Skip to main content

Morgan Stanley Technology

Morgan Stanley Technology - Graduate Interview Process

[Edit]

Morgan Stanley hires between about 60 graduates for its IT department each year. The application and interview process for IT is more technical than that of other Morgan Stanley graduate schemes. It consists of:

  • Online application form
  • Telephone interview (technical)
  • Interview day
  • Assessment centre

Online Application Form

[Edit]

The online application form is long and requires a good deal of personal information and responses to various questions.

Once your application has been made, if successful Morgan Stanley will call you within 24 hours to arrange a technical telephone interview.

Telephone Interview

[Edit]

Your telephone interview will be based around a series of technical questions, about the role you applied for and specific technical knowledge. You will be expected to talk in detail about various concepts and the work you will be doing if you are offered the job. Make sure you spend time researching the role your have applied for, and the team you will be working in.

Interview day

[Edit]

If successful you will be asked to attend an assessment day at the Morgan Stanley offices, where you will have chance to meet managers and team leaders. These people will be your eventual departmental colleagues, and are also the people directly responsible for making the decision to hire you, or not.

You will have two interviews during the day:

Competency based interview

[Edit]

During the hour you will be asked why you have chosen to apply to Morgan Stanley and what you like specifically about the firm compared to rival companies. You will need to explain your decision in terms of your experiences and interests and make it clear that you are more than enthusiastic to work for Morgan Stanley, more than any other firm.

Expect further questions about past experiences and be prepared to give examples from school, work or university of times when you have successfully overcome problems and completed team projects.

Technical Interview

[Edit]

The technical interview requires you to demonstrate your knowledge on the job role you have applied for. Your assessors will ask very specific questions covering a range of topics relating to the IT department at Morgan Stanley and your problem solving ability with relation to IT. You may be asked questions relating to Java,Windows, Linux and problem solving questions relating to these programs.

You may be asked a case study question relating to the area you have applied for at the end of your interview. This will be largely analytical and your assessors will be looking to see how you construct and develop your ideas, how quickly you can think on your feet and how well you operate in an unknown situation.

Assessment centre

[Edit]

The assessment centre lasts for two days and consists of:

Day one

  • Introduction/company presentation
  • SHL test
  • Office tour
  • Evening meal

Day two

  • Technical interview
  • Problem solving exercise
  • Group exercise
  • Role play

Day One

SHL test

[Edit]

Your SHL test will be Computer Science based. The test questions will be totally different from any provided in the practice booklet (which you should receive shortly before the assessment centre). You should aim to complete all questions, but do not panic if you don't as you will be short on time.

Office tour

[Edit]

After your test you will be shown around the Morgan Stanley offices by current graduate trainees at the firm.

Evening meal

[Edit]

During the evening meal HR will not be present. You will be taken to the dinner by the graduate trainees who showed you around the company offices. Be sure to ask any questions about the company and the job you may have. This portion of the assessment centre is not assessed.

Day two

Technical interview

[Edit]

This is fairly similar to the first-round technical interview, although there will be more questions and you will be more pressurised.

Problem solving exercise

[Edit]

Candidates will be separated at this point, depending on the particular track you applied to. Distributed Systems and Application Development applicants will face a standard business related scenario, with a challenging question and answer session at the end. Infrastructure applicants will be faced with a technical scenario, rather than a business one.

Group exercise

[Edit]

Your application track group will now be divided into two smaller groups and each group will perform a group discussion. After these discussions there will be another meeting involving both previously separated groups. Pay attention to the information provided to you and make sure you get involved in the discussion, fromthe start.

Role play

[Edit]

Finally you will be asked to present your group's conclusion to the discussion to your interviewer, who will play the role of a Director for the company you have been discussing. There won't be much time for you to prepare for this. Try to relax, although this part of the assessment centre is very demanding. Bear in mind that they want to see how you act under intense pressure, and it is important to remain calm and clear minded, as much as it is important to make intelligent points and arguments.

After the assessment centre Morgan Stanley will call you to let you know their decision within two working weeks.