I applied online. The process took 5 months. I interviewed at Capital One in Apr 2025
Interview
First I took an online coding test sometime in April.
I then scheduled a "final round" Power Day interview through my recruiter which took place near the end of April. Didn't hear back from my recruiter following said interview, so I reached out and received no response.
In their portal I was still under consideration for this role so I reached out again only to hear from my recruiter again for the first time following my Power Day 3 months later at the end of June, notifying me that there was an additional team matching process (which I was not made aware of)
I received a generic rejection email in mid August, again after receiving no feedback or even basic information from my recruiter after their full day interview. Wildly unprofessional
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
Typical systems design problem, walk through how you would design the architecture for a given backend system
Some basic programming tests, had to create a basic rest api
A case style question where you had to explain your logic as you solved more of a word problem
Basic behavioral interview
Expecting a challenging experience, I found the interview at Capital One to be intense, particularly during the system design section. The question on designing a rate limiter with a token bucket algorithm took me by surprise; mid-way through the problem, I realized it was very similar to a drill I’d practiced on prachub.com just days earlier. The technical rounds included several DSA questions, and the interviewers were thorough but supportive. Ultimately, I received an offer and happily accepted, feeling well-prepared despite the pressure.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
Design a rate limiter using a token bucket algorithm and discuss how it would handle bursty traffic and distributed deployments.
Recruiter screening to begin with. Then, technical discussion about java, spring boot, design pattern, small coding tasks and followed by design assessment for distributed systems. Finally, managerial round for the team fit
Scheduled a call with recruiter. Recruiter didnt show up for the screening call and cancelled it 5 mins after the scheduled time. Dropped a follow up email and got no response. After a week, I got an email from the recruiter stating I am selected for the next round i.e Assessment. Sent me an email with the assessment description but no link. When I sent a follow up email asking for the link, I got ghosted again. It was a bad experience. Felt like she is toying with me. Why ghost an applicant repetitively? Unprofessional recruiter who doesn't respect an applicant's time or efforts!