Morgan Stanley

Based in	London
Job title and business area	Investment Banking Associate
Year joined Morgan Stanley	2017
Year attended the International Banking Cycle	2016

 

The International Banking Cycle (IBC) is a perfect way to get to know a bank and gives you the opportunity to demonstrate to a potential employer your interest in Investment Banking and in the chosen company. Apart from Morgan Stanley, I also participated in the IBC of other banks, which gave me great insights and put me in a good position to make an informed decision about which bank I would want to start my career at. The IBC is unique in that sense as it gives you the opportunity to meet the team of the respective bank and interact with them for half a day and afterwards for informal drinks. The experience gives you a good understanding of the company culture and whether you’d be a good fit for the job.

After participating in a few workshops at different banks, it became clear to me that Morgan Stanley was the best fit for me. Morgan Stanley arrived with a full team from London and gave an impressive introduction on what to expect from the job, career opportunities and their conviction towards the core values of Morgan Stanley such as “Putting Clients First”, “Giving Back”, “Doing the Right Thing” and “Leading with Exceptional Ideas”. The Morgan Stanley team came across as very smart, friendly and especially interested in meeting me and other fellow students. Their case study was very engaging, and there were a few staged events that occurred during the practical which made things interesting and changed the outcome we all expected. In addition, the opportunity to form groups and make phone calls with other teams made it particularly exciting as it gave a more realistic experience of the Mergers and Acquisition business.

Fortunately, after a day of case studies and presentations, Morgan Stanley saw my potential and asked me to enrol in their recruitment process. The process consisted of several rounds of interviews (usually short and after the workshop itself) and ended with an assessment centre (half day of interviews and case studies). Together with two other IBC participants, we made it through to the final round and got an offer for a summer internship.

The summer internship is truly a unique experience. You participate in a 10-week program, which consists of lots of training, on the desk experience and social/networking events with fellow interns and Morgan Stanley employees. The summer internship enriched my knowledge, network and interest in Investment Banking. Together with the two other IBC participants from my year, we all converted to a full time offer and are still colleagues to this day.

Finally, my main piece of advice would be to use the IBC to really immerse yourself in the challenges set and showcase your abilities so the recruiters can get to know you, see your talent and, hopefully select you for the next round. Make sure you interact with different employees from the bank and show your passion for the industry by asking questions. Do not worry if you don’t have a background in finance; just make sure you express why you’re interested in the industry and why you’d be a good fit for the role. Morgan Stanley hires people from all backgrounds as long as you have the same enthusiasm for our industry as we have.