I am no longer with Wells Fargo. However, I am in the running for a job outside of Wells. I need a professional reference and was thinking of an old manager from Wells.
Does anyone know if managers are able to provide references? For some reason, I remember it being said that managers cannot provide a reference and if they are called for a reference they forward the request to HR. Is that the case?
As a former manager, you are not allowed. You can give the HR number and even they won't do anything but confirm basics about your employment. They don't want to risk getting sued for saying anything negative. This is how they avoid lawsuits.
@e8 No, that's why you have a friend preemptively call them for a reference and record it.
@es What risk? I could understand if they were referring someone internally, but if you recommend so-and-so elsewhere and they go bust, not your problem.
If you have an account on LI, you could always ask them to give you a recommendation. I've seen that before from WF managers. Not sure how or why they can do that publicly with the WF policy, but they do. (or some do)
References are very 20th century. It's all risk and no upside for the one providing it. Who would risk it?
You're going to trust a Wells Fargo manager ?
They do not here, nor at any other company.
Officially, no. However as a mgr I have no problem doing it but tell the asker I’m not allowed to so keep it quiet.
We are not allowed to give references.
Just give them the name of a manager. Let the manager redirect them to the work phone thing.
If it's a contractor role, the real reason isn't because they want a professional reference. It's because they want to add that manager to the rolodex as a sales lead.
@a1 To my recollection, Wells will only verify employment. To avoid liability, they won't say anything about your character or work performance. But, I don't remember if that pertains to Wells or another company I worked for.