Alexzander Williams, who is an applications programmer/analyst III for Wells Fargo & Company, a San Francisco, CA-based multinational financial services company with more than 260,000 employees worldwide, explains that his interest in the banking technology industry stems from its fast-paced, results-driven focus on helping the customer succeed financially.

“I like getting instant customer feedback after releasing new enhancements or features, and I feel it makes me a better software developer,” he shares.

His career with the company began with two summer internships with Wells Fargo capital markets beginning in 2015. During his first internship, Williams worked on back-end, data-centric technology and, during the second, on front-end technology. He earned a Bachelor of Science in mathematics, and was hired full-time in Spring 2017.

“The experience I gained from these [internship] opportunities gave me an advantage on other candidates, and showed my worth and compatibility within the company. I feel this helped my chances of gaining a full-time position. Even though that experience was an important factor, what was also important was how Wells Fargo values quality candidates who align with the company culture and can bring strong leadership skills.”

Williams explains: “What appealed to me about Wells Fargo was the culture and willingness of team members to help one another achieve common goals. The culture is customer-centric, and that reflects in every design meeting, application release schedule, and line of business meeting. In addition, the company understands and values your well-being as an individual, and so they make sure team members have a work-life balance.”

He started as a full-time capital markets technology associate in Wells Fargo’s two-year program for software developers, which provides initial, on-going developer training, business skills, leadership skills and other forms of training. A yearly summit brings all of the associates from different U.S. locations together in Charlotte, NC, for specialized training that adds to their continued success.

In his current position Williams works on the front-end user interface (UI) development team that manages two internal- and one external-facing, web-based applications, which are what he calls “private” public-facing applications.

“My major responsibilities include improving the existing code base while working on enhancements requested by the line of businesses for future application releases,” he notes.

He also performs formal quality assurance (QA) for his development team to ensure there aren’t any bugs or kinks, assists in application release management, along with Wells Fargo’s technology manager, and has an informal role in campus recruiting for Wells Fargo.

“Wells Fargo promotes career development for all team members, whether as an individual contributor or a manager,” Williams details. “We have resources and tools to help us discover where our strengths connect with what the company needs.”

Within the company, Williams has become a member of two Team Member Networks (TMNs): the Black/African American Connection and the Diverse Abilities Team Member Network. He points out that there are other groups and networks at the company for personal, professional and community growth, but “these two are the best for me to expand my network in the early stages of my career.”

Additional information about Wells Fargo is available at wellsfargo.com, and about career opportunities at wellsfargo.com/jobs. Connect on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, Pinterest, LinkedIn and Twitter.