Capco Reviews

Current Employee – been working at Capco full-time for more than a year

Pros – An amazing place to work.

Cons – Capco lacks international projects and opportunities.

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend – I'm optimistic about the outlook for this company

Current Employee – been working at Capco full-time for less than a year

Pros – Very meritocratic, contribution to the company is strongly encouraged and access to some very exciting projects and very experience people.

Cons – Work/life balance is tough to maintain at the moment but this will improve with more experience.

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend – I'm optimistic about the outlook for this company

Current Employee – been working at Capco

Pros – - Scrappy, entrepreneurial consulting firm
- Smart, likeable people
- Deep expertise in capital markets and banking industries
- Leadership team is accessible
- If you want to fix something, you're empowered to do it.

Cons – - Like most consulting firms, it keeps trying to find revenue sources other than consulting, because that's how you gain a predictable revenue stream
- Doesn't have the infrastructure of a big consulting firm (which is also a plus)
- Low brand recognition

Advice to Senior Management – - Listen to Gen-X and Gen-Y about how staff expectations are changing. You don't have to agree with or implement everything they're asking for, but you should know where they're coming from.
- Remind recruits over and over that there is up to 100% travel involved in this business.

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend – I'm optimistic about the outlook for this company

Current Employee – been working at Capco full-time for less than a year

Pros – - Competitive pay and benefits
- Really good people (everyone says this everywhere, but it's really true)
- Good work-life balance for a consultancy, weekend work is very rare, as are all nighters
- Good social side (always drinks, sports, events if you wish)
- Good company size, can get to know people quickly and it helps with the sense of community
- Easy to chat to partners/the CEO even if you're just an associate
- Business is growing very rapidly compared to the industry as a whole, which is reflected in new types of projects and great clients
- Relatively small in-takes (mine was "big" at 13) so you'll get a lot of of one on one time with senior guys and a decent amount of influence over your projects and training
- Free fruit, drink and doughnuts

Cons – - Quite a lot of technology consulting projects, not for everyone, although this is changing (I'm on a strategy/consumer analysis project)
- Not exactly a con (I'm happy with it) but it's financial services only, may not be for everyone
- No showers at work

Advice to Senior Management – I'm pretty happy so far

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend – I'm optimistic about the outlook for this company

Former Employee – worked at Capco full-time for more than a year

Pros – As others have said:
* Bi-weekly paychecks
* Free Fruit and now DIET soft drinks
* It beats staying at home watching Daytime TV
* Some decent eye candy around the office
* If you really want to stay in the US, and fake weddings are not your thing Capco will sponsor your H1B
* New phones, great for selling on Craigslist!

Cons – Where to start?
* Lack of projects
* False promises: "Strategy!", "Growth Opportunities!" "Meritocracy"
* Co-workers that make you question whether the theory of evolution makes sense
* Interviewing by the client is required for all "projects"

But wait there is more
* A sales team that couldn't sell life-vests on the Titanic

And not only that, but also
* Recruiters and Resource Managers WILL lie to you every time they talk

And finally...
If you don't believe me read the positive reviews and see what they have in common

Advice to Senior Management – * Cash your checks before they start bouncing
* I would say invest in talent, but it's all jaded or checked out

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend – I'm not optimistic about the outlook for this company

Current Employee – been working at Capco full-time for more than a year

Pros – Beats unemployment
Paychecks twice a month
Worklife balance is awesome because the work is a joke.
Excluding HR, the backoffice staff is a great eye candy and motivates men to come into the office.
Referral bonus is nice and only 3 months are required for your referral. There are over a handful of people who are using the referral system to make up for deficiencies in their pay.

Cons – Where do we start? Besides the fact that Capco isn't a real consultancy, let alone a management consultancy, the "projects" are very poor and it's ultimately a bodyshop.

Pipeline is very small to non existent. Big lay offs are coming soon because the bench is massive.

Skills rarely align with work and the "domains" concept is merely a facade. 99% of the work in every domain is backoffice/tech related. There is no Capital Markets work, but there are "Capital Markets" clients! This is the main recruiting pitch by the incompetent HR staff, who will take anyone off the street with a pulse and a bachelor's degree. I have a friend who arrived 2.5 hours late to a "Superday" and got an offer. Pathetic... One could go on, but a firm is a representation of its hiring practices and Capco's are terrible from the bottom on up.

Leadership is a joke and just a bunch of "partners" with a Rolodex from their Bearing Point days. Yes, the same Bearing Point that went belly up so the writing is on the wall.

Do yourself a favor, look elsewhere because the moment you walk out of the elevator, you will wish you never worked here. If you make it past the elevator, try out the cafe to network and talk with the imbeciles they let through the door. If that isn't the nail in the coffin, then good luck!

Advice to Senior Management – Sell your equity so FIS can implement some HR standards. The trash coming through the door is just downright insulting.

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend – I'm not optimistic about the outlook for this company

Former Employee – worked at Capco full-time for more than a year

Pros – Capco has strong client contracts but many of the employees outside the senior level are subpar. The company has a horrendous interview process (multiple phone calls leading to group meetings - boiler room style) and I should have never accepted the position after going through such an unprofessional number of steps. The Federal client has a positive overall impression of Capco though this is likely achieved at the C-level and does not filter down into middle management of financial and IT programs.

Cons – Worst interview process I've ever gone through with a consulting company or investment bank. Extremely unprofessional and I didn't feel valued during the several weeks of discussions. Client engagements were often rushed and overbilling of the client more commonplace than with other (similar) programs. Team building exercises were often looked upon negatively and rushed by nearly all members.

Advice to Senior Management – Highflying consultancies and investment firms are a dime-a-dozen. The ones that last long-term do not conduct themselves with such mannerisms. Strengthen your core-management values and client engagements and the financial benefits will follow. No need to have so many ex-employees tell their friends and former classmates not to consider working with Capco. Right now, your profitability ratios are decent, down the road, they will be much less so if you continue along the same path. One of the strengths of the best firms is retaining key talent, not just attracting said associates with decent compensation packages.

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend

Current Employee – been working at Capco full-time

Pros – Capco is a wonderful place to work with management that really tries to help those who want to develop their skills. It has an open door policy but you sill have to walk through that door so if you just expect things to happen then try the fast food industry. Compensation and benefits are very generous! Projects are very interesting if you position yourself in line with what interests you. I was able to remain billable while being placed on projects that interest me.

Cons – If you are looking for someone to hold your hand through the entire process this firm will not work for you. If you are a "go-getter" and enjoy creating your own path than you will love this place. Sometimes (rarely), you will be asked to work late!

Advice to Senior Management – My advice to management is to make sure to not only acquire talent, but also work to retain the talent you acquire

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend – I'm optimistic about the outlook for this company

Former Employee – worked at Capco

Pros – Hires very smart people from industry

Cons – lack of consistency among management

Former Employee – worked at Capco full-time for more than a year

Pros – - Gives out decent laptops, cell phones
- Willing to overlook lack of financial services experience
- Has a great marketing department to give the appearance of an actual consultancy
- Provides a paycheck in US dollars every two weeks
- You can tell your friends you're a "management consultant" who works on "Wall Street" with a nearly straight face

Cons – Where to even begin?

- You are expected to bill and work 10 hour days for 8 hours of pay; criminal overbilling of the client is the norm here
- No need for a finance degree-this firm doesn't deal with finance
- Capco is a body shop of IT testers and "project managers". There are no strategy projects. The "Banking" and "Capital Markets" domains are just fronts for testing assignments or other IT work
- Capco is not a consulting firm. It's a back-office staff augmentation group willing to sell you out, despite your background, at the lowest possible rates to turn a buck
- Won't put you on a project you request-you have no choices here
- Often won't pay for your "local" travel; this is why they seek to hire naïve "local" resources and stick them with the bill for travel, even when it can be dozens and dozens of miles a day
- Too cheap to pay for separate hotel rooms, plane tickets. Hope you like sharing a room with someone who likely doesn't have the same hygiene standards in a cut-rate "hotel" after arriving on the 2:00 AM Amtrak
- No pipeline to speak of, client list is small
- Rampant unprofessionalism
- Endless internal disarray and disorganization; a revolving door of half-baked internal initiatives that never come to fruition will constantly clutter your inbox
- Your fellow "consultants" often have atrocious people skills-almost a requirement to work here, it seems
- No investment in talent. Don't be fooled by all the "talent programs" aimed to give an air of legitimacy to this body shop. You're a piece of meat, pure and simple.
- HR is rude and incompetent. Even by HR standards
- Many of the former "bankers" and "subject matter experts" worked on the service or HR side at actual consulting firms
- Tons of company events that are used to mask politics. Don't attend a HH? Not a team player. Attend a HH? Prepare to get pumped for information about your coworkers.
- Company is more focused on internal "fun" than gaining new clients; hope you like an endless barrage of superfluous "internal event" designed to foster team spirit. Don't worry, the minute you aren't a billable resource, you'll all be fired as a team, too.
- Partners waiting to cash out the moment the rest of this sinking ship is acquired by FIS in a few years; mentally, they're already gone
-I could go on for quite some time, but ultimately Capco's biggest problem is it simply isn't a consulting firm

In summation:

Are you a degree holder, HR rep, or someone who has a vague idea what consulting actually consists of? Have you watched "House of Lies" and dream of an illustrious career as a management consultant, but have none of the prerequisites? Do you consider people skills something dangerous and foreign? Is your command of the English language one of your "softer" skills? Do you classify yourself as a member of the human race and desperately need a paycheck? Capco could be for you.

For anyone else who is remotely serious about being a consultant, avoid like the plague. Two years in this butcher's shop will have you wishing you could permanently erase your CV.

Advice to Senior Management – Cash out.

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend – I'm not optimistic about the outlook for this company