Wells Fargo Interview Guide

If you want to land a finance job at Wells Fargo, you should have an idea of what to expect when you apply for a position. It will help you prepare to impress the interviewers, avoid being caught off guard, and ensure you pass the interview.

We put together this Wells Fargo interview guide to help you understand their recruitment process and give you proven tips acing the interview. We will also give you an overview of this financial services company and share some sample interview questions. Read on to discover what you need to know to maximize your chances of getting an offer at Wells Fargo.

Overview of Wells Fargo

Henry Wells and William G. Fargo founded Wells Fargo in 1852. Since then, the firm grew from its humble beginnings in San Francisco to become one of the "big four banks" in the United States. The multinational financial services company is now present in 30 countries and territories, with 12 strategic office locations across Europe, the Middle East, and Africa.

Finance professionals at Wells Fargo work in several divisions, including consumer & small business banking, commercial banking, wealth & investment management, consumer lending, and corporate & investment banking (CIB). Within CIB, there are industry and product groups. The industry teams offer investment banking and advisory services to clients in different sectors like energy, healthcare, and industrials while the product group teams cover corporate finance, ECM, DCM, M&A, leveraged finance, and financial sponsors.

If you’re comparing its ranking with top investment banks, Wells Fargo takes an in-between spot. It’s neither a bulge bracket firm nor a boutique or middle market player. In 2023, it ranked in the 8th place in global IB fees, and in 2024, it jumped to 7th. So, it competes well with the bulge bracket firms for market share although not in M&A. Wells Fargo’s strength and track record is particularly in syndicated loans, ECM, and DCM. This is mostly in the Americas, although its presence in EMEA, Japan, and Asia Pacific markets is more modest.

What Is the Recruiting Process at Wells Fargo Like?

The recruitment process at Wells Fargo is a lot more like that of other investment banking firms. You’ll start with sending an application, complete some online assessments, do a phone or video screening, and then one-on-one interviews. Here are some details on what to expect at each step of the Wells Fargo application process.

1. Application & Online Assessments

The first step in the Wells Fargo application process is to search for open positions that you qualify for and submit an application on their Workday system. A recruiter or hiring manager will check out your profile and initiate contact if you’re an ideal candidate.

If you’re still in university or are a recent graduate, Wells Fargo’s Corporate & Investment Banking (CIB) Analyst program might be your perfect entry path to the company. The program takes two or more years for the analyst position and 9 or 10 weeks for summer interns. You must apply before deadlines to get a fair chance.

If you’re in a campus where Wells Fargo visits to market their firm and discover top talent, take advantage of those sessions and apply through those opportunities. For those in graduate school, Wells Fargo offers a Corporate & Investment Banking MBA Program which helps professionals join the associates rank.

2. Phone Interview

If the hiring manager likes your profile, your next stage will most likely be a phone interview. Based on the reports of most candidates, the contents of the interview can vary. Some get a mix of technical and behavioral-type questions while others get the latter only.

So, prepare to talk about your background, experience, some technical topics, and your interest in the position and the bank. The call can last about 15-30 minutes. If you don’t get a phone screening, you’ll probably get a Hirevue interview.

👉 Check out our article to prepare perfectly for the HireVue Interview!

3. Superday

Once you pass the phone screening, you will be invited for one on one interviews after a few weeks. This is often a superday, which is an event with multiple back to back interviews with employees of different ranks at the company.

You can expect a mix of technical and behavioral questions at this stage. The number of interviews can be about three or five with the recruiter, analysts or associates, and other stakeholders. Each interview often lasts 30 minutes, and some might be group interviews.

👉 Learn more about the Investment Banking Superday and its process in our article!

4. Offer

If you have impressed the interviewers so far, the next step is getting a job offer. But before extending the offer, Wells Fargo does a background check which may include examining your criminal history, credit status, and verifying the details on your resume including education history.

Once you receive the offer, you’ll have about two weeks to accept or reject it. Consider the information on work culture that you’ve gathered throughout the process, company’s future outlook, long-term career plan, offers from other banks, and compensation and benefits to decide if you should accept the offer.

What Is the Timeline of the Recruiting Process at Wells Fargo?

Wells Fargo recruitment process can take anywhere from less than a month to three months. That is from the initial application to the job offer. The process often involves three interview rounds but if you manage to impress the Wells Fargo recruiters early on, you may get an early superday and offer.

The number of rounds also vary based on how convinced and certain the interviewers are about a candidate. Sometimes they need an extra round to decide, and at other times, they like a candidate from the start and push them forward. Also, the interview source, whether that’s on campus, employee referral, or online can affect the timeline.

What Are Typical Questions in Wells Fargo Interviews?

Like any other IB interview, expect both behavioral questions and technical questions at Wells Fargo interviews. For the behavioral questions, they will mostly be based on your resume, "how would you handle" and "tell us about a time when" type of questions, for instance:

• Tell us about a time when you crafted a presentation, but had to change your delivery to suit the target audience.
• Walk me through your resume or tell me about yourself.
• How do you fit in this role and why did you specifically choose it?
• Why do you want to work at Wells Fargo?
• Describe a scenario where you were working with someone you never got along with.
• Why do you want to work in banking? Why IB? Why this group?

👉 Use our Stress Questions to practice and prepare for behavioral interview questions!

The technical questions test your financial literacy, accounting skills, mental math, and financial concepts. Some of the typical technical questions at Wells Fargo interviews include:

• How do you value a business?
• What are the three financial statements?
• Walk me through the valuation methods.
• Walk me through a DCF.
• If you’re calculating the cost of equity in a DCF, what would you use as the risk free rate?
• Name any challenges of utilizing a DCF model for an early stage software company.
• How would a $20 depreciation flow through the financial statements?
• Name some debt metrics and describe how you can use them to evaluate a company?

👉 Find even more detailed examples and practice questions in our guide on Technical Questions in Investment Banking Interviews!

Besides the behavioral and technical questions, Wells Fargo interviewers may also ask questions about the firm to see if you’ve done some research. For instance, they can ask, “Does Wells Fargo offer any mentorship program for the workers?”

How Can You Prepare for Interviews at Wells Fargo?

To ensure nothing catches you off guard during the Wells Fargo interviews, you must prepare thoroughly. Some of the proven tips for preparing and passing a Wells Fargo interview include doing a lot of practice, performing mock interviews, and investing in coaching.

Here’s how you can use each of these tips to prepare.

• Practice! Practice! Practice!
  To prepare for Wells Fargo interviews, create time for self study where you focus on both technical and behavioral aspects of IB interviews. You can look up IB interview study guides that give you structured learning paths. But generally, you should review accounting fundamentals, valuation methods, debt capital markets, and leveraged finance for technical prep. These are the areas where Wells Fargo excels, and therefore most likely to test on.
  
  You should also find as many common behavioral questions as possible and learn how to answer them using the STAR framework. Ideally, it’s best to have some thoughtful responses to common behavioral questions about teamwork, leadership, and problem-solving.
  
  Don’t forget to research and study the firm itself including history, recent or landmark deals, culture, values, and recent business developments.
• Do Mock Interviews
  In addition to studying alone, practice with peers to simulate the actual interview experience. While you can do mock interviews with friends and family, peers can replicate the interview environment more accurately than them.
  
  That’s because they're more familiar with technical concepts and industry expectations. So, they can assess your responses through the lens of professionals and help identify areas where your knowledge or presentation needs strengthening.
  
  👉 Connect with like-minded peers on our Meeting Board and practice mock interviews together!
• Hire an IB Interview Coach
  
  Investing in an IB interview coach can be a game-changer in your preparation. Most coaches are former investment bankers or seasoned recruiters who understand both technical concepts and interview dynamics.
  
  This means working with an interview coach can give you a structured framework for prepping, insider knowledge of common pitfalls, and personalized feedback that complement your self-study and peer practice sessions.
  
  A coach can also identify blind spots in your preparation, refine your storytelling ability, and help you develop a confident interview presence. They’re not a substitute for personal preparation, but coaching can accelerate your learning curve and provide insights into the interview process that might otherwise take a long while to discover on your own.

Key Takeaways

• Wells Fargo is one of the big four banks in the United States and it often ranks among the top 10 investment banks in terms of global IB fees. The bank is well-known for its strong track record in syndicated loans, ECM, and DCM areas.
• Wells Fargo’s recruitment process for investment banking analysts involves an online application, phone interview, a superday, and offer extension. The interview rounds are three in most cases.
• The Wells Fargo recruitment process can take a few weeks to three months from application to offer.
• The best way to prepare for interviews at Wells Fargo is to do a lot of self study, practice with peers, and hire an interview coach for insider tactics.