Capital One

Overall, a decent work-life balance, depending on the team.

401k benefits are decent, with a 2-year vesting cycle to receive the match.

Tech visibility is very good, depending on the team, LOB, and manager.

Company values are very customer-focused and are truly changing banking for the better compared to the competition.

Pay is definitely lower than other big tech/Silicon Valley by a lot.

Work-life balance is highly dependent on the team. There's an unspoken rule that the company is about producing results, and managers will push harder depending on the team and project. Be careful and set boundaries from the start to ensure you're not burned out here.

No RSU or stock benefits like other big tech.

Campus programs are held in very high regard. Other talent is seemingly not recognized as equally. This would be argued internally, but these programs promote associates faster than any other track.

Lots of push to be 100% AWS certified, but associates are not empowered to use the knowledge from the certification or do not have access to use it. Certification is being used as a differentiator in cross-calibrations now, so they are holding it very high for something the overall enterprise cannot use unless they're in an SRE or a DevOps role.

Red tape is abundant and unnecessary. Lots of micro-processes to spin up a simple application. Seemingly not following common AWS design principles.

Cross-calibrations are hard depending on level and team. You are pitted against your peers and compared based on accomplishments. Even if you accomplished more than the previous year, or the same, if someone else is differentiated from you, it could cost you your bonus or a higher rating at review time.

Promotion structure is limited after promoting to Master/team lead in an IC role. It's unspoken, but there is not a clear path to Master or team lead depending on the team, and the path after that is unclear as well for movement upwards.

The company overall seems like it is associate-focused, but depending on management, those values are not met with the same compassion.

Lots of focus on return to office. Hybrid was announced, but seems very rigid as far as what days you are expected to come in. And some teams are still fully remote—not even close to a people center.

Overall, I think people are under-leveled as a whole and the company is bleeding talent because of it.

Promote good tech leaders from within.

If someone is qualified for a role and could apply from outside for that role, but it's two or three levels above their current role, don't limit them internally.

Talent is being lost because people are applying for equal roles externally and being offered better salaries, among other things.

Hold existing talent at the same level as those that just graduated or are in campus programs.

Promote from within after a year or two in role.

People get bored and want to feel valued. Being told "good job" or given an award isn't always enough. People expect promotion after an award.