Capita Project Manager Interview Questions
& Process

The interview process was quite drawn out, spanning a total of two months. It involved three distinct interview rounds. Initially, I spoke with a recruiter or HR representative. Following that, I had an interview with the hiring manager, and the final round was with both the hiring manager and a director. The background checks were a particularly cumbersome part of the process.

I applied for the Senior Project Manager role at Capita. The process had two main parts: a casual chat and a formal interview. First, I spoke with a Programme Director for about 30 minutes. We mostly talked about my background, my skills, and why I was interested in the company. They also asked some basic project management questions, like the difference between agile and waterfall, how to deal with risks and issues, and what I use for planning and tracking projects. Then, I had a formal competency-based interview on MS Teams with two programme managers. This lasted about an hour. They asked questions about key skills for the job like communication, leadership, problem-solving, and teamwork. They also gave me a case study about a real project Capita did for a client. I had 15 minutes to look at the project's scope, goals, what was delivered, who was involved, the budget, schedule, and risks, then I had to present my thoughts and answer their follow-up questions. It was tough but good because I could show what I know about project management and learn more about Capita. I got good feedback and an offer soon after.

I was first contacted by an external recruitment agency. Capita then invited me for a face-to-face interview with the Programme Manager, which went well. The interview focused on competency-based questions and assessing my knowledge of the Life and Pensions division, going quite in-depth. Meanwhile, I was in the final stages with another company that offered me a role. This prompted Capita to fast-track my process. The final interview was with two Director-level individuals, where I disclosed the offer I received. This interview was also very thorough, asking similar questions and scrutinizing everything. Capita offered me the role after a day, but they felt I wasn't worth the amount offered by the other company. Both internal and external recruiters tried to leverage Capita's reputation to convince me to decline the higher offer. I found this insulting, especially since nitpicking over a small amount like 3 grand seemed to reflect the company's general ethos, which wasn't appealing. If they wanted me, they should have pursued it properly, not tried to call my bluff and insult me.