Morgan Stanley Interview Experience

Just a heads-up — This online assessment and interview were for the Software Developer Internship in summer. I took part in it during my college’s (NIT Trichy) on-campus internship drive. Now let’s get straight to the point :)

I. Online Assessment

The Morgan Stanley online assessment consisted of three sections, each with a fixed but different time limit. You could move to the next section only after completing the previous one.

Section I: Around 8–10 debugging questions (I don’t remember the exact number). Section II: Aptitude questions. Section III: Three DSA problems (covering topics like arrays, two pointers, and graphs).

I completed the debugging section well before the allotted time. The aptitude section was quite dynamic — it wasn’t just the usual multiple-choice format but included more engaging question types. I found it interesting and different from standard aptitude tests. In the final section, I passed all the test cases for each of the three DSA problems.

II. Interview

P.S. The links to the DSA problems have been included, click on the name to view it :)

I received a message late at night informing me that I had been shortlisted for the Personal Interview (PI), scheduled for 8 AM the next morning. I was extremely nervous as I had only a few hours to prepare. I decided to stay calm and focused on revising my CS fundamentals (OOP, OS, DBMS) and reviewing my projects, since I was already confident about my DSA skills.

The interview was conducted offline, in person. There were multiple interview panels. The interviewers collected our résumés and returned them after rearranging the order. I was the first candidate to be called in.

The interview began with a brief self-introduction, followed by questions about the projects listed on my résumé. I had two projects mentioned -

From the first project, I was asked to code a specific part of a function and then write code to create an API from scratch.

From the second project, I had to explain the system architecture and answer questions related to the tech stack I had used.

After this, the interviewer moved on to DSA. The question he asked was Leetcode “Remove K Digits” (LeetCode Medium). I explained three different approaches, and he seemed satisfied with my answer. He also asked a follow-up question, which I was able to answer correctly as well.

Next came CS fundamentals, particularly Operating Systems, where I answered all his questions correctly. I was also asked to write code to create a thread.

We then shifted to OOP concepts. He asked me to explain the four pillars of OOP using any object in the room and then write code demonstrating each concept. This was followed by several coding questions applying OOP to various scenarios. After that, he gave me some SQL queries to write. At last , he ended the interview with one more DSA question on Graphs. It was similar to this question on Leetcode — “Remove maximum number of edges to keep graph fully traversable” (Leetcode Hard).

I left the room mentally exhausted but hopeful about the next round. About 10 minutes later, I was called in for the HR round. This round started with a discussion about my projects, but it was not technical in depth. The interviewer then asked general HR and situational questions, including one of my favorites — “If you had the chance to join both Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs, which one would you choose and why?”. He also asked some puzzles to test critical thinking.

This round lasted about 40–45 minutes.

Afterwards, I anxiously waited for the results. I felt confident that I had performed well but didn’t want to get ahead of myself. I went back to my room, took a short nap, and skipped my lab session since I had another online test (OT) with Capital One later that evening.

While I was giving the first OT for Capital One (they have two, one after the other with a break in between lol) , the results from Morgan Stanley came in. I remember the CIC representative calling me aside with a serious face — I thought something had gone wrong. Then he smiled and said, “Congratulations!”

It was one of the best feelings of my life. I had experienced every emotion imaginable in those two seconds. The relief of not having to give any more OTs is truly a great one ;)

To whoever is reading this, all the best for your future endeavors!