We recently caught up with Manjooth about how she secured a role with Capital One, how she built commercial awareness for the interview and her top tips for members going through the application process.
What stood out to you about the firm you secured your role with?
The culture and the people! Besides being a well-known bank, I was truly reeled in by the way the people work together and their openness to help each other out, especially in a field where teamwork is important and where I can get all the support I need when learning! Capital One also offered a wide variety of rotations which were in a range of fields I was interested in e.g., frontend, backend, and data science, so the opportunities seemed limitless. It was a company I felt I could learn and thrive in.
How did you build your commercial awareness before the interview?
To develop commercial awareness, I learnt about how the organization operates, what methodologies they used (SCRUM and AGILE) and how the company makes its money. I also stayed on top of industry news and events (such as listening to the Financial Times podcast) and used social networking sites like LinkedIn to reach out to other professionals at the company and asking questions. Having 2 internships under my belt also helped me a lot in terms of being comfortable in understanding how the teams worked and the style of work I would be doing.
What would be your top tip to members going through the application process?
Make sure to research the company, find out what the role demands, and prepare questions to ask them (about the role, benefits, career progression, what they enjoy)! If you have technical interviews, make sure to practice and go through explaining your thought process as you solve the problem to a high level. If you get stuck, break down the problem into smaller, more manageable chunks and try to go forward from there! And never be afraid to admit when you don’t know something or need help!
How did Bright Network help you secure this role?
When applying for internship roles I predominantly used Bright Network to find roles and read about other people’s experiences. There were multiple events I went to that I was emailed about which helped me gain exposure to lots of different companies, including Capital One. Even signing up for the newsletter delivers positions right to your inbox!
What’s been the toughest interview question you've faced and how did you tackle it?
Some of the toughest questions I have ever faced have been to do with my previous experience and what I have learnt/done. You definitely need to spend some time before the interview going over anything you have mentioned in your CV and make sure to understand what you did to a high level and why. The interviewers picked apart some of my Python code and tested my knowledge on areas such as multithreading (which I had only briefly done) to try and see how much I truly understood of what was going on under the hood. As long as you answer to the best of your knowledge and can say when you do not know something, then this also demonstrates your willingness to be up front with what you do and don’t know and pave the way for learning/knowledge sharing.
Did you use Bright Network Academy in your career search and if so, how did it help you?
There are a lot of different courses and videos which help in a wide variety of aspects. There were introductory courses to Python which aided me in one of my internships and sections on preparing for the testing process and understanding financial terms which aided in me securing my graduate role. You can also complete a course in full which gives you a unique certificate you can add to your CV and help boost it.
What top three tips would you give Bright Network members looking to follow in your footsteps?
- Make sure to start small side projects in order to practice your coding skills and to show off when you attend your interviews!
- Grab every opportunity you can! Especially the intimidating ones! They may seem scary, but I can promise you that you will learn and figure it out as you go along, and it is a good skill to have for when you start working.
- Stay open to admitting when you don’t know something and be hungry to learn and thrive!
