I applied online. I interviewed at Capital One in Feb 2021
Interview
I made it pretty far into the interview process and got to the "Power Day" that consisted of a behavioral Interview, Job Fit, and Design Challenge. It was a lot of work and I prepped a lot for it. Soon after, I got a rejection email but they said they are not able to provide any feedback regarding their decision. I wish I had at least something to go off of for future opportunities
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
Normal behavioral interview/conflict questions, they asked me to answer using the STAR method. Job fit asked me why I was drawn to Capital One, asked me to walk him through one of my projects (he wasn't specific when he asked the question, so I went into detail about my project, but it turned out he just wanted the overall learnings). Design challenge consisted of reading a case study about the DMV and creating something that could solve documented user frustrations
I applied through an employee referral. The process took 2 months. I interviewed at Capital One in Sep 2022
Interview
I had a portfolio review for my first round interview where I walked the interviewer through two of my case studies. Then I was invited back for their Power Day which consisted of three interviews: behavioral, Capital One fit, and a design challenge. The behavioral and company fit interview both lasted about 30 minutes, and the design challenge was an hour long. However, I didn't hear back from them for a few weeks, until I emailed the recruiter a few times and she gave me a call telling me that I didn't get the position. Felt like a lot to go through, only for me to almost be ghosted if I hadn't reached out to follow up.
I applied through a recruiter. I interviewed at Capital One
Interview
This program has 3 interviewing parts: portfolio review, behavioral questions, and a design challenge. If you were a designer of anything else besides UX/UI, you would not even be considered to go past the portfolio review. As a generic name of a "Design Development Program", you would think any classically trained designer with an interest in UX/UI design would have a chance to prove their worth. This was not my case. My design portfolio with careful attention to my design process was immediately disregarded by the interviewer, something I found to be very odd for a "design" program. My interviewer was very pragmatic and systems-related rather than focusing on design thinking. If you are someone who mostly cares about systems and not Capital One's claim for human empathy, then maybe you would enjoy this position. But if you are true designer wanting to create, ideate, and make an impact in people's lives, this is not the place for you. Capital One should reevaluate how they name and who they have as the hiring manager because this program title is entirely misleading and left a bad taste in my mouth for the company.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
What was the biggest challenge you faced in this project and how did you confront it?