Wells Fargo IBD 1st round phone interview

I have been selected for a 1st round phone interview with Wells Fargo IBD for a full time analyst position in Charlotte. It is not specific to industry or product group just the IBD. ANY tips or pointers for Wells Fargo IBD specific would be great. Will the questions in 1st round phone be more technical or fit related? What certain questions will be asked etc. THANK YOU

 

Congrats on landing a phone interview. I made it up to Charlotte, after doing well on the phone interview, to interview with their FSG for a first year analyst role. The phone interview had 3 juniors on the call asking me typical behavior/fit questions with a few technical questions at the end. It only went about 23 minutes even though it was supposed to be 30, but I got the email asking me to come up to their office the next day so I guess it went well.

 

^I don't think some of the BBs (like WF) do formal OCR for full-time. From what a recruiter told me, they have a list of candidates from each school that get invited to apply; first-round phone interview candidates are chose from this list.

 

Did a 1st round last year. It is a mix of fit and technical. WSO and/or M&I guide will more than prep you for process and behaviorals, thats on you (I say they are more fun since you can show your personality a little more). Congrats on the landing an 1st round and Good Luck!!!

Authored by: Certified Corporate Development Professional - Director
 
Loki777:
BepBep12:

Did my 1st Round on Monday...was one of the most laidback shoot-the-shit calls I've ever had

did yours last 30 minutes?

It was only supposed to be a 25 minutes, and it lasted exactly 25 and change by my call records. Why?

'Before you enter... be willing to pay the price'
 
CallMeKobe:

Was it more fit or technical?

I would definitely lean towards fit, some tech sprinkled in - pretty plain vanilla if you ask me.

'Before you enter... be willing to pay the price'
 

I interviewed for LevFin.

Consisted of a first round behavioral and fit phone interview and then a second phone interview which was more behavioral and a lot of technical. After that was a superday.

Even though my experience was all behavioral in round one, I would still keep fresh on the technicals.

You're born, you take shit. You get out in the world, you take more shit. You climb a little higher, you take less shit. Till one day you're up in the rarefied atmosphere and you've forgotten what shit even looks like. Welcome to the layer cake, son.
 
novicemonkey:
Nefarious, thanks for your reply.

Just wondering if your interview was also with Wells Fargo?

Yes. WF LevFin in Charlotte (right after they took over Wachovia's security division).

You're born, you take shit. You get out in the world, you take more shit. You climb a little higher, you take less shit. Till one day you're up in the rarefied atmosphere and you've forgotten what shit even looks like. Welcome to the layer cake, son.
 
Nefarious-:
novicemonkey:
Nefarious, thanks for your reply.

Just wondering if your interview was also with Wells Fargo?

Yes. WF LevFin in Charlotte (right after they took over Wachovia's security division).

Perfect!

I'm wondering from your personal view, how is WF's work culture like?

I'm asking you this question because I feel that talking about the work culture from knowledge of a person within would help with my interview.

Much appreciated for your responsiveness

 
Best Response
novicemonkey:
Nefarious-:
novicemonkey:
Nefarious, thanks for your reply.

Just wondering if your interview was also with Wells Fargo?

Yes. WF LevFin in Charlotte (right after they took over Wachovia's security division).

Perfect!

I'm wondering from your personal view, how is WF's work culture like?

I'm asking you this question because I feel that talking about the work culture from knowledge of a person within would help with my interview.

Much appreciated for your responsiveness

The deal flow seems to be good, especially because (at the time) WF was taking over Wachovia's securities division. I ended up getting an offer but ultimately turned it down for a comparable offer in CF with substantial less hours. They seemed to talk heavily on how I would have no personal life and would be working 100 hours a week. Long hours and no personal life is kind of a given with IB, but there was something odd about how they continually talked about it.

You're born, you take shit. You get out in the world, you take more shit. You climb a little higher, you take less shit. Till one day you're up in the rarefied atmosphere and you've forgotten what shit even looks like. Welcome to the layer cake, son.
 

I interviewed a while ago for FT during Off-cycle. Did not land the role, but coincidentally enough, a good friend of mine did. Typical interview process seen at other banks, but you should have a good answer as to why Wells and that Office...

Authored by: Certified Corporate Development Professional - Director
 
SDRE:

Thank you Lineman, really appreciated this advice.

Are you 100% sure you're going to be doing DCM/ECM in relation to stock offerings etc.? You posted this in the real estate forum. If you mean you're going to be doing real estate capital markets at Wells Fargo, that could potentially mean something completely different. I can't be positive from your original description that Lineman's response truly applies to the situation here.
 

I was double teamed (I've been wanting to say this) by WF IB on campus. The technicals were specific to my resume which is PE experience. Other than that, they asked about my GPA, I have a major and cum, so they wanted to know which classes I took where I received a grade below my cum. Also they asked who I was interviewing with, if I would take them over another bank and why. I know they have a sheet of technicals that they ask on the corporate side. For the summer last semester, they asked how to evaluate a company's credit worthiness (for corporate not IB).

fdba Emory Blaine and BBA or otherwise trying to find the perfect pseudonym.
 

Had a first round on the phone on friday- was mix of questions. Did S&T at a BB this past summer and so expected questions to be about that but they were standard situational and some technical (financial statements, P/E multiple stuff, how to value a company). Got invited to the superday in charlotte end of next week. anyone have experience with this process?

 

Just to give everyone a heads up about the way Wells does SA and FT IBD placement from my thread here: https://www.wallstreetoasis.com/forums/a-warning-on-the-wells-fargo-sec…

As a former "investment banking" summer analyst at Wells Fargo Securities a couple years ago, I wanted to give all of y'all a heads up before you sign an offer. The way that Wells did group placement was pretty ass back in my day (and I'm pretty sure they haven't changed it).

In terms of group placement after signing the offer, Wells combines their normal IBD groups (coverage, M&A, Sponsors, etc.), their capital markets groups (LevFin, DCM, ECM, Syndications), public finance, and their asset backed finance (structured finance/lending) groups into the same "investment banking" recruiting pipeline.

The real kicker is how Wells does location. Instead of applying, interviewing, and getting an offer for a specific city like every other bank in the world, Wells places you into a city AFTER you sign the offer. And what they don't tell you until you find out for yourselves is that around 70%+ of positions are in Charlotte, not New York City or San Francisco.

And while there is a group matching process, HR plays a heavy role and almost everyone preferences normal IBD groups in NYC, SF, or LA as their top choice so you can imagine how much of a shitshow that becomes. So after you sign the offer, there's a very likely (in fact more than likely) chance that you could get placed in something like syndicated finance or asset backed finance in Charlotte, especially with returning sophomore diversity interns taking up a lot of the NYC/SF spots before group placement for junior interns even begins.

There is the possibility of switching groups between your SA and FT stint, however there tend to be very few or no spots in NYC or SF FT and everyone in Charlotte tries to switch out of cities so people successfully doing it are few and far between.

There's a reason they do recruiting this way since they can't get a whole lot of good talent to come to Charlotte or work in their shitter groups without being super bait and switchy. I mean it is Wells Fargo, you shouldn't be surprised at this point if they're doing shady shit.

So unless you're super open to the idea of ending up working in Charlotte and syndicating loans or lending against mortgages despite signing an "investment banking" offer letter, I'd strongly encourage you to go through the recruiting process at other banks before locking yourself into Wells too early.

 

Neither. They will simply ask how many Wells Fargo debit cards you possess.

All banking interviews will consist of technical and fit questions. The questions will vary based on what you have done in the past. Generally speaking, be prepared for 1/3 fit, 1/3 behavioral, 1/3 technical. maybe some macro/market related questions

 

ATM banks are probably the strongest asset one can have. BAML by the way is a top 3 bank due to its strong ML legacy talent in IBD as well as its commercial roots. What always impresses me is if an applicant flashes me a Bank of America debit card during our coffee talk while networking. Instant A+.

 

@fembotma

If it's a regional bank then the first round will be 80% technical to my experience. If it's NY, then it will probably be 80% fit. This is based on all the interviews that I've done.

 

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-- "Those who say don't know, and those who know don't say."
 

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