Very disorganized and unprofessional.
I interviewed with Wells Fargo on two separate occasions, over the phone. The first interview was for an IT Service Management position and the other was for a Problem Management position. Both interviews were setup through a contracting house. The contracting house was pleasant to work with but Wells Fargo was beyond disgusting.
This company is usually known for conducting 2 different types of over-the-phone interviews. You will either go through a 1) S.T.A.R. Behavioral Question type interview, or 2) an interview that is more laid back and somewhat unprofessional depending on who is conducting the interview. My experience does not relate to face-to-face interviews so I can’t judge or comment on those.
My S.T.A.R. Behavioral interview was conducted by two Wells Fargo employees that sounded more like robots rather than people. It was actually laughable to be honest. One will type on a laptop, recording all of your answers, while the other asks you questions. Wells Fargo S.T.A.R. interviews are usually conducted this way so it helps to be prepared. If you’re not familiar with these types of interviews then you need to Google it and read up on them. It can be a very uncomfortable situation where you feel very detached from these people if you are not properly prepared. I felt confident because I had studied 3 days in advance. I answered each question professionally and I felt very good with the answers I provided. In the end I never heard back from them even though I was a good fit for the role.
Personally, S.T.A.R. interviews are very outdated and they really don’t give you the full picture of a candidate’s potential. Companies need to move away from this practice and focus more on an employee’s experiences, accomplishments, work ethic and references rather than asking “Joe Schmoe” about a time when he was under a lot of pressure and how he handled it”. I’d like to ask the interviewer: “Tell me about a time when you used to know how to conduct a proper interview. What was that like and how did it make you feel?” People that conduct these types of interviews tells me that they really don’t know how to interview a potential candidate. Moving on…
My second interview was for a Problem Management position where I was interviewed over the phone by 5 individuals, 3 women and 2 men. The 3 women ran the interview while the 2 men kept silent the entire time. The guys seemed apprehensive in speaking while on the call. One of the guys started to ask a question but was immediately interrupted by one of females in the room. That pretty much set the tone for how the rest of the interview was going to proceed. As the interview continued the women started asking very personal and unprofessional questions which had nothing to do with the role that I was applying for. They even went as far as to ask me if “I had any sisters” and “Do you work well with women”. I was very shocked but I answered their questions professionally. I attempted to redirect the interview back to focusing more on the actual role, and how my previous experiences would add value to the team, rather than my personal life. In the end I found out someone else got the job because, and get this, he had more sisters than I did which they felt he would have been a better fit since the account was full of women. He didn’t even have the years of experience that I did but still ended up getting the job. Go figure.
If anyone should go through 2 interviews like this and still end up with no position, even though you are a good fit for both, then that should probably tell you something about the company you are applying to. I never applied for a Wells Fargo position after that and I now have them on a “Do Not Contact” list. I also documented the people that I interviewed with as a reminder of my most entertaining interviews from the past.
Wells Fargo is ranked as having the worst reputation in the banking industry as of 2018. Google it, you’ll see the articles. Judging from their past history in the news and what I experienced in my phone interviews I can easily see why that is.