Vault’s Verdict

Morgan Stanley is ideally looking for candidates who are enthusiastic and eager to learn, with strong academic records and excellent communication, analytical, and technical skills. For students, the firm runs a valuable internship program. Interns get the chance to rotate through various groups, a lot of senior banker exposure, and significant hands-on experience. Meanwhile, Morgan Stanley’s full-time professionals have access to extensive growth opportunities, including strong training and mentorship, early responsibility on interesting assignments, and great internal mobility. Insiders say the firm’s culture is focused on junior banker support and development.

While hours can be long and demanding and it can be hard to unplug, work-life balance is taken seriously. The firm has a protected Saturday policy, deadlines are reasonable, and there is flexibility regarding when certain work gets done. On the other hand, insiders aren’t too pleased with the firm’s return-to-office mandate and the reduction of WFH options. Compensation and benefits, though, are very generous. Insiders say salaries and bonuses are above the market average, and benefits and perks are very good.

With respect to Morgan Stanley’s business outlook, the firm is very well positioned compared to its peers, it is poised to succeed in both up and down markets, and it has a strong and engaged leadership team in place.

EMPLOYEE REVIEWS

Hiring Process

• “Process begins with target school teams scanning resumes or sending to broader review team if not from target school. Target school teams maintain short lists of candidates ahead of applications based on student outreach/on-campus interactions during visits. First round is a 20-minute phone interview by AVP/Associate/VP. Then Superday virtual with three 30-minute interviews by ED/MD. Ideal candidate is enthusiastic and eager to learn, demonstrates firm and industry interest, and is involved on campus and a top performing academically.”
• “We are looking for self-starters who are able to think on their feet. The candidates don’t have to answer every question correctly, but they need to demonstrate a thoughtful analytical approach. We are always looking to understand how people think. We want people who are interested in Morgan Stanley and are ready to roll up their sleeves and work hard. We do not look for candidates who have memorized answers or are reading AI from a Zoom screen.”
• “First-round Interview: phone screen, mostly behavioral and resume. Superday: Zoom, longer interview, various technical and behavior questions. Ideal candidate should be very well prepared, a good communicator, and demonstrates ability to think quickly.”
• “It’s a highly competitive process at the junior level. I think we do a good job diversifying backgrounds and schools and getting a good cross section of each class represented. Our retention seems to be pretty high as well. I’d say we’re always seeking someone eager, polished, open to change, with excellent communication and technical skills.”

Interview Questions

• “What is a time you faced an ethical dilemma and how did you solve it? What is the difference between monetary and fiscal policy? What motivates you?”
• “Questions surrounding how to handle mistakes and criticism, how to engage with managers, how to handle a scenario where your assessment and opinion differs from that of your manager, along with significant markets-based questions.”
• “Range of fit and qualitative questions and initial, technical brainteasers and markets-related questions. Additionally, product-related questions for sales and trading desks.”
• “Detailed quantitative questions to test skills. Industry questions to test knowledge and candidate efforts to prepare. Questions on ability to sustain energy and enthusiasm.”

Intern Experience

• “I enjoyed the aspect of getting to rotate across different desk to get a glimpse into how the bank is connected and works. I think this was also beneficial for when I joined full time, because I knew a ton people as a result of the rotation. I do think the two-week rotation, although introduced me to a lot of people, lacked in the actual learning process going into full time. Because we rotated often, deep knowledge was hard to obtain prior to full time. I think this could be adjusted to three- to four-week rotations rather than a quick burst.”
• “Best: Lots of senior exposure through events over the summer and able to have real impact on a team from the start. Worst: work hours were long.”
• “Highlights were the rotational structure, getting to meet with many different people, and the project. I felt like I was working on something very similar to the ‘real’ work of the full-time teams.”
• “Very hands-on experience that gives you a great sense of the analyst role in the division, allowing you to fully assess if you could do it full-time. Teams are very small, which I enjoyed and found to have a lot of benefits. Your experience can be very much defined by your immediate team (same goes for full-time experience).”

Career Development

• “Everyone is challenged to contribute and have direct client engagement from the earliest stages of your career. Mentorship is available both informally and formally and is part of the culture. It is an apprenticeship model that helps junior people grow.”
• “Strong informal mentorship, excellent access to interesting work, and great internal mobility, if desired. You are able to travel to different offices and they will support you in working for an extended period out of a different regional office. They want you to feel satisfied in your role and are willing to discuss mobility opportunities. One the downside, upward mobility is fixed at junior levels and pay and promotions are programmatic regardless of performance.”
• “Good analyst training program and associate rotational program. Affinity group programs provide insight into the promotion process. There is a culture of mentorship and plenty of interesting work to do. International opportunities must be sought out and vary by desk.”
• “The firm does an excellent job having career development opportunities for everyone at the firm through webinars, in-person trainings, online trainings, the career development portal, and our employee networking groups, just to name a few. Like anything, you get what you put into it, so it is up to you to really lean into all of these resources to upscale your career.”

Quality of Life

• “An incredible culture is the firm’s secret sauce and its differentiating strength. The challenge with quality life across the industry is the number of hours—same for any firm if you work in investment banking.”
• “Protected Friday evening through Sunday morning except in exceptional circumstances. Reasonable deadlines with plenty of advanced notice allows for flexibility regarding when certain work gets done, avoiding last minute rush jobs.”
• “The direct management I’ve had at Morgan Stanley has been second-to-none—extremely supportive in my growth, open to new ideas, and leading by example. It gives me so much confidence in my day-to-day role, knowing that there is someone who has my back and will pound the table for me behind closed doors. On the other hand, the continued executive level push for return to office despite record quarterly performances with hybrid schedules feels tone-deaf and illogical.”
• “Generally seems on the better end of most finance jobs, but still very difficult to unplug, especially as you get more responsibility—it is difficult for others to cover your work when you are out.”

Salary and Benefits

• “The compensation package and benefits are excellent. Beyond the health and dental insurance and 401(k) match, Morgan Stanley offers a bevy of additional benefits that are truly best in class, such as support for fertility services, discounts on travel and hotels, and legal service insurance plans.”
• “Salary grows somewhat slowly, and the performance bonus has much more to do with how the firm is doing than with individual performance, which makes sense but still is not ideal. That said, the benefits are some of the best out there.”
• “Salary is great, with very reasonable bonuses (tilted more towards cash than deferred comp than I had originally expected). On-site amenities are very nice (subsidized but not free). Great parental leave and health insurance is generally good.”
• “Morgan Stanley has compensated me fairly for the work I am asked to do. There is a very strong effort to correlate the effort, production and results with the compensation. No firm is perfect one year to the next, but over a long period of time Morgan Stanley gets it right.”

Business Outlook

• “The proof is in the numbers. Our firm continues to invest in our business and deliver exceptional world-class advice to our clients, which has driven our revenue and stock price to record numbers.”
• “I think the firm is positioned well from a competition standpoint, but morale has diminished due to reorganizations, new leadership, and the rise of AI.”
• “Lot of change in management. The investment banking heads are extremely hands-on (in a good way) to help guide business origination and up-level the team. Very welcome change of approach vs. prior IBD management that was more hands-off. Well positioned to win with them at the helm.”
• “Morgan Stanley is well positioned in vs. peers and in stronger markets given its client-first model, leading wealth management platform, and strong franchise in high-quality advisory and capital markets activity. Only risk is threat of AI.”

UPPERS

• “Amazing, collaborative, collegial culture and the people are great, smart, and hardworking”
• “Early responsibility, access to mentorship, deal exposure, culture of support and development throughout the firm.”
• “Prestige, brand name, large institution.”

DOWNERS

• “Very long hours and stressful workload.”
• “Lots of bureaucracy and slow to adopt new tech.”
• “Lack of remote work flexibility.”