@qhz Not by contacting the manager, absolutely not. This isn't a big secret at Wells. It's drilled into our heads during the interview process we are not to contact an internal candidate's current manager unless they've accepted an offer. During the recruitment process there are other options like looking into performance reviews, but the current manager is not involved.
There is a Develop You course that goes over this policy and other guidelines/ethics for the process. It's for hiring managers but it appears to be open to anyone to take. But it's kind of common knowledge for anyone whose been through an internal interview for the past decade.