Interview Questions - North America

A successful interview requires solid preparation. Your answers should be clear, concise and show your genuine interest in the Firm. Interview questions are not always difficult; in fact, some can be quite simple.

Below are some examples of General Interview Questions, as well as specific questions for Investment Banking, Financial Control Group, Private Wealth Management, Sales and Trading, and Technology. You should also be prepared to answer specific queries about your background, your qualifications, previous internships or positions you've held, your school experiences and the accomplishments included on your resume.

You should come with questions for us as well! The interview is an opportunity for you to ask about your role and responsibilities, the strategy of a specific group or Morgan Stanley in general.

Your school's career services office, library or resource center can help you find other sources and questions as you prepare for interviews.

General Interview Questions

• Tell me about yourself.
  
• What are your strengths and weaknesses?
  
• How would your friends describe you?
  
• Are you entrepreneurial?
  
• What are the most important things to you in a job?
  
• Give me an example of a situation where you demonstrated leadership.
  
• Give an example of how you worked on a team.
  
• How creative are you? Give an example.
  
• Why are you interested in the industry?
  
• Why did you choose to interview with us?
  
• Who have you met from our Firm? What did you learn from him/her?
  
• Describe the ideal position for you within our Firm.
  
• What qualities do you think make someone successful in business?
  
• Why do you think you are qualified for this position?
  
• Why did you select your college or business school?
  
• What courses have you liked most? Least? Why?
  
• What are you learning that will help you in your work with us?
  
• What do you do in your spare time?
  
• What would you like me to know most that is not in your resume?

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Investment Banking Interview Questions
Within the investment banking industry, questions can be more specific. You should be prepared to describe your understanding of the Firm, the financial markets and how you think you could contribute to the business.

• Why investment banking versus sales and trading? What is the difference?
  
• Give an example of your quantitative skills.
  
• In what area of investment banking do you want to work?
  
• Tell me about the time you worked the hardest in your life.
  
• Tell me about a time you had to develop relationships with others.
  
• Do you follow the market? For how long? Do you invest?
  
• Describe a situation in which it was difficult to obtain information you needed, and how you managed to be successful.
  
• Do you follow any stocks? Which ones and why?
  
• What was Morgan Stanley's stock price yesterday?
  
• Describe an instance in which you've had a significant impact on a situation, either inside or outside your job.

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Financial Control Group

• Can you distinguish between a front office function vs.. back office?
  
• Do you have an understanding of the roles and function within Controllers?
  
• Describe a situation in which you were responsible for changing a process. What was your approach? What was the End Result?
  
• Do you have experience working on team projects? What role did you play on that team?
  

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Private Wealth Management
Suggested questions on Selling Ability:

• Give me an example of a situation when you successfully persuaded others to think or do what you wanted. Did you make money on this endeavor?
  
• Was there ever a time in your previous job(s) where your level of commitment sustained you in the face of numerous obstacles? Please explain.
  
• Have you ever been in a situation where others around you gave up but you persisted?
  
• How would you go about building your business here in PWM? Please provide me with a brief summary of your business plan.
  

Suggested questions on Interpersonal/Communication Skills:

• Give me an example of a situation where you had to adapt your style to accommodate others in the group.
  
• Describe a time when someone found it easier to approach you than others.
  
• Would you describe yourself as someone others would want to include on their team? Please explain.
  

Suggested questions on Market Knowledge:

• Where is the S&P? Where is MS stock? Help me understand the latest Fed decision.
  
• Give me a stock pitch. How did you value this company? What are its’ comparables? Who covers the stock? Is your view a consensus view or an out of consensus view?
  
• If I gave you a $1M today, how would you invest that money?
  
• Do you personally invest? If so, where?
  

Suggested questions on Entrepreneurial Inclination/Initiative:

• Give me an example of a situation when you did more than was expected and before you were asked.
  
• Have you ever started something from scratch, whether it was a small company, a club at school, etc?
  
• Describe a time when resources to complete a job were not available and you had to be resourceful to get it done.
  
• Would you describe yourself as someone who can think outside the box?
  
• Describe a time when you might have given up some security in order to take a risk?
  

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Sales & Trading Interview Questions
Sales & Trading positions require you to think quickly and have a keen interest in the markets, a tolerance for risk and selling skills.

• Why Sales and Trading versus Investment Banking?
  
• Are you interested in Sales or Trading? Why?
  
• What does a Trader do? What does a Salesperson do?
  
• Do you want to sell or trade equity or debt instruments? Why?
  
• How do you measure success in your life?
  
• What makes you think you can sell?
  
• What about your personality will make you a good Trader?
  
• If interest rates rise, what happens to bond prices, and why?
  

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Technology

• Do you like working with computers, have worked at your school's computer lab, or have tinkered with your own computer at home?
  
• Are you passionate about programming?
  
• Are you interested in writing generic libraries in Java/C++/C# that are used across the enterprise?
  
• Are you interested in writing applications that focus on particular business needs?
  
• Are you interested in implementing highly optimized systems that focus on maximum throughput/performance?
  
• Do you enjoy creating complex algorithms that can be used to analyze vast quantities of diverse data?
  
• Are you interested in designing and managing large-scale distributed databases that grow by terabytes every year?
  
• Are you interested in writing code for an equities trading system in C++ that can potentially increase $2B in revenue?
  
• Are you interested in managing a global unix plant and its security implications?
  
• Are you interested in working with GUIs and web technologies?