I applied online. The process took 4 weeks. I interviewed at Capital One in Nov 2010
Interview
I did an online math/verbal GMAT-like test first, before going through 2 rounds of interviews. The first round was a case and a behavioural, an hour each, and another test to confirm that I was the one that did the online test at home. The second round was again a case and a behavioural, with more senior people, and a job fit interview, which is an informal chat.
The interview experience with Capital One has been one of my best (and I've interviewed a lot lately). The recruiters were very professional, enthusiastic, and helpful. They called a day or two before each of my interviews, just to make sure I'm all set and see if I had any last minute questions. They also made a point of telling me EXACTLY what my interviews will be like - ie, the order of each interview, and the interviewers' names and titles. My interviewers were also very friendly and easy going.
In each of the cases, I had to rely on the interviewers' hints and guidance to get to my solution - that is to say, they weren't too easy. But, having been in many consulting interviews, Capital One's cases were definitely easier for me to deal with. There were no tricks or curveballs, or having me chase after nothing.
Advice: go through all interview reviews on this site, they've been very helpful to me.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
Tell me about a time when you were working on a project, and had another project thrown in your way, so you had to deal with both.
The process took 1 day. I interviewed at Capital One (McLean, VA) in Aug 2010
Interview
Applied online and was asked to complete a psychometric and Numerical+verbal test online. Recruiter emailed to tell me that I passed those and invited me to interview. Interview was in Richmond, VA and consisted of 4 back to back interviews - 2 behavioral and 2 case.
Behavioral Questions were very standard - they asked me to describe situations in which I had to learn a new skill, influence senior management decision, how I handled a change of priorities midway through a project.
The 2 cases both related to the credit card industry - mostly quantitative analysis.
I would have liked the interviews to be more conversational
Interview questions [2]
Question 1
How did you handle a change of priorities midway through a project
The process took 1+ week. I interviewed at Capital One (Plano, TX) in Jun 2010
Interview
The hiring process with Capital One began very quickly. After expressing interest, I received a phone call from a recruiter on a Monday morning. That same day I completed personality and skills tests and by Tuesday morning had an invitation to interview in Plano that Friday, which I accepted. On Friday, I met with three interviewers, one for company fit and two giving case interviews. The case interviews seemed mostly straightforward but the interviewers would not give feedback after the discussion ended. Within a week, I received an email informing me that they were pursuing other candidates.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
Calculate the breakeven number of credit card holders we need to have to cover these marketing and card expenses.