Wells Fargo interviewed me just to meet its diversity criteria. I felt less than human when I found out.

• In 2016 and 2017, Don Banks had two job interviews with Wells Fargo but never heard back.
• The New York Times later told him he was among those interviewed to fulfill diversity requirements.

This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Don Banks, a financial advisor from Monroe, Louisiana, about his experience of being interviewed by Wells Fargo and later learning the bank only conducted these to fulfill a policy of interviewing more diverse candidates. It has been edited for length and clarity.

In 2016 and 2017, I interviewed for financial-advisor roles at Wells Fargo. Both times, I had a general interview and was told I would be advancing to the next stage with the hiring manager.

The meetings were due to be on the phone and were scheduled, but never happened. I didn't receive any response after they didn't take place.

At the time, I thought those were interviews that just didn't work out. But later, The New York Times reached out to me and said someone had given them my name as one of the victims of Wells Fargo's false interviews. They told me someone — who remained anonymous — had knowledge about false interviews conducted by the bank for diverse candidates like me, which included other people of color and women.

I thought back on what happened, and it made sense why I never got a response.

It's frustrating to know that I was a part of this process; it made me feel less than human. How are we having this issue in 2022?

I thought I was an actual candidate Wells Fargo was considering

There were some opportunities at the company that were close to where I lived, and I was supposed to speak to someone about the next step.

When the scheduled meetings never happened, I didn't get any message about rescheduling or anything else.

I tried to call the recruiter back, but I was never able to get hold of them.

It made me feel very disrespected as a professional

Employers should at least value my résumé throughout the interview process. If you don't consider me as a candidate, that's fine — that's business, that's life.

But it's just not fair for an employer to drop me like that. That's not good business, and that's not being a good person.

This problem isn't just with Wells Fargo, but with other corporations as well. It's disheartening to know that other people have experienced this, too.

I did eventually work at Wells Fargo between 2018 and 2020, for a more junior position than I had been interviewing for in both 2016 and 2017. When I got laid off, they said it was due to COVID.

It's a relief that it is coming to light

I would like everyone who was part of this process to be held accountable.

There needs to be some type of punishment for this behavior — not just a slap on the wrist. And ultimately, I would like to see that people aren't victims of this going forward.

I hope that my story can help someone else in the future, whether it's those Wells Fargo is interviewing, or any other company. I hope it compels other organizations to check their procedures and practices to make sure that they aren't contributing to the same issues.

I hope the public sees the truth, recognizes this is a part of a bigger issue and, says, "You know what? We're not going to allow this."

Editor's note: A Wells Fargo spokesperson told Insider that Banks' experience was "long before our new leadership team was in place."

They added: "The diverse slate guidelines we put in place are meant to increase diverse representation across the company and we can see meaningful results in our hiring data since 2020. At the same time, it's important that implementation of our guidelines is consistent. Earlier this month, the company temporarily paused the use of its diverse slate guidelines. During this pause, the company is conducting a review so that hiring managers, senior leaders and recruiters fully understand how the guidelines should be implemented — and so we can have confidence that our guidelines live up to their promise."