How Adobe’s university program helped accelerate my learning and development

When Fahima Ahmad, Graduate Sales Growth Analyst, set out to look for her first career opportunity, she wanted to join a company that fostered learning and development, was innovative and had a great workplace culture. Hear from Fahima as she describes why that company was Adobe:

In February 2021, I joined Adobe through their university graduate program as an APAC Sales Growth Analyst. Since then, I have grown and developed in many ways, particularly my leadership, teamwork, and analytical skills—all of which have been imperative to me and my career development.

In university, I studied a double degree of Science and Arts, majoring in Psychology, Economics, and Government and International Relations. My studies in these three diverse areas, along with my work experience, enabled me to have a solid understanding of the direction I wanted to head in for my career.

At a surface level, I wanted to go into the tech industry because I saw it as the future of how we, as a society, interact with one another and redefine the realities of our ever-changing ‘now.’ An industry that is constantly growing, evolving, and optimizing the innovation and creations of its people and society, screamed opportunity to me like nothing else did. A great workplace culture is and always has been important to me, because as we have all come to know, it can make or break your ability to reach your full potential. Lastly, I wanted a role that not only allowed me to utilise the skills I gained in my studies, but also push me to continually learn and think outside the box, so that I could keep growing to become my best self.

Luckily for me, my checklist was covered in green at Adobe.

An exciting opportunity

As the APAC Sales Growth Analyst, I work in the Strategy, Data and Insights team within Sales Operations. This entails a range of responsibilities, namely, conducting revenue and product analysis, business forecasting, and reporting weekly and quarterly performance to help gauge a clearer understanding of business behaviors and opportunities within the Asia Pacific region.

Referring to my job checklist above, Adobe’s dynamic nature has met and exceeded my expectations in so many ways. Even though I have only been a part of the company for six months, it is already clear to me, that in both experience and numbers, Adobe is truly thriving in the technology sector, which subsequently accelerates the growth of its people too. The culture is one that goes above and beyond, where the entire network is supportive, helpful, and accommodating to the needs of all. In terms of skills, I am constantly given opportunities to apply and develop the soft and hard skills that I attained from my studies and previous work experience—be it problem solving, analytical thinking, or presentations—I get to do it all.

Stellar benefits

The benefits Adobe provides employees are immensely generous and have supported me in bettering myself, both in and out of the workplace. Among the many exciting initiatives, here are some of my favourite ones:

1. Health and wellbeing: Adobe has a staggering variety of health and wellbeing initiatives, such as free health insurance in APAC, a $650USD Wellness Fund and Global Days Off. It is common knowledge that wellbeing goes together with one’s ability to be their best self, and this extends to being one’s best self at work.

2. On-demand learning platform: The free on-demand learning platforms has provided me with access to various sources of education, facilitating my self-paced learning to expand and refine skills. Prior to diving into the specifics of my role and responsibilities, I enrolled in many courses that equipped me with confidence and in-depth knowledge on programs such as Excel, Tableau and Power BI, all of which have helped me be more efficient and productive at work.

3. Work from home fund: Lastly, as we work in an unpredictable COVID world, Adobe has provided all employees with a work from home fund to ensure we have the tools and equipment that we need while we are away from the office. I have been able to set up my home office with the best ergonomic furniture and technology, which has made working at home much more comfortable and easier than I expected.

Thinking of applying to Adobe’s University Program?

Here are my top tips:

• Know what you want, and why you want it. This will help your objectives align with the company’s objectives, and this way, you can really own the application process.
• Prepare well for your interviews. Research the company and the role, and always have some questions ready to ask your interviewers.
• Be yourself. While this line is thrown around a lot, companies do hire you for you!

Working at Adobe has been nothing short of amazing thus far, and I know it will get even better as I continue to progress in my role and in this company. Having a team that is supportive, a company that cares for you and an industry that is continuously evolving and challenging the status quo have been essential in setting me up for an exciting and dynamic career and will undoubtedly do the same for you.