Bringing corporate closer to campus: Reimagining Adobe India’s internship program

Every day at Adobe India reminds me that leadership is a privilege. Late last year, I realised this subtle aspect when I took on a new challenge: to level up Adobe India's internship program in my new role as the Head of University Programs. My team and I set out to find talented interns in order to build our future leaders from the ground up.

Along this journey, we picked up a few insights that helped us unlock immense potential across campuses and comprehend the far-reaching impact of our virtual internship programs.

Skills reveal what academic pedigree cannot

In an ever-evolving talent landscape, demand for the best and the brightest remains constant. Preconceived notions can lead recruiting teams to believe that such talent can only be found in top schools and universities. This year, we aimed to challenge that notion.

We aggressively expanded our outreach efforts, actively engaged with students across 100+ campuses, and excitedly extended offers to 400+ supremely skilled students. Most of these students were from previously unexplored campuses located in relatively unknown cities. This outcome reinforced one of our core beliefs that great ideas and incredible talent can come from anywhere.

DE&I efforts need to be expanded

We made this year's internship search much more inclusive by expanding the scope of DE&I initiatives. We doubled down on our 'Women in STEM' efforts, conducted accessibility drives for people with disabilities, and collaborated with partners like Pride Circle for interview preparation workshops. We also worked with Enable India to hold sensitization workshops that helped stakeholders involved in the hiring process overcome unconscious biases. These conscious efforts resulted in a cohort that genuinely reflected our #AdobeforAll values of diversity, equity, and inclusion.

Investing in talent now clears future hiring hurdles

To create the future of digital experiences, we need to attract, engage, and hire talent with the right mindset to work on the next generation of digital products. Our early talent outreach programs are a big step in that direction.

In 2022 we launched the Adobe Career Academy (ACA) in India with the primary aim of bridging the gap between corporate and campus. This program trains second-year students on skills to help them thrive in the professional world. The success of ACA is evidenced by the support we’ve received on social media and other platforms.

We also accelerated the timelines for Adobe Emerge, a program that helps build awareness among top talent and introduces them to the Adobe life before the placement season begins. Participants of Adobe Emerge also took part in exclusive group mentorship sessions. The students connected with senior Adobe computer scientists and got an insight into all aspects of the business, from how computer scientists at Adobe approach their work to how they screen, interview, and hire potential teammates.

Ideas spread far out when people come together

Our outreach efforts help us engage with top talent at a scale like never before. For the first time, we onboarded interns not only for our engineering teams but also for our ACS, customer engineering and support, and employee experience teams. Throughout the season, our interns were captivated by exciting projects, multiple training programs, interactive 'Know Your Leader' sessions, CSR activities, and fun networking circles.

We carried this high energy to the third edition of our flagship intern summit, Adobe Alchemy. As we celebrated our company's journey with the interns, the day-long event followed the theme, 'Glorious Past, Golden Future.' We reflected on our milestones, exemplified futuristic experiments, and presented a thrilling vision of a metaverse future. To top the Adobe Life experience, our interns also got an opportunity to interact with Shantanu Narayen at our Meet the CEO session.

As we conclude this internship season, we are grateful to have received an opportunity to mentor talented interns, provide them with new perspectives, and seed creative confidence. We believe we are going in the right direction. By focusing on early talent that can dream up the next generation of digital products, we will fast-track the future of Adobe in a world that is ready to be shaped by a rapidly evolving digital ecosystem.