Growth opps at Adobe - leave or stay?
Hi all, currently at Adobe in strategy and have been here for just over a year - first full time job after finishing uni in 2020. Great team and environment but I’m feeling a bit bored with the nature of work I do. Had Q1 check in today and told my manager my plans / goals for myself this year and how I can make it be more interesting - TLDR got told my goals are too ambitious and this early stage of my career is ‘meant to be boring’. Respectfully, I disagree that it ‘should be boring’, but I guess I want another opinion from someone who’s more experienced from this POV. My Rewards check in I asked for $100k tc ($85 base) and I got $85 tc due to budget (I’m not US based FYI). But it was just so much lower than expected. Had the conversation back in Nov last year. My mate who works in marketing got the same. Makes me feel that my manager didn’t vouch for the $100k for me. Told me it’ll take another few years to get there (definitely won’t be waiting another few years though). Also noticed no one in my team got a promotion??? Is my team not valued? Other teams saw pretty much 20-50% of their people get promotions. Interesting observation I guess. Got an offer from another company this week. $110k base (~$160k tc but tbc) as a strategy manager. It’s a medium sized tech company with a more linear structure that allows me to take my experience and have ownership in the new place - something I want but ‘can’t get yet’. I feel like typing this out, it’s obvious the answer is to go with the new Offer to address concerns around my compensation as well as job satisfaction… but I keep thinking of what my manager will think re: readiness. Am I being illogical? Idk? Can anyone with more years of work experience enlighten me on what they’d do? Is my manager right in that I should take my time when it comes to work, getting promos, etc., or is it good that I’m chasing more opportunities that will let me grow at the rate I want to?? Thank you in advance!
I’m at Adobe now dealing with the same thing and I’m planning to leave. Obviously if you got that other offer then THAT is your market value. I’m sick of Adobe underpaying people and trying to play nice guy
Thank you! Goodluck with everything ☺️
I'm also leaving for similar reasons you mentioned! I got tried of managers and directors thinking that younger developers don't need more money and always playing the politics game. I also felt a little bit bored, seemed like a lot of the senior developers on my team were vest-rest type of mentality, where on the other hand I was very eager to learn and it was affecting my growth both financially and career wise.
Everyone has a different learning and growth trajectory. From your manager’s side, if they mean well, it could be that they gave you insights on a typical trajectory which they’ve observed over time and don’t want you to take lofty goals to burn out in the end. For TC, in most cases, it’s always going to be a fight and you’d be your strongest ally in pushing for that. No one else does it as much! I once got a 1% pay increase called as “Performance bonus” and I immediately jumped ship without questioning it as I thought it was not only disrespectful to all the work I did (my work was involved in bringing the company to make profits for the first time in 20 years!) but also a wakeup call to stand ground about your skills and capabilities. What you did is great with another offer. See if you enjoy it there as smaller companies often lead to a lot more learning. If you enjoy it that’s great, but in parallel keep learning about how to push for TC wherever you go. Interviews are the best tools at that and there are hundreds of companies all around.
I am not in strategy but if you have been following the Adobe lounge on Blind, you should know that this is not a company for ambitious people.
Manager is just looking out for themself. Do what you want