Wells Fargo – “Good place to work.....but with limitations.”

Pros

More autonomy on investment side than bank side. Constant stream of leads from banking customer base. Generally very nice people to work with, regardless of the line of business. Conservative posture in lending and banking has made Wells very strong through tough economy. Wells avoided most of the risky business of other financial institutions. Warren Buffet is major shareholder :-) The majority of clients are very nice and feel a strong attachment to Wells.

Cons

No opportunities for advancement currently from an associate role to an advisor role unless you have significant prior sales experience or perhaps a book of business to bring in from another firm, otherwise you have to get lucky and get the nod from an established financial advisor to come on as a partner. Don't feel there is any real career path planning for associates. It's easy to get burned out after a while since the work that is done every day is mostly servicing accounts, so it gets a bit monotonous.

Advice to Senior Management

A program should be designed for sales associates that clearly delineates a career path that one can look forward to. Better training should be instituted to help transition promising associates to full production finacial advisor roles.