50 interview questions that Morgan Stanley might ask you

Getting a job in an investment bank is tough – and getting a job at Morgan Stanley is about as tough as it gets.

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When we last had comparable figures, Morgan Stanley had the lowest acceptance rate of its peer group, with only 0.43% of intern applicants being accepted to its EMEA programs. Goldman Sachs and Citi, the only other firms for which we had EMEA figures, accepted 1% and 1.58% of applicants respectively.

Getting a job offer with more than 200 people competing per place is difficult. Very difficult, even. You’ll want to be extensively prepared – including for the critical interview process.

Luckily, if you’ve gotten this far, you’ve done the tough part. If a bank is interviewing you, that means they want you – and that means the ball is in your court. Don’t mess it up – it shouldn’t be too hard, as long as you prepare enough.

The questions below come from a variety of sources, including (but not limited to) Glassdoor, WallStreetOasis, and Reddit. They’re mostly, but not exclusively, questions asked of interns, mostly in America and the UK. And they’re all, as far as we can tell, questions that have been asked in the last six months.

General Morgan Stanley Interview Question

Walk me through your resume.

Why are you interested in Morgan Stanley specifically?

Why are you interested in this role specifically?

Tell me about a time you worked on a team and faced a significant challenge.

Describe a time you had to collaborate with a difficult colleague.

How do you handle feedback and criticism from your supervisor?

Where do you see yourself in five years?

What sets Morgan Stanley apart from its competitors?

What are you hoping for from this role?

Tell me about a time you failed. What did you learn from it?

Why did you apply to work at this specific office?

Describe a time you showed leadership.

How do you handle high-pressure situations?

What are the core values of Morgan Stanley?

Describe yourself in three words.

Tell me about a time that you persuaded someone of your POV?

What would you call your achievement to date? Why?

How do you stay organised when you have competing priorities?

Why/how did you choose your field of study?

Describe your ideal daily schedule.

Sales & Trading Morgan Stanley Interview Questions

What do you know about derivatives?

Where did the S&P and 10Y close yesterday?

Explain the Greeks.

Explain how they [the Greeks] impact option pricing.

How do changes in the interest rate typically impact bond prices?

Who are our primary clients in the S&T space?

If the Fed maintains rates, what is the likely impact on equity prices?

Are convertibles more like bonds or equities, in your opinion?

Talk about a specific trade idea you have right now, including entry and exit points.

How do you explain complex financial products to non-financial clients?

Investment Banking Morgan Stanley Interview Questions

Tell me a recent news story involving a client of ours.

Tell me a recent news story involving a client of ours.

Walk me through the DCF to value a sports team.

What multiples would you use to value a high-growth app, enterprise software, and a semiconductor company?

How are the three main financial statements linked?

How would you assess the creditworthiness of a client?

Explain the concept of an LBO.

What is the difference between enterprise value and equity value?

How does a $10 increase in depreciation affect the three financial statements?

If you have $100m to invest, where would you? Why?

Talk about a recent M&A transaction that interested you.

Technology Morgan Stanley Interview Questions

What major technological trends do you expect to see in the financial sector over the next six months?

Explain the core principles of Object-Oriented Programming (OOP).

How do you reverse a string without using any built-in functions or libraries?

What is the difference between a Singleton pattern and a Factory pattern?

Describe a project where you had to make a difficult technical design choice.

How would you design a system to process a high frequency of trading data in real-time?

Explain the trade-offs between using a SQL database and a NoSQL database.

Describe a (technical) conflict you had with a teammate and the specific steps you took to resolve it.

Explain the difference between git rebase and git remap.

How you handle pressure when coding/designing under time pressure.

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