ResumeAdapter
Updated 2026-07-03

The values and culture Wells Fargo hires against
and how to prove them on a resume.

Why this matters

Wells Fargo's culture runs on six Company Expectations: Do what's right, Be great at execution, Embrace candor, Learn and grow, Champion inclusion, and Build high-performing teams. The bank interviews behaviorally and asks you to answer using the situation, behavior, and outcome (SBO) method, which makes these expectations the hiring rubric. This page maps each to resume language, with a show-this bullet, the anti-pattern to delete, and an SBO example you can adapt.

Scan my Wells Fargo resumeFree to scan6 expectationsSignal coverage
By the numbers
What Wells Fargo publishes
6 expectations
The behavioral rubric the bank hires against
The rubric leads with
Do what's right...
then Be great at execution
Interview method
SBO method
Situation, behavior, outcome (formerly STAR)
Source
wellsfargojobs.com
Primary, firm-published

The quick answer

What are Wells Fargo's values and Company Expectations?

Wells Fargo runs its culture on six Company Expectations that serve as its behavioral hiring rubric: Do what's right, Be great at execution, Embrace candor, Learn and grow, Champion inclusion, and Build high-performing teams for managers. These sit on top of a risk-and-accountability culture the bank rebuilt after its 2016 sales-practices scandal, which is why Do what's right and operating with a risk mindset are the load-bearing signals a screener weights hardest. Wells Fargo interviews are behavioral: the bank asks candidates to answer using the situation, behavior, and outcome (SBO) method, formerly known as the STAR method. The resume move is to demonstrate each expectation through quantified outcomes rather than naming it as an adjective: a control or ownership action for Do what's right, an on-time data-driven delivery for Be great at execution, and a teammate you developed for Learn and grow, each written in SBO order. Scan your Wells Fargo resume.

Wells Fargo publishes six Company Expectations, Embrace candor, Do what's right, Be great at execution, Learn and grow, Champion inclusion, and Build high-performing teams for managers, and states that its interviews are behavioral, asking candidates to answer using the situation, behavior, and outcome (SBO) method. The expectations sit on a risk and accountability culture the bank rebuilt after its 2016 sales-practices scandal.

Wells Fargo's six Company Expectations, Do what's right, Be great at execution, Embrace candor, Learn and grow, Champion inclusion, and Build high-performing teams for managers, are the behavioral framework the bank publishes and hires against. Its careers site states that interviews are behavioral and asks you to answer using the situation, behavior, and outcome (SBO) method, so these expectations are not decoration; they are the rubric.

They also do not float free. The expectations sit on top of a risk-and-accountability culture Wells Fargo rebuilt after the 2016 sales-practices scandal, which is why Do what's right and operating with a risk mindset carry the most weight. Reading both the expectations and that context gives you the signals recruiters screen for, without inventing anything the bank never wrote.

The resume reading is the same for every expectation: a reviewer indexes on the expectation being visible in the bullet itself, not asserted as an adjective. A line that reads accountable team player with integrity fails, because it names the expectations instead of demonstrating them.

A line that reads escalated a mispriced fee to compliance and drove the refund that closed the control gap passes, because it shows Do what's right through a costly, owned action without ever using the word integrity. The entries below give you that pattern for all six expectations, each with a show-this bullet, the anti-pattern, and an SBO example.

The six Company Expectations

Each expectation with what it signals,
a show-this bullet, and an SBO example.

Do what's right, Be great at execution, Embrace candor, Learn and grow, Champion inclusion, and Build high-performing teams for managers, quoted verbatim from Wells Fargo's Our culture page and Code of Conduct (accessed July 2026). The ordering leads with the two load-bearing signals. Each expectation opens with the bank's own description.

01
Company expectation 01

Do what's right

Set high standards for how you treat colleagues, customers, and clients. If you see a problem, take ownership or get support to make things right.

After the 2016 sales-practices reform, this is the expectation a Wells Fargo screener weights hardest, because the description asks you to take ownership and make things right when you see a problem. A reviewer reads for whether you surfaced an issue, escalated a control gap, or corrected a costly error even when it was inconvenient, demonstrating accountability rather than asserting that you are ethical.

What it signals in hiring
Show this on the resume

Show a specific problem you owned: a break you caught, a control you added, a finding you escalated, or a mistake you corrected before it reached a customer. Demonstrate the ownership through the outcome; do not label yourself as ethical or trustworthy.

Flagged a mispriced fee affecting 4,000 customer accounts, escalated to compliance rather than routing around it, and drove the remediation that refunded $180K and closed the control gap.

Avoid this anti-pattern

Naming integrity as an adjective. A line that calls you honest, ethical, and accountable states the trait this expectation reads for instead of demonstrating it, and reviewers discount it.

Honest, accountable professional with unwavering integrity and a strong ethical compass.

SBO example bullet

When a fee change looked routine but felt mispriced (Situation), I owned the review of the affected accounts (Behavior), escalating to compliance and driving the fix rather than routing around it (Behavior), which refunded $180K to 4,000 customers and closed the control gap (Outcome).

02
Company expectation 02

Be great at execution

Be clear about goals, track and report on them, and deliver a quality product on time. Use data to make decisions. Act with a sense of urgency.

The description names clear goals, tracking and reporting, on-time delivery, data-driven decisions, and urgency, so this expectation reads for people who ship a quality result on schedule and can prove it with numbers. A reviewer reads for whether you set a measurable goal, used data to make the call, and delivered on time, not for effort or activity that never closed.

What it signals in hiring
Show this on the resume

Lead with a goal you set, the data you used to decide, and the on-time delivery, with the metric attached. Put the outcome and the deadline first, then how you tracked and reported against it.

Set a 30-day target to cut loan-processing time, used cycle-time data to redesign the handoff, and delivered a 35 percent reduction on schedule across a 12-person team.

Avoid this anti-pattern

Effort framing with no goal, no data, and no deadline. Worked hard on process improvements describes activity in isolation and misses the execution signal this expectation rewards.

Worked diligently on various process improvements throughout the quarter to support the team.

SBO example bullet

When loan processing ran long against SLA (Situation), I set a 30-day reduction target and pulled the cycle-time data (Behavior), redesigning the slowest handoff and reporting progress weekly (Behavior), delivering a 35 percent cut on schedule across a 12-person team (Outcome).

03
Company expectation 03

Embrace candor

Share clear, honest, direct feedback individually with your colleagues and in meetings so they are as productive as possible. Embrace respectful debate and dialogue.

The description rewards clear, honest, direct feedback and respectful debate, so the bank reads for people who raise the hard point productively, not those who stay quiet or turn candor into conflict. A reviewer reads for evidence you surfaced a difficult truth, gave direct feedback, or drove a decision through respectful debate, with a better outcome as the result.

What it signals in hiring
Show this on the resume

Show a moment you gave direct, respectful feedback or raised a dissenting view that improved the result. Name what you said, who you said it to, and the decision or outcome it changed.

Raised a data-quality concern the team had glossed over in review, pushed for a one-week delay, and prevented a flawed dashboard from reaching regional leadership.

Avoid this anti-pattern

Naming candor as a personality trait. A line that calls you a straight shooter who tells it like it is states the trait instead of demonstrating the feedback and the outcome it produced.

Straight shooter who is not afraid to tell it like it is and speak my mind openly.

SBO example bullet

When a dashboard was about to ship with a known data gap (Situation), I was the reviewer closest to the source (Behavior), so I gave direct feedback in the review and pushed for a one-week delay (Behavior), preventing a flawed report from reaching regional leadership (Outcome).

04
Company expectation 04

Learn and grow

Embrace challenges with enthusiasm. Be tenacious in overcoming obstacles. Ask others for feedback; dedicate the time and effort to learn and grow.

The description pairs tenacity through obstacles with asking for feedback and dedicating effort to grow, so the bank reads for people who took on something hard, sought input, and got measurably better. A reviewer reads for a stretch you pursued and a capability you built, in yourself or by developing others, with the improvement quantified.

What it signals in hiring
Show this on the resume

Show a challenge you took on and the skill or capability you built, and where it fits, develop a teammate too: a person you coached, a ramp you shortened, a standard you transferred. Quantify the lift to you or the team.

Volunteered to learn the bank's risk-reporting stack in six weeks, then coached two analysts on it, cutting their ramp from eight weeks to four and clearing our backlog a month early.

Avoid this anti-pattern

Static framing that names no challenge and no growth. Experienced professional with a proven track record asserts a trait and misses the learn-and-grow signal this expectation rewards.

Experienced professional with a proven track record and a passion for continuous learning.

SBO example bullet

When our team lacked coverage on the risk-reporting stack (Situation), I volunteered to learn it in six weeks (Behavior), then documented the standard and coached two analysts on it (Behavior), cutting their ramp from eight weeks to four and clearing the backlog a month early (Outcome).

05
Company expectation 05

Champion inclusion

Contribute to a productive, engaged, and inclusive environment that values and respects differences.

The description asks you to contribute to a productive, engaged, and inclusive environment, so the bank reads for people who made a team work better across differences, not those who name inclusion as a value. A reviewer reads for a specific action that widened participation or brought in a perspective others missed, with the effect on the outcome.

What it signals in hiring
Show this on the resume

Show a concrete action that made a team more inclusive or engaged: a voice you brought into a decision, a process you changed so more people could contribute, a perspective you surfaced. Tie it to a better result.

Restructured our intake review so frontline staff could flag customer issues directly, surfacing three service gaps that leadership had not seen and improving resolution time 20 percent.

Avoid this anti-pattern

Naming inclusion as an abstract belief. A line that says I strongly value diversity and inclusion states the trait this expectation reads for instead of showing an action and its effect.

Strongly value diversity and inclusion and always foster a collaborative team environment.

SBO example bullet

When frontline staff had no direct way to raise customer issues (Situation), I owned the intake process (Behavior), so I restructured the review to let them flag concerns directly (Behavior), surfacing three service gaps leadership had missed and cutting resolution time 20 percent (Outcome).

06
Company expectation 06

Build high-performing teams (for managers)

Attract and retain the best talent. Communicate a clear vision that engages and inspires. Set high expectations and support your team in accomplishing them. Hold employees accountable for achieving desired outcomes. Operate with a risk mindset.

This expectation applies to managers, and it closes on operate with a risk mindset, which pairs with Do what's right as the second load-bearing signal in a post-reform bank. A reviewer reads for whether you attracted and retained talent, set and held a bar, and managed within a risk framework, with the team outcome and the risk discipline both visible, not leadership claimed as a title.

What it signals in hiring
Show this on the resume

Show a team you built or led: talent you hired or retained, a bar you set and held, an outcome you were accountable for, and how you kept it within a risk framework. Quantify the team result and name the risk discipline.

Rebuilt an eight-person controls team, cut attrition from 30 percent to 8 percent, held a monthly QA bar, and closed two consecutive audit cycles with zero repeat findings.

Avoid this anti-pattern

Title framing with no team outcome and no risk discipline. Seasoned leader who manages high-performing teams asserts the role instead of demonstrating the talent, the bar, and the risk mindset.

Seasoned people leader who consistently builds and manages high-performing, motivated teams.

SBO example bullet

When a controls team was losing people and missing findings (Situation), I took over as manager (Behavior), rehiring to strengthen the bench, setting a monthly QA bar, and running the team with a risk mindset (Behavior), which cut attrition to 8 percent and closed two audit cycles with zero repeat findings (Outcome).

Company Expectations and their descriptions quoted verbatim from Wells Fargo's Our culture page, wellsfargojobs.com/en/life-at-wells-fargo/culture/, and the Wells Fargo Code of Conduct, accessed July 2026.

Mission and purpose

What the expectations are in service of.
The bank's current phrasing.

Wells Fargo no longer publishes a single branded vision as a masthead statement. The closest current line is a functional purpose: Wells Fargo strives to satisfy our customers' financial needs and provide services to help you succeed financially. Read that as the bank's present functional purpose phrasing, not a formal vision. The classic vision that many older guides still quote is not currently published as a masthead statement, so it is safer to keep the focus here on the culture and the six expectations than to lead with a bold mission claim.

On a resume you do not quote a purpose line at all. You demonstrate it by showing the client and customer outcomes you drove, tied to a Company Expectation such as Do what's right or Be great at execution, in situation, behavior, and outcome order.

Current functional purpose phrasing quoted verbatim from Wells Fargo, wellsfargo.com, accessed July 2026. Framed as the bank's present purpose wording, not a branded vision statement.

The culture the expectations sit on

Risk and accountability.
The load-bearing signals underneath.

Wells Fargo's six expectations do not sit on a blank slate. They sit on top of a risk-and-accountability culture the bank rebuilt after the 2016 sales-practices scandal, when the creation of unauthorized accounts led to fines, leadership change, and years of remediation. That history is why ethics, accountability, and risk management are central to how Wells Fargo evaluates people today, and why two signals carry the most weight.

The Wells Fargo Code of Conduct states that “Adherence to the Risk Management Framework and effective risk management are key components of our company's culture.” Read against the expectations, that puts Do what's right and operate with a risk mindset (from Build high-performing teams) as the load-bearing signals a Wells Fargo screener weights hardest. Everything else is real, but these two are the ones a post-reform bank cannot compromise on.

When you answer Why Wells Fargo, lean into that context: connect your work to Do what's right or operating within a risk framework, and back it with a measurable example, a control you owned, a problem you escalated, an error you corrected. That is far stronger than praising the size or the brand of the bank, and it shows you understand the culture the expectations rest on.

Risk-culture line quoted verbatim from the Wells Fargo Code of Conduct, published February 2025. Sales-practices reform context is editorial, drawn from the public record of the 2016 matter.

How to show Wells Fargo's expectations

Five moves from
generic resume to Wells Fargo-true.

01
Step 01

Prove Do what's right through a control or ownership action

Do what's right asks you to take ownership and make things right when you see a problem. Show a break you caught, a control you added, or a finding you escalated when it was costly, with the outcome quantified. In a post-reform bank this is the signal weighted hardest; demonstrate the accountability, never assert integrity as an adjective.

02
Step 02

Show Be great at execution with an on-time, data-driven result

Be great at execution asks for clear goals, data-driven decisions, and quality delivery on time. Lead with a measurable goal you set, the data you used to decide, and the on-time delivery, so the outcome and the deadline appear in the bullet, not effort or activity that never closed.

03
Step 03

Show Learn and grow by developing yourself or a teammate

Learn and grow rewards tenacity through obstacles and dedicating effort to improve. Show a challenge you took on and a capability you built, and where it fits, a teammate you coached or a ramp you shortened, and quantify the lift to you or the team, not just your own numbers.

04
Step 04

Write every bullet in situation, behavior, and outcome (SBO)

Wells Fargo brands its behavioral method the situation, behavior, and outcome (SBO) method, formerly known as the STAR method. Structure each bullet as the situation you faced, the specific behavior you took, and the measurable outcome, so your resume maps directly onto how the bank's interviewers evaluate you.

05
Step 05

Scan and iterate against a Wells Fargo posting

Upload to ResumeAdapter against a specific Wells Fargo posting to see where your bullets name expectations as adjectives instead of demonstrating them, and iterate until ownership and risk, on-time data-driven delivery, developing people, and shared accountability are visible in the work.

For most candidates the move is simple: build a small set of bullets that cover the load-bearing expectations first. One that shows an ownership or control action for Do what's right, one that proves an on-time, data-driven delivery for Be great at execution, and one that develops a teammate for Learn and grow. Add candor and inclusion where you have real evidence. Every bullet in situation, behavior, and outcome order, none of them naming the expectation as an adjective.

Then let the risk-and-accountability context frame your motivation in the cover letter or interview, not the resume bullets. The expectations are the behaviors you demonstrate; the reform history is why doing what's right and operating with a risk mindset matter so much. Keeping them straight signals that you read the source, not a summary.

You do not need to name a single expectation on the page. You need bullets where ownership and risk, on-time data-driven delivery, developing people, and shared accountability are visible in the outcomes themselves. See the Wells Fargo levels spoke for how the bar shifts by band, and the Wells Fargo interview process spoke for how these expectations surface across the loop, including the SBO method.

FAQ

Wells Fargo values, FAQ

The questions candidates surface about what Wells Fargo actually screens for, after they have read the pillar. Answers are byte-identical to the FAQPage JSON-LD, because AI engines that extract HTML and AI engines that extract JSON-LD should not see different text.

What are Wells Fargo's values or Company Expectations?

Wells Fargo publishes six Company Expectations that function as its behavioral hiring rubric: Do what's right, Be great at execution, Embrace candor, Learn and grow, Champion inclusion, and Build high-performing teams (for managers). Do what's right asks you to set high standards and take ownership to make things right when you see a problem. Be great at execution asks you to set clear goals, use data, and deliver quality work on time. The older set of five values is superseded by these expectations. Because Wells Fargo interviews are behavioral, the strongest way to show any expectation is a quantified outcome, a control you added, an on-time data-driven delivery, or a teammate you developed, rather than an adjective.

What is the SBO method at Wells Fargo?

SBO is Wells Fargo's behavioral answer framework. On its careers site the bank describes the situation, behavior, and outcome (SBO) method, formerly known as the STAR method. You structure each answer in three parts: the situation you faced, the specific behavior or action you took, and the measurable outcome it produced. Wells Fargo interviews are behavioral, so structuring both your interview answers and your resume bullets as situation, behavior, and outcome maps your evidence directly onto the way the bank evaluates candidates. It is the same discipline as STAR, under the name Wells Fargo actually uses.

How do I answer 'Why Wells Fargo?' in an interview?

Connect your answer to a real Company Expectation and back it with a measurable example, using the situation, behavior, and outcome (SBO) method. Lean into risk, accountability, and doing what's right, because those are the load-bearing signals in a bank that rebuilt its culture after the 2016 sales-practices scandal. For example, describe a control you owned or a problem you escalated, then tie it to Do what's right or to operating with a risk mindset. Avoid a generic prestige answer about the brand or the size of the bank; a specific, evidence-backed story mapped to a named expectation is far stronger.

How do I show Wells Fargo's values on my resume?

Demonstrate the Company Expectations through quantified outcomes, not adjectives. Show a controls or risk action for Do what's right, an on-time data-driven delivery for Be great at execution, and a teammate you developed for Learn and grow. Write each bullet in situation, behavior, and outcome (SBO) style so the expectation is visible in the work itself, never assert integrity or teamwork as a trait, and scan your resume against a specific Wells Fargo posting to see which of these signals a recruiter would actually find.

What is Wells Fargo's mission or purpose?

Wells Fargo frames its current functional purpose as: Wells Fargo strives to satisfy our customers' financial needs and provide services to help you succeed financially. Treat that as the bank's present purpose phrasing rather than a branded vision statement. The classic vision, we want to satisfy our customers' financial needs and help them succeed financially, is not currently published as a masthead statement, so do not quote it as the live vision. On a resume you do not quote a purpose line at all; you demonstrate it through client outcomes you drove, tied to a Company Expectation such as Do what's right.

Continue

The rest of the Wells Fargo
resume cluster.

01 / Pillar

How to get a job at Wells Fargo

The pillar covering Wells Fargo's application process, the six Company Expectations in summary, the career ladder, and the interview loop.

Read
02 / Spoke

Wells Fargo levels

The banding ladder, and how the bar shifts from execution to ownership and leadership by level.

Read
03 / Spoke

The Wells Fargo interview process

The screens, rounds, and final loop, and how the six expectations and the SBO method surface across the process.

Read
04 / Tool

Cover letter generator

Turn a Company Expectation and a real risk or ownership result into a Why Wells Fargo cover letter grounded in evidence.

Read
Related

ATS Statistics

The dataset behind the editorial findings on this page, including the median pre-edit resume score.

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Related

All company guides

The full index of company resume hubs, each with its hiring bar mapped to resume language.

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