Digital Academy - FAQs

Going beyond universities, we wanted to give individuals from nontraditional backgrounds new opportunities to reskill and enter technology and design careers. Established in March 2016, the Adobe Digital Academy offers bright, motivated people an alternative and accelerated path to switching careers. In partnership with General Assembly, we provide candidates with scholarships and living stipends to help them gain the education for careers in user experience (UX) design, data science, software engineering or digital marketing and then invite recommended learners to interview with various teams across the company for an internship with the goal of helping them gain full-time employment at Adobe or another company. We have oLered 300+ scholarships and to date, over 100+ internships and 65 have currently remained at Adobe after securing full-time jobs.

The Adobe Digital Academy is a two-part programme, designed to provide essential training and practical experience. For 2025, the education portion (Part 1), will take place remotely and is open to eligible U.S. geographies (see General Assembly’s site for more info on qualifying states).

In Part 1, students receive training from General Assembly in full-time bootcamps for Software Engineering, Data Science, User Experience and Design or a part-time course in Digital Marketing. Successful completion of Part 1 is crucial for eligibility for Part 2.

During their courses, scholars, in good standing and who align with our business hiring needs, may be selected to interview for Part 2 which involves a technical internship with our engineering, data science, design or sales/consultant teams. Depending on feedback from General Assembly, Digital Academy students are eligible to be considered for a three-month internship programme with a technical team at Adobe. They get hands-on job experience, ongoing feedback, mentorship and peer support — and high performers have the opportunity to be hired full-time. Education immersive bootcamp programme is online, while selected candidates will have the option to relocate for the internship.

As part of our commitment to fostering a diverse workforce, the Adobe Digital Academy offers nontraditional candidates the education and — contingent upon technical performance — the experience they need to launch successful careers in user experience design, data science, software engineering or digital marketing.

The programme is rooted in the growth mindset — the concept that people can increase their neural growth by taking actions such as using good strategies, asking questions and practising.

Our sponsorship recipients have historically come from non-traditional backgrounds and are career switchers, meaning they are not currently enrolled in a degree programme. Technical exposure prior to the sponsorship varies. Some candidates are self-taught and some have experience in IT or non-U.S. technical degree programmes. A goal of the programme is to provide support to candidates who are from underrepresented and or historically excluded backgrounds in tech and who are also seeking financial assistance to make the career switch.

Individuals are selected based on the following qualities:

• Dedication to learning coding, data science, design or digital marketing (depending on the programme)
• Growth mindset
• Grit (i.e., the ability to overcome challenges)
• Communication skills
• Overall potential for success, including alignment with Adobe’s core values

The Adobe Digital Academy is designed for high-potential individuals from underrepresented and historically marginalised backgrounds who don’t otherwise have access to funding for education. Successful participants typically have at least 2-4 years of prior career success and come from a wide-range of fields such as education, business, art and journalism.

The Adobe Digital Academy sponsorship has a multi-step application process. This includes a general application with General Assembly that includes a phone screen, an admissions interview and task and a supplemental questionnaire. To get started or to find more information about the admissions process, please review the General Assembly’s website.

Qualified candidates will go on to a screening round with the Adobe team and Adobe will let them know if they’ve been accepted by December 2024.

Note: Admission to General Assembly is a per-requisite to requesting to apply for the Adobe Digital Academy sponsorship. If GA believes the candidate seeking to apply for the sponsorship matches the criteria, they will communicate next steps and invite the applicant to apply for the Adobe Digital Academy sponsorship.

Applications will be available 1 October 2024 and completed applications will be due on 18 October, 2024. The start date for the education phase will be in early February, 2025.

• 23rd September 2024 - Applications open.

• 11th October 2024 - Deadline to be interviewed by the General Assembly Admissions team.

• 18th October 2024 - Application process officially closes and all applicants must submit their written application.

1. Apply to General Assembly here: https://www.adobe.com/corporate-responsibility/creativity/digital-academy.html

2. Phone Interview

3. Take home interview task

4. Supplemental Adobe Questionnaire

5. Virtual Zoom interview

6. Written Adobe application

7. Decision

At present, candidates are required to receive the sponsorship with General Assembly as a part of the Adobe Digital Academy in order to be eligible for the internship.

We recommend that you do four things:

1. Take advantage of all the resources provided, including mentors and teachers.

2. Be proactive and stay on top of your work.

3. Work with other students in the class.

4. Make use of external practice websites.

Yes—in the following ways:

• During the education portion, sponsorship recipients enrolled in one of the full-time bootcamp programmes (user experience design, data science or software engineering only) receive a monthly living stipend ranging from $1,400-$2,000 based on location.

Note: The digital marketing track is only part-time and is not stipend eligible.

• During the internship, selected candidates are compensated at a competitive hourly rate.

• Interns are also oLered a relocation package to support the transition from bootcamp to internship

This programme is a full-time, bootcamp training programme for the duration of both the bootcamp and the internship (except for the digital marketing track which is part-time during the bootcamp, however selected candidates who go on to the internship will be working full-time).

During the bootcamp, you’ll be required to be in class from 9:00am-5:00pm every weekday. Outside of class, you’ll have projects and assignments to complete that can take up to another six hours per day. We highly recommend that you avoid having any additional work or school commitments during this time so you’ll have the highest chance of success. If you’re oLered an internship, the length ranges from three to six or more months, depending on available full-time opportunities and your performance. Eight-hour workdays are typical, but your manager will work with you to set your specific hours.

General Assembly will get in touch to let you know about the next steps for enrolment and coursework. You will be required to complete pre-work assignments prior to the start date for your course in February.

Data Science

This is an intermediate-level data science course with some prerequisites. We recommend that students arrive with a strong mathematical foundation and familiarity with Python and programming fundamentals. Some students have engaged in self-learning or have some technical background, such as a degree in mathematics or computer science or work experience in research or analysis.

Upon enrolling, you’ll complete a series of online preparatory lessons that dive into the essentials of the Python programming language and applied math before the data science course begins.

Software Engineering

The Software Engineering Bootcamp is a beginner-friendly programme with no prerequisites, although many students have engaged in self-learning previously or have worked at tech startups or in tech-adjacent roles to develop basic HTML, CSS and other skills. Whether you’re new to software engineering or looking to formalise your practice, this course helps you to gain fluency in the programming languages, frameworks and libraries that today’s employers demand — and put that knowledge to work on the path to a new career.

User Experience + Design

The beginner-friendly UX Design Bootcamp takes a holistic approach to UX, from sketching and wire-framing to design and development using today’s top digital design tools. There are no prerequisites, although many students are familiar with common tools for graphic and web designers and some may have had exposure to UX concepts in the past. Once you enrol, GA will equip you with online, self-paced preparatory lessons to set you up for success. Dive into UX fundamentals and gain a common vocabulary to start collaborating with classmates on day one.

Whether you’re new to the UX design field or you’re looking to formalise your practice, the curriculum helps you to gain fluency in end-to-end UX processes, tools and documentation and put them to work on the path to a new career in the UX design field.

Digital Marketing

This short-course is a beginner-friendly digital marketing programme with no prerequisites, although many students are familiar with basic marketing concepts and have worked on marketing campaigns. Whether you’re brand new to the marketing field or you’re looking to get more from existing marketing campaigns, our digital marketing curriculum will enable you to explore the full suite of modern digital marketing tools and put them to work for you, your company and your career.

Once you’ve been accepted into the programme, please let your General Assembly know if you haven't got a laptop.

Internship oLers depend on your performance in the bootcamp (*along with business needs at Adobe). While we can’t guarantee that you’ll get an internship, we’ll evaluate your work carefully and ask for feedback from your teachers and mentors.

While we’ll take requests into consideration, placement is based on available space and which managers are hiring.

We recommend the following:

• Ask your manager and mentors questions.

• Network and build professional relationships.

• Ask for feedback and make a concrete plan to integrate the feedback.

• Complete every task to the best of your ability.

• Be proactive.

Interns receive the same benefits as our university interns. They include holiday pay, employee discounts, medical benefits, free lunch and commuter benefits like a commuter card (varies by location), Caltrain GOpass (SF Bay Area, for example) and shuttle services. For more information, please see our benefits page.

We offer the following types of support:

• A technical mentor on your team who can answer your technical questions.

• A Digital Academy alumni mentor who’s currently working full-time at Adobe on another team and who can help you navigate logistics, challenges and continued learning opportunities.

• A business mentor from one of Adobe’s Employee Networks — including the Black Employee Network, Indigenous/First Nations Network, Hispanic/LatinX Network, Women at Adobe and Proud at Adobe — who can help you to develop a sense of community and involvement.

• Additional support, including monthly check-ins with the Digital Academy programme manager for feedback on the overall experience and opportunities for growth.

• Cohort support via Slack and virtual lunches with the current group of Digital Academy participants.

• Growth mindset materials that can help you to approach your time at Adobe as another opportunity for continued learning and growth.

The goal of the Adobe Digital Academy is for all participants to be job-ready once they’ve completed the education programme and internship. Ideally, candidates go on to full-time, entry-level roles at Adobe or at other companies or startups. Since launching in 2016, we’ve had a 50% full-time hire rate.

When we’re unable to oLer a full-time role, we encourage candidates to connect with the networks they’ve built during their internship and the General Assembly Career Services Outcomes programme. Candidates often go on to entry-level roles at other tech companies and start-ups or they choose to continue their education.

The next round of applications opens October 1st, with applications due on 9th October.

Apply directly through our education partner.