Capital One: A Day in the Life of a Business Analyst

Want a variety of experiences in one job? As a Business Analyst at Capital One you’ll have the opportunity to explore a variety of different functions and teams throughout the two-year Analyst Development Program. Keep reading to learn more about Nick Karnovsky’s ’19 typical day as a Business Analyst at Capital One, a Fortune 100 company with over 90 million consumers!

At Capital One, we’re building a leading information-based technology company

I begin my day by hopping on the Metro, DC’s subway system, for a short ride to Capital One’s headquarters right outside the District in McLean, Virginia. I love starting my day with the Metro: the trip gives me a chance to listen to a podcast and unwind before I begin my day. I normally make it to the office around 9.a.m., but I know plenty of people who have a slightly earlier or later schedule. Capital One’s tech culture allows for some flexibility in my workday as long as I’m still able to finish all of my projects.

Once I’m at my desk I’ll typically check a few emails before we do our morning stand-ups. These morning stand-ups, as we call them, allow my managers and direct teammates to talk about our daily priorities. Capital One embraces a collaborative, communicative way of work, and I’ve found that our morning stand ups frame the day with these values. By the time I’ve checked my emails, settled into the office and met with my team it’s probably around 10 a.m. I might go into the kitchen and grab a coffee or a snack (free, of course!) and jump into my individual work.

While my work will vary based on the team, typically it does have a strong analytical component. The project I’m currently working on requires a lot of Python, and while I did take CS50, I’m no coding expert! Since I’m not super familiar with Python, I’ve been working closely with some of the data science partners. Even though I have needed to learn some Python for this project, there are plenty of tools and resources available to brush up on my coding skills, so learning this skill actually is not overwhelming.

After completing my basic analytical work I will typically take my key insights and distill them into a couple PowerPoint slides. This is where strong storytelling is necessary, since I have to translate relatively complex analysis and assumptions into a digestible format for someone who hasn’t been working on the project at the same level of detail. Being a business analyst is straddling these two skill sets of being able to derive insights and use them to tell a story. So, while specific projects will change, you will have opportunities to develop quantitative and interpersonal skills.

Being a business analyst is straddling these two skill sets of being able to derive insights and use them to tell a story.

By this time it’s normally around 1 p.m. when I’ll head down to the Cafe to grab lunch with other colleagues. The Analyst Development Program alone has around 200 people in it, so I’ll always have someone to eat and hang out with. I typically eat downstairs at the Capital One Cafe with the other recent grads, where you can get anything from a burrito bowl to Ethiopian food or a good slice of pizza. We’ll typically chat and unwind for our 30-minute lunch break, but if we have extra time we might hang out and play a quick game of ping pong before heading back upstairs to work.

Once I get back to my desk it’s time to start heading to my afternoon meetings. I will usually first have my partner team meeting. The partner team meetings are an opportunity for me as a Business Analyst to have conversations directly with senior leadership about my project. For most projects, we are thinking about the strategy for all the steps of the process: from how we create a new product to how we market and launch it. Having that face time with partners across various functions of Capital One allows me to meet senior leadership and also learn how they think about strategy for the company. After partner team meetings, I’ll probably meet with my direct manager and some coworkers to start brainstorming how to approach different analyses that we need to finish. Everyone at Capital One looks forward to these sessions — they are a space where we can have banter and healthy debate about the different ways to approach these complex models. The assumptions of the model, what we should highlight, and what’s important are the types of big picture questions we ponder during these sessions.

Having that face time with partners across various functions of Capital One allows me to meet senior leadership and also learn how they think about strategy for the company.

It's nearing 5 p.m. and my meetings have just wrapped up. I close the day by finishing any work and catch up on emails that I may have missed throughout the day. People may ask for specific data points or have questions about an analysis I worked on, so I will make sure to respond to those requests before the day ends. Around 5:30 I head out, hopping on the Metro with some other analysts on our way to relax at a happy hour or restaurant in the District.

Join Us

One in three United States residents have a Capital One credit card. But Capital One isn’t just a credit card company. Dedicated to creating their own programming and technology, Capital One is at the intersection of groundbreaking infrastructure in both finance and technology. Thus, the question isn’t what you can do at Capital One, but rather how you want to do it. From coding in Python to working on internal strategy cases, I’ve found that every possible opportunity is available.

The question isn’t what you can do at Capital One, but rather how you want to do it. From coding in Python to working on internal strategy cases, I’ve found that every possible opportunity is available.

The Analyst Development Program (ADP) takes advantage of the diversity of experiences in Capital One by rotating each analyst through three functions in two years. At each function, Analysts work with a new team and learn a different skill set that increases the breadth of work experience without ever leaving Capital One. The transition to different roles is made easier by the huge support system for the APD. There is also a strong Harvard presence, so it has been easy for me to connect with more senior coworkers.

But while the APD is what brings analysts to Capital One, the Capital One culture is what keeps them there. Capital One is a 50,000+ person company, but no matter which campus you are on the Capital One culture is pervasive. Regardless of the function you are working in, the tech-like casual culture and collaboration remains present. It is always easy to ask for help, and you aren’t expected to know everything immediately. My experience at Capital One has been incredible — I’ve met so many talented, driven people and I cannot wait to see where the role leads me next.