Like working at a (technology) startup that has good funding, great benefits, and decent work-life balance
Pros
This is an update of a review I previously posted Benefits are great. 401K up to 7.5% company contribution, short/long term disability paid by company, discounted company stock purchase option, vacation days (able to buy more during open enrollment), unlimited sick days, 3 family care days, free financial planning consultations via Fidelity, free use of athletic trainer in company fitness centers twice a week (there is a fee to use the fitness centers, but no additional charge to use the trainers). I find the medical insurance (bronze/silver/gold options through Aetna) to be expensive compared to the HMO I can get through my spouse's employer, but I don't think the Aetna costs at Capital One are out of line with what I have observed at other companies; I'm not a fan of the high deductible though. Capital One does try to brunt the pain of the high deductible by offering free health clinics on site at major locations (no copay - family members can also visit) and no copay to visit CVS minute clinics. Very progressive company - just announced expansion of maternity leave to 12 weeks PAID, 2 weeks paid paternity leave, 6 weeks paid adoption leave/surrogate leave (if your child born via surrogate), $10K contribution toward adoption expenses, fabulous medical benefits for families with autistic children. Company will contribute up to $1000 toward your flexible spending accounts (medical/dependent care). My manager (and senior leadership team in general) have been absolutely fabulous - when my dad died, I was told "take the time you need" - very humane. I had severe culture shock after joining Capital One for a very long time... I have encountered very few "slackers" and am continually impressed at how responsive most associates are to any requests/questions I may have - it's highly unusual for it to take more than 4 hours to get a response. Capital One takes pains to hire very intelligent, data-driven associates. I am very satisfied with my work/life balance, but that balance can be a bit unpredictable at times (mainly because I am in an operational role - stuff happens... and you have to deal with it right then). Capital One has taken great pains to recruit/retain associates hired as interns/new college grads - this program is very well-designed/run. They would be well-advised to pay a reasonably equivalent level of attention to experienced hires (obviously, more seasoned hires don't need as quite as much hand holding). While there is clearly room for improvement in this area, I've observed some progress on this front over the past few months - a *lot* of energy spent on trying to improve the onboarding process for experienced hires within my line of business so that they have everything they need to do their jobs once they finish the 1.5 day long HR onboarding process (which incidentally is *very* well done). Similarly, I've observed some efforts aimed at reducing the red tape that makes it difficult to do your job efficiently and reduce the "environmental" learning curve associated with being a new hire. While you might be a subject matter expert in your area, you can't be effective without also understanding the company environment. I am thoroughly impressed by the company's commitment to doing the right thing by their customers. While I won't go into any detail here, suffice it to say Capital One gives up a LOT of $ by not following the same practices used by many of the other large financial companies. The latitude given to call center associates to satisfy a customer's needs is unprecedented. Capital One University is a fabulous resource for associates ... many different types of training courses (online, instructor lead) are available - many at no cost to the associate's department. Subjects covered are typically either line of business centric or role centric (e.g. project management college, software engineering college, information security college, etc.). The corporate culture is heavily oriented toward recognizing associate contributions. The size of your pay raise and bonus are heavily predicated by your performance review rating (which is in turn based upon your contributions); the higher your performance review rating, the larger your pay raise/bonus. Bonuses can comprise a very significant portion of associate compensation - the higher your paygrade, the more significant the bonus is. Any associate can recognize another associate or team of associates for their contributions. The recognization can range from a simple thank you note to points that can be redeemed by the associate for gift cards from a wide variety of vendors to cash awards. Promotions are a *HUGE* deal at Capital One.. they are generally recognized twice a year. All promotions are publicly announced (typically first within the individual line of business, then company wide). If you are on the receiving end of a promotion, you can count on being flooded with congratulatory IMs, emails, and phone calls from fellow associates once the announcement is public. It can be a bit overwhelming if you aren't expecting it. Promotion recipients are also invited to a luncheon with their managers and members of the senior leadership team. I personally have felt very empowered to "grow my flame" here. Mobility within the organization is excellent - there are many, many roles available within information technology. If you get tired of your current role, there's an excellent chance there will be an opening in a different area of IT that you can apply for.
Cons
The "startup" culture at Capital One can be a double edge sword - if something isn't working, just wait six months (or less) and it will change. If you are a person with a "glass half empty" attitude or someone who greatly values organizational structures/processes etc. remaining static over a long period of time, this is NOT the company for you. There have been big changes in the senior leadership team (most external hires) in my line of business during the time I have been at Capital One, a significant number (1100+) of associates hired (many as part of the drive to insource key functions). While I think the CEO and very senior management have good plans for the company (e.g., identifying key objectives each year, and making solid plans to reach them), objective identification/planning within my own line of business has historically been shaky at best, largely due to understaffing/lack of resources and multiple reorgs. I have noticed some positive movement in this area over the past 2-3 months - I do like what I'm seeing/hearing - but will reserve judgement for another few months. If this changes significantly for the better, I'll up my rating from 4 to 5 stars. Predictably, mentoring of associates is not what it should be in my line of business given the staffing challenges.The company does pair up a "buddy" with new hires who request it. While I had a buddy, I didn't find it useful because the buddy was not in the same location or same role as me, and so was not able to answer many of the questions that I had.IT has been switching over to agile-based methods (not just for software development), while also shifting to a federated model in which IT resources are assigned to a particular line of business rather than a centralized pool of IT resources. While there are some distinct advantages to that approach (e.g., IT resources are intimately familiar with the applications of their line of business and the associated network infrastructure; fewer issues with prioritizing needs across different lines of business), it makes it difficult for the remaining "central" IT organization to keep track of everything that is going on. Time will tell how this gamble pays off. Associates in general don't like the performance management system, but overall I think it provides a decent measure of fairness. Everyone that I've known that has received a promotion truly deserved it.. 360 feedback is strongly emphasized as part of the performance management process. Forced "cross-calibration" sessions amongst managers of all associates at the same level are performed biannually as part of the performance management process to ensure everyone uses the same standards to rate associates. This can be a little awkward if you are at the same level as your manager (yes it happens). Your manager's ability/willingness to advocate for you during these sessions is key. If the managers participating in these cross calibration sessions don't think highly of you, you're sunk...You need to be *very* aware of that in your daily interactions with other associates. One of the main criticisms of the performance management system is that it emphasizes individual performace more than team performance. Some steps have been taken to shift that, but too soon to judge the effectiveness of that change.
