Company interview guide
Morgan Stanley interview process and practice questions
Morgan Stanley's interviews usually mix competency and strengths-based questions with technical questions for the division, and its own interview guidance says interviewers want to see how you work through a scenario, not only whether you get the right answer. Candidates commonly report online assessments (coding tests for technology), a first interview that is often by video, then a final round of several interviews with the team.
As candidates commonly report it; it varies by team, level and year. Last reviewed 18 October 2026.
The interview process
- 1Online application, with online assessments for many roles (coding tests for technology)
- 2First-round interview, often by video (recorded for some roles)
- 3Final round: several interviews with the team, competency-based and technical
What interviewers listen for
- Do the Right Thing
- Put Clients First
- Lead with Exceptional Ideas
- Commit to Diversity & Inclusion
- Give Back
- A clear reason for the industry, the firm and the division
- Working through a problem out loud, even without a perfect answer
- Knowing your CV and telling your story clearly
Behavioral questions
Tell me about a time you made an ethical call that wasn't the easy option.
A good answer covers
- The situation and what made the easy option tempting
- How you decided and who you involved
- The outcome and what you'd do again
Tell me about a time you put a client's or user's interests ahead of your own convenience.
A good answer covers
- Who they were and what they needed
- What it cost you and why you did it anyway
- The difference it made for them
Tell me about an idea of yours that changed how a team or project worked.
A good answer covers
- The problem the idea solved
- How you got others to try it
- What changed, measured if you can
What are you particularly good at, and when did it make the biggest difference?
A good answer covers
- One strength, named plainly
- A specific example where it changed the result
- How it would help in this role
Role and technical questions
Explain what a wealth manager does for a client, and how the firm earns money from it.
A good answer covers
- Understanding the client's goals and risk, then planning and investing for them
- Ongoing advice: rebalancing, tax-aware choices, planning for life events
- How fees work in general terms: a share of assets managed, or charges per service
Walk me through a discounted cash flow valuation in plain words.
A good answer covers
- Forecasting the cash the business will generate
- Discounting it back at a rate that reflects risk, plus a value for the years beyond
- The assumptions that move the answer most, and a sense check against market multiples
If a company issues new shares, what happens to its existing shareholders?
A good answer covers
- Their ownership share falls (dilution)
- Whether value per share falls depends on the price and what the money is used for
- Why companies do it anyway: growth, paying down debt, an acquisition
Pick one area of the markets you follow. What's happening there now, and why?
A good answer covers
- A specific, current topic described accurately
- The main drivers in plain words
- What it means for the firm's clients and what you'd watch next
How would you design a system that records every trade and can rebuild any account's position at a past point in time?
A good answer covers
- Storing trades as an append-only log of events, never overwritten
- Rebuilding positions by replaying events, with snapshots to keep it fast
- Audit needs: correctness, corrections as new events, and access control
A nightly batch job that used to take one hour now takes four. How would you find out why?
A good answer covers
- What changed: data volume, code releases, infrastructure, other jobs running at once
- Timing each step to find the slow one, using logs and metrics
- The fix, and monitoring so you hear about it before users do
Explain the difference between a stack and a queue, and where you'd use each in a real system.
A good answer covers
- Stack: last in, first out; queue: first in, first out
- Examples: undo history or call stacks; processing orders or messages in arrival order
- What happens to performance and fairness if you pick the wrong one
Why Morgan Stanley? Fit and HR questions
Tell me about yourself, without looking at your CV.
A good answer covers
- A clear path through your studies and experience, with the reason for each step
- The one or two things you're best at, with evidence
- Why this division at Morgan Stanley is the next step
Why this industry, why Morgan Stanley, and why this division?
A good answer covers
- A reason for finance or financial technology, shown by something you've done
- Something specific about Morgan Stanley: its businesses, values or people you've met
- What the division does, and why it fits your strengths
What questions would you like to ask us about the programme or the team?
A good answer covers
- Specific questions about the work, training or team
- A question that shows you've researched how the firm is organised
- Nothing as general as 'What does Morgan Stanley do?'
Tips
- Know your CV well enough to talk through every line without reading it.
- Have a reason for the industry, the firm and the division; Morgan Stanley's own interview guidance asks for all three.
- Pick one or two areas of the markets you can discuss with knowledge and conviction, rather than trying to cover everything.
- Learn how the firm is organised and its five core values, and ask specific questions rather than general ones.
- If you don't know an answer, reason through it out loud; the firm's guidance says it's interested in how you work through a scenario.
- For technology roles, practise coding and design questions while explaining your trade-offs as you go.
Practise it out loud
A mock interview asks the way Morgan Stanley's interviewers are known to, follows up on your answers and gives you a report. The warm-up is free, needs no account and checks five of these questions as you answer.
About this guide
Written by Orbit from Morgan Stanley's own public pages and what candidates commonly report. Orbit isn't affiliated with Morgan Stanley. The questions are practice questions in the style of its interviews, not questions taken from them. Processes change, so check the job post and what your recruiter tells you.