Want to Work at Adobe? Here Are the Degrees You’ll Need.

Upon retiring from Adobe in 2001, co-founder John Warnock said, “In building a high-tech business, it has always been my basic instinct to out-invent and out-engineer the competition.” That basic instinct has gone a long way, with Adobe out-inventing and out-engineering other media firms to become one of the world’s most recognized brands, developing tools used by millions of multimedia creatives around the globe.

Adobe may be known for products such as Acrobat for creating and viewing PDF files and Photoshop for editing images, but the company is also leading the way in fostering equality, diversity, and inclusion in the workplace. Through its Adobe for All initiative, the company has achieved global gender pay parity and continues to diversify the makeup of its employee base in terms of gender and race. For its efforts, Adobe snagged a spot on the 2019 list of the Human Rights Campaign Foundation’s best places to work for LGBTQ equality, and ranked eighth on Fortune’s 2019 list of best workplaces for diversity.

Aside from this recognition, Adobe offers employee benefits such as comprehensive health insurance, dental and vision plans, a wellness reimbursement program, an employee stock purchase plan, a patent award program, and identity protection and credit monitoring, among others. Continuous learning is encouraged through an education reimbursement program for academic degrees and certifications and a professional development reimbursement program for conferences, online courses, and webinars. The company has also done away with clunky performance reviews, replacing them with ongoing check-ins and feedback conversations.

Are you keen to help others realize their creative dreams? Do you want to forge a career path in a digital organization that combines passion and purpose? Look no further as we lay out the degrees you’ll need to be part of Adobe—with some tips to land a job at one of the world’s leading media companies.

Adobe company background

Adobe was founded in 1982, a partnership between then-Xerox researchers Warnock and Charles “Chuck” Geschke. What began as a startup revolutionizing desktop and electronic publishing quickly grew into a leading multimedia company offering products that span digital design, digital document processing, and digital advertising and marketing.

Adobe has more than 22,000 employees worldwide, including in its headquarters in San Jose, California, and offices in Australia, Brazil, India, Israel, and the U.K., among other locations. The organization reported $11.17 billion in revenue in December 2019.

What it’s like to work for Adobe

Adobe employees make up teams in data science, design, engineering, finance, legal, marketing, and sales, among others. Data from Glassdoor indicates that the multimedia company’s employees are well-paid, especially those in senior positions and tech roles, though not as high as other media firms like Netflix and Spotify.

Some of the highest-paid roles at Adobe include the following, which we’ve listed by average annual base salary:

• Senior computer scientist: $176,939
• Senior product manager: $166,125
• Research scientist: $155,171
• Senior experience designer: $143,385
• Senior software engineer: $141,201
• Product manager: $140,653
• Computer scientist: $131,578
• Experience designer: $115,785
• Software engineer: $114,785
• Software quality engineer: $108,164

Adobe’s company culture is one that allows people to not only work, but also thrive. It’s grounded on four core values: creativity and innovation, commitment to exceptional experiences, genuine trust and reliability, and openness and inclusion.

The degrees you’ll need for a career at Adobe

A closer look at the Adobe careers site reveals hundreds of job openings in areas such as engineering, IT, marketing, and finance.

Engineering jobs at Adobe

In the engineering arena, Adobe is looking for computer scientists, full-stack developers, data scientists, database engineers, experience researchers, software engineers, and user researchers. You’ll use your tech chops to build desktop and mobile products and services that help users create digital content. You’ll also get to work on projects that transform AI and machine learning research into actual products.

A degree in computer science, information systems, statistics, applied math, or a related analytical discipline will equip you with the necessary knowledge and skills for the job. Those eyeing the experience researcher or user researcher positions will need a degree in anthropology, cognitive science, human-computer interaction, social psychology, or a related field.

Information technology jobs at Adobe

In the realm of IT, Adobe has job listings for cloud architects, security analysts, security engineers, solution architects, system administrators, and technical consultants. You’ll be tasked with designing and developing the architecture of cloud platforms and other technology solutions, providing support on technical issues, and ensuring security at scale.

Candidates seeking these roles will need a degree in information systems, information technology, information security, or a related discipline.

Marketing jobs at Adobe

When it comes to marketing, Adobe has roles for marketing managers, marketing specialists, and SEO strategists. You’ll be responsible for driving marketing strategies, executing and tracking marketing campaigns, monitoring SEO analytics, and measuring and improving marketing performance.

To do the job, you’ll need a degree in advertising, marketing, communications, or business administration.

Finance jobs at Adobe

In the finance space, positions are available for finance leads, financial analysts, and revenue analysts. These roles involve building and maintaining financial models, analyzing financial data, and providing strategic advice for budgeting and forecasting.

Earning a degree in accounting or finance is essential for success in the role.

Other ways to join Adobe

Adobe hires both undergraduate and graduate interns. You’ll get to work on challenging research problems while getting paid, with mentors to help you along the way.

Throughout the year, the company also visits universities across the U.S. to conduct career fairs, on-campus interviews, and talks, so grab the opportunity if Adobe drops by your university.

What Adobe looks for when hiring

As a top multimedia firm, Adobe is still expanding and continuing on its growth streak. The competition may be fierce, but there are ways to stand out from the crowd.

In a 2014 interview with LinkedIn, Jeff Vijungco, Adobe’s former VP of global talent management, shared what the company is searching for in candidates. “Adobe looks for three key factors: differentiation, motivation, and collaboration,” he said. “We want individuals with a unique skill set that complements the team, a sense of urgency to deliver beyond what’s possible, and ‘we’ rather than ‘me’ team players.”

A thirst for learning might also be the secret sauce to getting hired at Adobe. “We are looking for ‘learn-it-alls.’ ‘Know-it-alls’ need not apply,” Vijungco said in a 2015 interview with Fortune. “We gravitate towards candidates who have humility and intellectual curiosity.”

(Last Updated on February 26, 2024)

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