Wells Fargo · Primly Community

Wells Fargo frontend engineer interview, what actually matters (React, accessibility, design system)

quietquit_quincy · 4 replies

I know most WF interview posts are about backend or general SWE, but I went through their frontend engineer interview for a role on their consumer digital team last spring and want to fill the gap.

The role was IC3 equivalent, 3-5 YOE range. Here's what the loop looked like.

Screen: Recruiter mentioned the team is heavily React and they've been migrating away from older AngularJS-era code (yes, that's still in places). Said to expect questions on component architecture, state management, and accessibility.

Technical screen (60 min): Two parts. First, a live coding problem in a CodePair-style environment. They gave me a prompt to build a small accessible form component in React: proper label association, error state handling, keyboard navigability. Not a whiteboard problem at all, more like a real-world task. Second, 20 min of questions. They asked about the difference between controlled and uncontrolled components, how you'd approach code splitting in a large SPA, what ARIA roles are and when to use them, and how you handle state in a complex component tree (I talked through Context vs. Zustand vs. lifting state).

Design review (30 min): They shared a Figma mockup and asked me how I'd approach implementing it. They were specifically probing whether I'd flag accessibility issues (the contrast ratios on a couple of CTAs were technically non-compliant). I mentioned WCAG 2.1 AA standards and they lit up. Apparently this is a pain point they're actively working on.

Final panel (3 rounds back to back): One coding, one system design (how would you architect a design system for a bank with 400+ internal apps and strict brand compliance), one behavioral.

The system design for frontend surprised me. They weren't asking about backend. They wanted to talk about component library architecture, theming tokens, how you'd handle versioning, how teams onboard to a shared system. Classic platform team problem. I wish I'd prepared it more but I talked through Storybook, semantic versioning, a monorepo setup, and they seemed satisfied.

Things I'd tell someone prepping: WF's consumer web surfaces are under real scrutiny for accessibility. If you can talk concretely about WCAG, screen reader testing, focus management, you will stand out. Most candidates apparently don't. Also expect behavioral questions about working with design and product, not just engineering.

4 replies

ux_uma

The accessibility angle is huge and underrated across fintech generally. Banks have actual legal exposure (DOJ settlements over inaccessible web properties) so when a frontend candidate can speak that language, it's a real differentiator. I've started leading with it in every fintech interview I do.

ux_uma

The Figma review with embedded accessibility traps is clever. Some of the best orgs I've interviewed with do this to see if engineers are actually reading designs critically or just treating them as pixel specs.

ae_andre

Were they using their internal design system in the coding problem or just vanilla React? Asking because I've heard some companies make you use their internal component library which is basically undocumented and a nightmare.

sdr_sky

Just vanilla React + plain HTML for the live problem. No proprietary dependencies. The design system question was more conceptual.