I applied through college or university. The process took 2 days. I interviewed at Synchrony (Stamford, CT) in Oct 2014
Interview
There is an on-site interview at the school and then a final round interview at HQ that included networking opportunities and panel interviews. The questions were very behavioral-based. Interviewers were extremely high up within the company.
I applied through an employee referral. The process took 2 months. I interviewed at Synchrony (Chicago, IL) in Oct 2017
Interview
I had an employee internally refer me to the program. I had one phone call with a recruiter that was very short. It was all about getting to know me and my experience as well as some smaller questions. I waited a few weeks to hear anything back and I then received a phone call from my original recruiter inviting me to the Chicago offices for a full day interview.
They flew me to Chicago and I stayed in a very nice hotel downtown. That night before the interview we had a dinner with the other fellow candidates as well as the SVP that ran the program and a recruiter and a few other employees that had gone through the program. This was a very nice dinner in a private room. We got to know each other and we ate our food. They definitely observe you during this dinner so be as professional as possible but still be yourself.
The next day we had a full on-site interview day. it started around 8am. They had breakfast for us and we then had a presentation that entailed everything that we would be doing that day. We took a tour of the office which was very nice and we then had a few other presentations given to us about the program and the company. After those presentations we had 1-on-1 interviews with different employees. The questions were behavioral and experience based. After those interviews we had lunch and then had to give a presentation on a certain topic they gave us 24 hours before the interview. After that the day was over and we went home.
I enjoyed my experience interviewing here and thought I was going to get an offer. However, a week later I received an email saying I did not get that job. I had to request a phone call for feedback. The feedback was not too great and I felt like it was lacking substance. There were 6 candidates who interviewed and they all went to prominent universities. I did not go to a very well known university and felt like that counted against me. Overall, great experience and I wish it could've worked out.