The Adobe Digital Academy: Reskilling for the future
2020 Adobe Digital Academy Cohort
At Adobe, we believe that everyone should have the opportunity to pursue their career dreams and to find meaningful career advancement opportunities. We also believe that as a company, our success depends on cultivating a diverse workforce. To us, diversity is about valuing the unique life experiences that every employee brings to work every day. Diversity of background and experience strengthens our teams and helps us create great products and services for the diverse customers we serve around the world.
With the COVID-19 pandemic, businesses small and large are relying on digital technology to continue operating. And the recent social justice movement in the U.S. has shed light on the critical need to bring more diverse voices to the forefront within our society and businesses. It’s never been more important to find innovative ways to bring new talent into the tech industry. One example of Adobe’s longstanding commitment to digital and creative literacy, and diversity and inclusion is represented by the Adobe Digital Academy—a modern apprenticeship program that helps nontraditional candidates gain new digital skills to pursue and succeed in technical careers. We’re excited to announce a few updates to our program and share that applications for the 2021 program are open through November 6, 2020.
The Adobe Digital Academy goes virtual and adds more scholarships
Through the Adobe Digital Academy program, Adobe sponsors scholarships for career switchers from nontraditional backgrounds to attend an immersive, three-month software engineering, data science or UX/UI education course with our partner General Assembly. After completing the education course, qualified candidates have the opportunity to interview for an apprenticeship at Adobe, and after the apprenticeship, many go on to full-time, entry-level positions at Adobe or other tech companies.
Our 2021 program will be virtual, allowing us to open up scholarships and apprenticeships to applicants across the U.S., instead of hosting the program only in select cities. We are also adding more scholarships this year, providing the opportunity for 50 candidates to attend the three-month immersive education course. Adobe covers the cost of the tuition as well as a living stipend.
Applications are now open
Interested in applying for the Adobe Digital Academy, or know someone who might be a fit? We’re accepting applications for our 2021 program now through November 6. Here are a few key dates to know:
- November 6, 2020: Application process with General Assembly closes.
- December 2020: Applicants will be notified of acceptance.
- January 2021: Full-time immersive education courses begin.
- Spring 2021: Qualified candidates will be selected for virtual apprenticeships/internships at Adobe.
- Summer 2021: Adobe virtual apprenticeship begins.
For more details, please check out our recent information session or our FAQ.
Pushing for progress
We’ve long believed that with the Adobe Digital Academy, we can make a difference within candidates’ lives, within our company, and within our industry. Since the program’s inception in 2016, we’ve provided 120 scholarships, with most of those candidates going on to full-time roles in tech.
We know there’s so much more work to be done, but together we can make progress. If you’re interested in starting a similar apprenticeship program at your company, you can download the Adobe Digital Academy Playbook that shares the process behind our program. If you’d like to learn more about the Adobe Digital Academy, or if you’re interested in hiring an Adobe Digital Academy graduate, please reach out to us at academy@adobe.com.