Capital One isn't just one of the largest banks in America. It's also one of the most respected fintech companies in the world. They regularly serve over 100 million customers and routinely they are ranked as one of the best places to work. And getting hired there is pretty complicated, but it's about to get a lot less complicated for you because in today's video I'm going to give you some of the actual questions they ask in the interview and I'm going to teach you from a recruiter's perspective exactly what to say to nail these interview questions so you can get hired.

Now, this is video one of a four-part series, so make sure you stay to the very end cuz at the very end I'm going to tee up the next video right here on the screen so you can go from video one to video two. And my promise to you is if you watch all four of these videos in their entirety, you will interview better than 99% of candidates who interview with Capital One and you will probably get hired. All right, with that being said, let's get started.

Okay, so the first question is, "Why are you interested in this role or team?" So you might get any version of that question. "Why are you interested in this role? Why are you interested in this team?" This is one of those questions where it really pays to understand what this team does and what your impact will be for this team as part of this team for the greater overall good and strategy of Capital One. You need to know what are you contributing to.

So whatever it is you're doing, it's important that you understand how you're contributing to Capital One's goals. And that's how you really want to phrase this. So your answer might sound something like this if let's just say you were a software engineer for you know, their app for example. You could say, "You know, that's a really good question and there are a lot of things to me that are appealing about this team, but I've been a customer of Capital One for the last five years and one of the things that I've always appreciated is the cutting edge nature of your app.

So as a software engineer, I would find it incredibly motivating to contribute to that app and the future of it." Something like that, right? It's just showing them that you are aware of what they're doing, it shows brand alignment, and you have a clear why as to why the role is particularly interesting to you. Now, the next question is, what do you know about Capital One and its business model? So, I'm not going to give you like a full answer here because these should all be unique to you, but what I would do, and this is pretty easy, is I would go to their website, go to the about us part of their website, and just read through it a little bit.

And what you want to do is make note of what their their position in the market is, some of the upcoming things, and this is one of the reasons why it's hard. If you go and you Google Capital One, and you go to news, you can learn about some of the recent things they're doing and weave this into your answer. If you can incorporate some current events into what you know about them and the direction they're heading, the answer is always going to be more powerful.

So, rather than give you one boilerplate evergreen answer, I would encourage you to go, look up on Google, go to news articles, read some of the more recent things that are going on with Capital One, and weave that into your answer when it comes to your knowledge about the company. Okay, so here's another really good question. What does Capital One do differently than other banks? Now, what I would do is I would probably look at the technology aspect of what Capital One brings to the table.

As I said in the opening, they're a very well-respected fintech company, so it's not just the banking, but it's technology side. So, what I would do is I would read a little bit more about the company, about the technology, about some of the current events, and I would you know, I would share that as why they're different from some of the other banks. And if you can do that, you'll be great. Now, the next question is, what makes you a strong fit for this position?

This is a great classic question, and whenever you're asked this question, I want you to reframe it in your mind. What they're actually asking you is what makes you a stronger fit than the other people who are applying for this role. That's how you have to view it because it's not just about your fit and your alignment, but what makes you a better choice than the competition? So, what I always do, um when I'm advising people on how to answer a question like this, is you need to establish in the first part of your answer that you are qualified.

You know, I've got this education, I've been in this line of work doing it for 5 years with really great results, and then the second half of your answer should be your competitive advantage. What is it you have that other people who are interviewing for the role may not possess? It could be technology expertise, it could be speaking another language, it could be advanced education, it could be broad experience, um it could be hyper-focused experience, right?

But find something that gives you an advantage over the average applicant and make that the second half of your answer here. Okay, so the next question is, "What are your strengths?" They do ask the classic, "What are your strengths? What are your weaknesses?" Um I'm not going to cover what are your weaknesses, I feel like it's overdone, but the "What are your strengths?" You would be surprised how many times people get this wrong because they do not actually align a strength that would make them a really good fit for the job.

If you're answering this question and you're not covering why you would be a good fit for this role, right? You're not covering why your strengths, your most, um you know, outstanding features would make you a really good fit for the role, then you're missing the boat. So, whatever it is you're going to be doing, you know, you want to be familiar with the job description, align your strength, your core competencies with something that would make you hyper-effective at the role.

And that's how you answer this question. For instance, so for example, if you were like an accountant, you might want to say, "I would say my top strengths are having an incredibly strong attention to detail and a strong desire to follow process." Right? Something like that. And then you can add, "For example, when I worked for A, B, and C company," and then give an example as to why the strength you mentioned is actually a strength of yours.

Okay, so the next question is, "What excites you most about working at Capital One?" This is to me again a current events thing. Go to the news, read a few articles, and read about something Capital One is doing, right? And then incorporate that into your answer. Another way to take this is you could look and you could learn about their values. Why are their values a good fit for you, right? Maybe it's something they're doing in the world.

But you just want to share about your excitement, your enthusiasm, and make sure that it's one of those key pillars. What are they about as a company, their culture? What is it they're doing, giving back in the world, right? Or finally, what are some of the things they're doing from a banking, fintech strategy perspective that are new, that are cutting edge, that motivates you and make you want to be aligned with them.

If you can do that, you'll do great. Okay, so the next thing is describe your ideal working environment. This is always an interesting question because you want to say something that is going to resonate with them, right? You want to be on the same page, but you haven't experienced that team. So how are you supposed to know what their culture's like? So my recommendation here is say something along the lines of, you know, my ideal environment is I like being part of a high-performing team where we have big goals in front of us and achieving them makes a noticeable different um for the company and for the company strategy.

Additionally, I like being in an environment where there's direct feedback and communication so we can all work together and become more effective versions of ourselves. Something like that. Pretty simple, pretty straightforward. Those are universal things that people look for when they're hiring people. Now, one of the things that Capital One does in their interview process is they ask a lot of behavioral interview questions.

And these are some of the more challenging questions to answer, and it's why I made this video here. In this video here, I'm going to teach you what they are, I'm going to teach you how to answer them, and I'm going to give you some questions that they ask in the interview process and teach you how to answer those specific ones. So I'm done here, but I'll see you over there.