Behind the Scenes with Bridget: from Bowie State intern to technology compliance product owner

At Adobe, we are dedicated to nurturing the development and career paths of our interns and early career professionals to support their growth within the company. As part of our Adobe for All mission, our cybersecurity team welcomed 11 interns last year from Bowie State University’s engineering department, a designated Historically Black College and University (HBCU), to help students enhance their cybersecurity skills and career paths.

A year ago, we interviewed Bridget, then an intern on our compliance team, to hear about her internship experience at Adobe. Today, Bridget has transitioned to a full-time employee as a technology compliance product owner in Adobe Security.

In this blog, we’ll take you behind the scenes to explore Bridget’s story about her career journey and her experience transitioning from intern to full-time employee as a technology compliance product owner.

What was your experience like transitioning from an internship to becoming a full-time employee at Adobe?

Moving to a new city to start my full-time role at Adobe was an exciting experience, and my team welcomed me back with open arms. I remember that, during my first week, we went out for a team dinner where we had lots of conversations around my professional growth and how I could best leverage my internship experience for future projects I would be working on in my new full-time role.

Although I knew I still had much to learn, my previous internship experience had prepared me to be well-versed in several key processes involving security audit-related work. For example, during my internship, I managed critical tasks related to Adobe’s quarterly compliance reviews, called QCRs, ensuring continuous security and compliance. This was an essential process for maintaining compliance requirements across various frameworks, such as PCI and SOC2, and deepened my understanding of the relationships between controls and security.

Starting this role with little to no security-related experience has been challenging, but it has also given me numerous learning opportunities that I’m grateful for. Fortunately, I’m part of a team that encourages continuous learning, making my career journey both enriching and rewarding.

How did the skills and knowledge you gained during your internship prepare you for your full-time role?

My internship at Adobe was unique because it was extended throughout spring and summer. During the first part of my internship, I familiarized myself with Adobe’s culture, connected with fellow interns, and collaborated with my manager to identify skills I wanted to develop and projects I wanted to pursue. This preparation helped me during the latter half of my summer internship because I had the necessary knowledge and knew the right people and teams to work with for my projects.

My internship helped me become familiar with the audit process as well as security compliance frameworks and controls, preparing me for greater responsibilities in my new full-time role. So far, one of the most valuable skills I’ve taken from my internship is organization. Managing various tasks with different deadlines has taught me the importance of planning and prioritization, especially when collaborating with cross-functional teams to support external audits. This is a skill that will undoubtedly benefit me throughout my professional journey. Along with this, I’ve also improved my own critical thinking skills specifically around our security and audit-related procedures, allowing me to understand the key role our team plays in risk management.

What do you enjoy most about your current role?

I’ve always known that I wanted to pursue a role where I would be kept on my toes by learning continuously. As a technology compliance owner, it’s important to keep up with global security compliance standards because they are always evolving and changing quickly. This is one of the many aspects I enjoy most about my role, because I’m always growing and stretching my learning experiences.

Beginning my full-time journey in January 2024, I took on my first-ever external audit. With guidance from my senior mentors, I was responsible for ensuring that Adobe continues to maintain customer trust by complying with global security requirements. Currently, I am involved in multiple security compliance engagements and continuous audit activities. One of my favorite projects so far has been working on complying with Spain’s ENS 4.0 requirements that leveraged Adobe’s Common Controls Framework to meet security compliance objectives. Achieving Spain’s ENS 4.0 certification has allowed us to showcase Adobe’s robust security posture to our customers in Spain in addition to helping Adobe maintain customer commitments.

If you had told me a year ago that I’d be responsible for projects on a scale this large, I would have felt intimidated. However, now, six months in, I feel very supported by my team members who have created an environment where there are no wrong questions. Having leaders around me who support my growth and foster an inclusive environment is something I cherish a lot about working at Adobe.

In what ways has Adobe’s culture contributed to your professional growth and development so far?

This transition has brought many changes in both my professional and personal life, but one thing that has remained consistent from my internship to my full-time role is Adobe’s culture. My manager, senior mentors, and the rest of my team have been a true reflection of this supportive environment. As a new graduate entering any role, things can often be quite confusing, but knowing I have my team to guide me makes all the difference.

One of my favorite aspects of the team are our periodic meetings, where people are encouraged to share constructive criticism around areas the team can improve on. One of the traits I’ve noticed and admire about our leadership team is their ability to give and receive feedback fostering a culture of continuous improvement and active listening resulting in creating a better workplace environment every day.

Upon graduating college, I had a competing offer from another company, but Adobe won my heart. Why? Because here, I found a community-like workplace with a supportive and collaborative team structure. The different employee networks at Adobe, such as BEN (Black Employee Network), which I am a part of, showcase Adobe’s commitment to promoting a diverse and inclusive community.

What is one piece of advice you would give to other students and early career professionals who are interested in pursuing a career in cybersecurity?

One key piece of advice I would give to someone starting early in their career is to set personal goals and expectations for yourself each quarter or at least be intentional about checking in with yourself periodically. Doing so can help you stay on track to stay committed to your own continuous professional development.

Specifically, for those interested in cybersecurity, I recommend being open-minded to exploring different areas the field has to offer, including application security, enterprise security, cloud security, and security compliance. Prior to joining Adobe, I had the privilege of interning at several different companies under different roles in information technology, privacy, and governance. Through this experience, I was able to decide on the right path forward for myself based on my own unique interests and strengths.

We would like to thank Bridget for taking the time to chat with us about her experience transitioning from interning to full-time at Adobe. We are proud of her growth and achievements thus far and look forward to continuing to support the development of our interns and employees as they advance their cybersecurity careers.

To learn more about our university internship program and new grad opportunities, please visit our university career page.