I applied online. The process took 3 weeks. I interviewed at Capital One (New York, NY) in Apr 2022
Interview
Applied online for software engineer position.
Very nice interviewing process, the recruiter explained every steps and everything I need to know.
(1) Phone interview (15mins)
Talked about my background and experience, nothing technical.
(2) Online assessment (2hrs)
4 leetcode type of questions, easy-medium-medium-hard, score > 70% should be able to pass, so don't worry if you don't have enough time to finish all questions
(3) Power day (4.5hrs)
The interviewers have really thick accent, can barely understand what they said and they are not willing to repeat the questions. Technical issue on codesignal.
(3a) Code - leetcode type of question, write a function about prime number
(3b) Design - high availability and scalable system, infrastructure / system design / database design on a given topic, UI / APIs / testing methods / resilience / db schema / etc, show your details -- as much as possible
(3c) Case - (1) pros and cons on a given business case (2) given a piece of code and data, explain the logic and improvement and expected output by given input
(3d) Behavioral - 3 questions on "... tell me about a time ...", be details -- as much as possible
(4) Catch up (15mins)
After 2 days, I received an email to schedule for a follow up call. The recruiter called and said I was rejected. Really don't think they should do this. Bad experience.
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!