Ok so I just got an offer from Adobe for a new grad SWE role (starting this fall, San Jose) and I want to share what worked because honestly the process was less scary than I expected and I want to calm people down who are spiraling like I was.
First: the coding. Adobe new grad loops have two coding rounds. From what I can tell they draw from a LeetCode medium pool. I had one graph problem (BFS variant) and one string manipulation problem. No dynamic programming in my loop, but I've heard others got DP so don't ignore it. I'd say get your medium problems down solid before worrying about hard. The interviewers were pretty patient and would give hints if you got stuck.
The part people underestimate: behavioral. There's a full behavioral round and the HM round also has behavioral in it. They use a structured format that felt very STAR-adjacent. Questions I got: tell me about a time you had a conflict with a teammate, describe a project where you had to learn something fast, tell me about a time you failed. Have 3-4 solid stories ready.
Resume screen advice: I had an internship at a small startup (not a household name) and got screened in. Adobe seems to care more about what you built than where. Have specific numbers if you can. "Reduced latency by 40%" beats "improved performance".
The recruiter was genuinely nice and responded fast. They asked for references before the offer came, which initially scared me but apparently that's just their process.
Total timeline: applied online, heard back in 10 days, full loop done in 3 weeks, offer in week 5. Not bad.
For people asking "is Adobe worth it for new grads": I think so. Comp isn't FAANG tier but it's solid, the products are real and used by millions, and my impression is the team culture is less chaotic than some places. Worth doing if you're looking for stability over max RSUs.