Morgan Stanley

1. Application

Apply through the Morgan Stanley careers site, a campus drive or a referral. Campus applications for analyst programmes usually open between July and October for the following year's intake, and you can apply to a limited number of programmes per cycle.

2. Resume shortlisting

Recruiters and hiring managers screen for academic performance, relevant projects or internships, and alignment with the role. Technology roles look for programming depth and problem-solving evidence; finance and operations roles look for numerical comfort and attention to detail.

3. Online assessment

Technology candidates take a timed coding test, typically on HackerRank, with two or three problems and sometimes a few multiple-choice questions on computer science fundamentals. Non-technology campus candidates get an aptitude test covering numerical reasoning, logical reasoning and reading comprehension.

4. Technical or domain interviews

Shortlisted candidates go through one or two live interviews with engineers or subject-matter experts. These are usually over video and last 45 to 60 minutes each, mixing live problem-solving with discussion of your past projects.

5. Superday

The final stage brings together several interviews on one day, often three or four sessions with managers and senior leaders, including a behavioural interview against the firm's core values. For lateral hires this may be spread over a few days rather than a single day.

6. Offer and onboarding

Successful candidates hear back within one to three weeks. The offer is followed by background verification and, for campus hires, a structured onboarding and training programme at the start of the year.

Morgan Stanley keeps its rounds fairly consistent across its Mumbai and Bengaluru centres, with the content varying by division.

Round 1: Online coding or aptitude test

60 to 90 minutes, taken online. The technology test rewards clean, correct solutions rather than only partial passes, so test your edge cases. The aptitude test for finance and operations roles is moderately difficult and time-pressured.

• Strings, arrays, sorting and searching
• Trees, graphs and dynamic programming at medium difficulty
• Data interpretation and quantitative aptitude
• Reading comprehension and logical puzzles

Round 2: Technical interview

A 45 to 60 minute session with one or two engineers or analysts. You solve problems on a shared editor and explain your approach, and the interviewer probes your understanding of fundamentals.

• Object-oriented design, Java or C++ concepts, memory management
• Data structures and complexity analysis
• SQL, multithreading and operating system basics
• Accounting, valuation and market awareness for finance roles

Round 3: Design or advanced technical round

For experienced candidates and stronger campus performers, a second technical round covers low-level or high-level design and deeper discussion of past work.

• Design a simple order-matching or portfolio-tracking system
• Trade-offs in caching, consistency and failure handling
• How you debugged a serious production issue

Round 4: Behavioural and managerial interview

30 to 45 minutes with a hiring manager or senior leader, focused on the firm's core values: putting clients first, doing the right thing, leading with exceptional ideas, committing to diversity and inclusion, and giving back.

• A time you disagreed with a colleague and how you resolved it
• Why Morgan Stanley over other banks or tech firms
• How you handle competing priorities and tight deadlines

Round 5: HR round

A brief conversation on compensation, location, notice period and joining date, usually held after the panel has decided.