Hi everyone! I am sharing my off-campus interview process experience for Morgan Stanley. The profile I applied for, was the Spring Technology Analyst Intern, which is a 6-months Internship. I applied off-campus through a listing on their Careers Site by filling out a form. I received an email to provide certain details, after that the shortlisted candidates received the test link. Since the process was off-campus, I do not know about the figures related to it but the process was pretty competitive with students all across India appearing for it. The entire process was held virtually and it was conducted very smoothly. Below are the specifics:
Round I (Online Assessment): It was a 90-minute test. There were 3 sections here, each was separately timed:
- Aptitude (10 questions in 20 minutes): This section mainly focused on checking the analytical and reasoning ability with questions similar to deductive and abductive reasoning. This section was more challenging than the other two, as there were a lot of facts that had to be studied before reaching the required conclusion in a very limited time.
Similar example: Five friends A, B, C, D, and E traveled from Tamil Nadu to five different states Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Karnataka, and Punjab by 5 different modes of transport: Cycle, Bus, Train, Truck, and Bike. The one who traveled to Rajasthan did not travel by Bike. C went to Karnataka by Truck and B went to Maharashtra by Train. D traveled by Bike and E traveled by Bus. Tamil Nadu is not connected by Cycle to Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan. (Followed by a relevant question)
- Debugging (7 questions in 20 minutes): Simple problem statements and the codes with logical errors, syntactical errors, or incomplete functions were given. We were free to edit parts of the code in the editor and make it work as per the requirement of the problem statement. Each question had some linked hidden test cases which needed to be passed.
- Programming (3 questions in 50 mins): This was a standard coding section, wherein we had to code each problem statement from scratch. Questions were well-curated with mostly of easy-medium difficulty.
Round II (F2F Virtual Technical Interview): The round began with a general discussion about me and my skills. Then there was an elaborate discussion on OOPs concepts with real-world scenarios. After this, I was asked some standard output based questions from CPP. Besides this, I was asked 3 coding questions, all of which revolved around DSA topics like arrays, linked lists, stacks, queues, strings, graphs, etc. One question was easy, one medium and one medium-hard. I was asked to code two of them on a shared editor but due to limited time, I coded one of it. I was also asked to discuss the DSA-based approach for real-world problems like navigating to-and-fro between tabs on the browser. The round went about for about 60-90 mins.
I think brain-storming through all the questions from this list has really helped me to build good concepts that I could apply:
Round III (F2F Virtual Tech+HR Interview): In this round, my interviewer started off with discussions based on my resume. We talked elaborately about my projects, internships, and extra-curricular. Many situational questions were asked based on these, and we were expected to give answers that would highlight both technical and other professional abilities. Besides, we also discussed some behavioral questions like Why Morgan Stanley, Talk about a time when….., etc. Then, we also had a long and engaging talk about designing a system. I was put forward with multiple requirements and as I solved each, the complexity and constraints were added. We discussed multiple approaches and concepts of topics ranging from the content delivery network, cache, cookies, load balancing, redundancy, browser functioning, operating system, etc. This round went on for about 60-70 mins.
There are some key points that I would like to mention:
- Focus majorly on technical aspects like DSA, OOPs, and OS
- Be thoroughly prepared with your resume and general introductions. Also, at the end of each interview, you have an opportunity to ask questions to the interviewer, use them well
- Communicate a lot with your interviewer, as what matters to them is your thought process and not only the answer
- The interviewers are really experienced and senior people from the firm, they are really patient and helpful. Be honest and you will receive a lot of help while approaching the problems
- Confidence and spontaneity are required, as they look out not only for technically proficient people but also stress a lot on the all-round development
The process was conducted very smoothly and I received a mail after two days that I had been selected for the internship! All the best to everyone appearing for the different companies. Keep trying and failing, success will be yours in the end. If I can, you can! 🙂