Stay away. Horrible place to work for software engineers. - Senior Associate Software Engineer Capital One Employee Review

1.0
Jul 17, 2023
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

- Good benefits. - Good work life balance.

Cons

- Too many useless meetings, when time can be spent on actual planning & development. - Performance management. STACK RANKING is toxic. They compare you to other associates and place you in buckets: below strong, strong, above strong. You have no incentive to help out your fellow associates. If you end up in below strong, it's time to find a new job because you will most likely be fired. If you ever do end up in "below strong", don't beat yourself, it's just the company (is really stupid), and it's probably not you. I ended up there, and now I am at this amazing company who actually values me and pays me more. - Bad management. Managers are responsible for bringing work to your team. If your manager is bad, you might get screwed over and you may end up as "below strong" even if you do your work properly. I ended up with a manager who told me throughout the year (during 1 on 1s) that I have been doing good and then dropped the bomb during performance reviews with a "below strong" rating. Basically, if you are surprised by your rating during performance reviews, the manager did not do his/her job properly. Performance ratings should not come as a surprise to anyone. - High expectations, not enough compensation to back those expectations. As a "senior associate" you are expected to do many things including doing some managerial stuff. I came into the role assuming that as a senior associate software engineer, I'd be roped into challenging projects and design meetings, etc. However, I was expected to do some of the manager's or principal associate's work for them like bringing in projects to the team. Basically, 95 K was my compensation and that is not close to enough in this day and age with #Justinflation to do this kind of advanced work. Basically, these role names are very ambiguous. - It's a bank not a software company no matter how much these guys market it as so. You get the same politics (performance reviews - bump people down so they can promote others), bureaucracy as banks. They just have these really cool events that software companies also do. However, don't be mistaken IT IS A BANK. If you are a software engineer, do not work at a bank.

Explore other reviews about Capital One

5.0
May 11, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Most advance tech stack. Cutting edge research

Cons

Performance management and feedback based system drives politics. Senior management usually works towards saving their own a** especially in legacy orgs

1.0
Jun 30, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Environment was good, food was decent, free food at my location (dont know if it was allowed but it was good)

Cons

The rittenhouse location is managed by a tyrant, he is an incredibly toxic man and upper management make it the most unbearable place to work. Andy will ask you to come in on days you're not scheduled, and then hold it over your head if you don't. Talks about employees behind their backs constantly. No respect enforced employees talked about each other all the time and there was even name calling in meetings, management did nothing. Worst place I've ever worked in my life frankly and affected my mental health in the worst way. Glad to be out out of there. The place itself has potential but the management at the Rittenhouse branch and above them is absolutely terrible in every regard.

1
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