User:Abschad

Capital One started their job rotation programs with the Finance Associate Rotation Program in July 2005. Since then, the structure of rotating through job roles has spread to other areas and job levels within financial analysis, business analysis, and data analysis. The mission of the Finance Associate Rotation Program is to attract, retain, and develop future leaders within corporate finance and for Capital One.

Creation
The Finance Associate Rotation Program began as part of an effort to improve graduate recruitment for corporate finance associates, and was rolled out to college campuses in the spring semester of 2005. Seven new associates began working at Capital One that summer as part of the first finance rotation class.

Structure
The program was originally structured for two years and three roles across Capital One. The first two roles would last six months each, with the third role lasting a full year. With the onset of the third finance rotation class, the program was extended to two-and-a-half years; as part of this, each of the first two roles were extended to nine months, with the hope that associates would be able to contribute more to their extended teams while still new to Capital One.

All rotation associates have a class manager (shared among all associates in a class), buddy, and mentor. The class manager holds periodic class meetings and keeps associates up-to-date on new roles, performance, and program expectations. The buddy is a current rotation associate who aids in Capital One assimilation. The mentor is a more senior member of Capital One who provides mentorship as a confidential resource to discuss career advice.

Graduation
Upon completion of the program, rotation associates graduate from the program and begin a full-time role with the company (i.e. one that does not have a set end date with which to advance to another role). Depending on employee preferences and company needs, this role may be an expansion of the associate’s third and final role, or a completely new role entirely. To complete the program, an associate must demonstrate leadership potential and be promoted by the end of their third rotation.

Growth
The program has had five rotation classes of generally increasing size:

First class: 7 associates, began in July 2005

Second class: 12 associates, began in July 2006

Third class: 18 associates, began in July 2007

Fourth class: 17 associates, began in July 2008

Fifth class: 21 associates, 6 began in January 2009, 15 began in July 2009

The program began hiring finance interns in the summer of 2007. Interns do not rotate through roles as they only work for ten to twelve weeks. The internship program is designed to be a pipeline for full-time employment in the Finance Associate Rotation Program.

Expansion
The Finance Associate Rotation Program was originally called the Finance Rotation Program, as it was the only program at Capital One which incorporated rotating through roles. However, it has since been implemented in other areas of the company, and the Finance Rotation Program was renamed the Finance Associate Rotation Program accordingly.

Corporate finance has a similar rotation program in place for more senior employees at Capital One. This program was implemented at the end of 2008 and consists of two one-year rotations. For the first class, participants were not hired externally, but selected from current employees.

Other areas of Capital One have also created rotation programs regarding business analysis and data analysis.

Recognition
Capital One was rated the 22nd best place to launch a career by Business Week in 2007, with references to the Finance Associate Rotation Program.