I see both getting a lot of hate on here, I had a new grad offer from both of them, wanted to see if Blind thinks I made the right choice. TC is roughly the same between the two (~100k) in medium-lower CoL areas.
I know Capital One is a CC company. Why would that be a better choice than a $71B Fortune 50 tech leader? Serious question. It's on you to educate us. I don't work at INTC anymore so could care less. But intel was good to me and despite the haters the logo on the resume goes a long long way. I had no issue getting interviewed nearly anywhere and vastly increasing my TC.
I, admittedly, haven't worked for either (yet), so I am just basing this off what I've read online and heard from people. I hear a lot of hate about both Intel and C1 here, especially from a SWE perspective. From what I understand, the issue with Intel is that a lot of the software work is in direct support of the hardware product (ie, optimizations for Intel-specific hardware), which is good experience but has the potential to pigeon-hole you long term. Also, C1 is a Fortune 100 company and have been pushing hard to make themselves viewed as a "tech-company" (queue the desu memes), so it definitely has some brand-recognition in this area. That being said, I do agree that Intel has better brand recognition in this industry and having that stamp on a resume would definitely help get interviews down the road. I honestly feel like either option would have been good for me, especially since I am an RCG. Also, out of curiosity, how long were you at Intel and why did you decide to leave?
Cap1 is also a $50B company. Neither company is seen as a "tech leader" in the FAANG era IMO.
I think your experience at C1 will either be a hit or miss. Tdps complain at C1 about "being on crappy teams" but from my experience, those people don't do enough to navigate a corporation and network to get to where they want so YMMV. I feel like my experience there was invaluable because I learned exactly that - you have to work and network to be around a team that trusts/likes you and that you trust/like. if you just go with the flow and act like a number in a corporation, then suprise suprise... You can potentially end up on a meh team come rotations. I know a few people that have landed in great spots at C1, a lot of people in meh spots (doing mundane ETLs and Devops), and a few people in bad spots. The common theme I saw among the people who ended up in good spots is that they knew who to talk to and were very proactive in getting to where they wanted to go. A few of them got lucky, yes, but luck will only take you so far.
Tldr - I feel like a lot of unhappiness in the TDP stems from college graduates having little clue on navigating a corporation.
I 100% agree with your post. If you can navigate an organization, capital one can be a great place to work.
Theyre both fine options if you dont have a higher paying option imo, if your focus is on tc then start leeting but either company wont limit you when you exit
Idk about capital one but Intel is shit for swe. I'm an swe and looking to move out asap. You will be basically stuck in a software support role to enhance hardware, which from my own experience is a big bile of shit. You need to go to a company that produces software products to learn real software engineering.
Can't speak for Intel but I want to reiterate an idea here - if you're planning on leaning towards hardware in your career, Intel may be better. If you want general software engineering (frontend/backend/etl/Devops), C1 may be the way to go.
Lol whoever said Capital One 😂
You have to love Intel. Intel processors walked you all the way upto your whole life just like street lamp guides you in dark street. Don't care what others say. Choice is your!!
I second the statement regarding navigating and networking. I worked for multiple startups throughout college before coming to C1 and never had to deal with the corporate structure so the first year I was drinking through the firehouse. I still much prefer the startup life, but C1 has been a good experience. For me it’d be a perfect job for someone who has settled down and has a fam. If you’re still ambitious and hate the corporate game it ain’t the place for ya. Just my two cents. Idk what goes on in intel.
It’s gonna come down to your manager, team, what you’re working on and money. Intel has both been great and shitty for me. Save money. Be willing to change. Then put yourself first.
You can actually say the exact same thing for C1. Probably a large company thing. There are whole orgs inside C1 where I would say to stay far away. A lot of political BS. Other groups can be a joy to work in. You’re kinda rolling the dice when you join cause you never know what you are signing up for until you walk through the door.
SWE at intel has become a joke. At this point, remaining sw engineers at intel are leetcoding to gtfo
TDP = Thermal dynamic performance? Can you not acronym everything pls
TDP is Technology Development Program, Capital One's New Grad program.