to them) famous or even top school. I often don't. (Sorry.) But I generally take them at their word, especially after confirming with some modest probing.

Disclaimer: I work as a dev without a college degree so I'm a biased towards the side of alternative credentials.

I would love to hear other opinions on this subject. Everyone seems to have a different take on adding certificates and online courses to your resume.

Personally, I would see any sort of online course or certification positively as it shows you are learning. Whether or not you can back it up when you get it for an interview is a different matter entirely but having traditional BS/MS doesn't bypass that hurdle either.

Although I do have a college degree (though not in CS), I do feel that adding unessential certificates "in lieu of" education works against you. It just highlights the fact that you believe credentials are important (otherwise why did you invest in them) but you still avoided one of the most recognized credentials that exists. If you have extensive work experience this may flip, though (I've been busy working, so while I couldn't go back to college I could invest in meaningful credentials).

Additionally, it's difficult to surmise how certain credentials are viewed. I graduated from a tech bootcamp (i.e. hundreds of hours of instruction) and it weighed negatively on my resume in most cases (and when it was positive it was largely from other graduates, giving it more of a "club" credential vibe than an actual value signal).

In either case, I'd never recommend against obtaining a credential (even if it's not going to go on a resume) as the subject matter will likely be useful. Just be sure to only try to apply a credential when it's relevant, not as an educational stand-in.

When I was hiring JS devs and interaction designers, certifications were a very mixed bag, so much so that I couldn’t rely on them at all. I would see multiple (relevant) certifications attached to resumes full of typos and zero relevant work history. I much preferred to see functional side projects.