A place to collect your paycheck - Principal Software Engineer Capital One Employee Review

1.0
Jan 28, 2018
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Freedom to do whatever you want, including simply coasting. There’s generally very little accountability in tech across the company. This is good if you’re a self taught learner and want room to grow on your own. Great place to give back to the community through outreach programs. You can retire here

Cons

Visuals and Politics dictate your career here. Many “engineers” plagiarize others’ work, but because the chain of command has no way to judge people or their accomplishments, these people are quickly promoted and then leave before they’re discovered. A lot of headlining projects are just a front used to grab promotions and leave. Due to this problem, many projects are believed to have failed from lack of maintenance, when in reality there was nothing there in the first place. A culture of “niceness” discourages honesty and leads to honest talented people being alienated. Many have recently left, yet HR and leadership are unaware of this brain drain because they use inflated internal evaluations to analyze retention. This culture and its intolerance to criticism also leads to simple projects taking 3 years to reach production rather than 2 months because people who actually know what they’re doing either don’t speak up or are simply ignored as just serial complainers.

Explore other reviews about Capital One

5.0
Jun 8, 2026
Anonymous contractor
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Good Company Up-skill Positive Environment

Cons

NA NA NA NA NA

1.0
Jun 1, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Pay can be decent compared to GovCon. Some people are a pleasure to work with. Other non-pay related incentives.

Cons

Never heard more nonsensical topics during meetings; people sharing their sexual preferences, flaunting overly dramatic personal lifestyle decisions, diversity to the point of failure, etc. Hearing the term "white guilt" in a professional setting was, well, pretty unprofessional. Stack ranking for performance reviews is a mess. Someone has to have an "F" regardless of their performance because that is what their line of business is allotted. Be prepared to be held responsible for actions any Sr Leadership would just sweep under the rug under their own circumstances. If a manager doesn't like you, regardless of your productivity, you're toast unless you're able to find another LoB to support. HR / AR are just a check in the box and will most likely point you from one to the other and back again without resolving any issues. You'll find yourself curious as to what leadership does as they continue to scrape managerial responsibilities from their plate, to yours. Last but certainly not least; you may find yourself working hard on a project; nights and weekends, just in case that work life balance is feeling a little too perfect. Fret not, someone will surely assist in taking credit for the hard work you've put in. I'm sure none of these things will happen to you, though. Best of luck!

4
See reviews by: Helpful|Rating|Date|All