Analyst Review

Unfortunately, they never had enough work for me. Therefore, i spent a lot of my time struggling to do a solid days work and therefore work could be quite boring. I did however enjoy being in the work environment and working in a team, and when there was work to do it was challenging and enjoyable. However, the lack of work did get frustrating.

I didn't feel as valued as I would have liked because I feel I wasn't given enough work and therefore wasn't able to show my collegues what I was capable of. Therefore, the transition into the team was poor and I didn't feel really valued by the team until well into the second half of my placement.

There is a clear structure and support network at Morgan Stanley, as you are given a mentor and assigned to a Manager who are responsible for giving you work and ensuring you are happy. However, I was dissappointed with the level of help I was given when I made it evident that I was unhappy and didn't feel I was being very productive. However, this is very much a criticism of my team and not the organisation as a whole.

I struggled during my placement to have a solid days work where I was constantly busy. However, this is more down to the the team I was in and not a general pattern across the firm as a whole because a lot of other placement students were busy for much of the day and therefore my working week is a fair reflection of the organisation as a whole.

The team was a very complex team with high degrees of information that team members had acquired over a 5-10 year stay with the team. It was therefore very hard to transfer this knowledge to me and therefore it took a long time before i was given any real tasks of responsibility. It was in fact only by about 8 months into the placement that i was given projects which i felt that if they were not completed, then they would have a serious effect on the team.

The skills i learnt on placement were not that useful to me during my final year. I did develop better Microsoft Excel and Powerpoint skills, and I learnt how to use Microsoft Access, but these have been of limited use in my degree. However, I did learn useful knowledge about working in the investment banking world and got a good insight on what it takes to succeed and how the bank is run. This information will be very useful when I look for a job the future, and I can take these skills and experiences and hopefully use them to my advantage, especially if I was going back into the Investment Banking world.

The general atmosphere of the office was good, however it is a very competitive environment and there is a lot of moving about of employees. During my year, my team changed a lot of there were many new starters and many more leavers, some of which lasted shorter periods than during the time I was there.

The overall placement scheme was quite well set up and had good support from HR during the year.

In general I would say Morgan invest highly in there employees, however, in my team I felt they did not invest in me very much at all. I spent much of the year not working to my full time capacity and always felt I could be doing more. However, this is of course a criticism of my team and not a fair picture of the organisation as a whole.

If you are certain of the career path you want to take within Investment Banking then Morgan Stanley is a very competitive firm. They offer a good graduate scheme with a very good package and salary.

There were 27 placement students and there were 2 or 3 social events arranged by HR for us, and we also tried to meet up regularly for drinks. It was very good in this respect for socials.

The cost of living is high in Canary Wharf and the surrounding area, but that is reflected in your salary. Socialising is good with London Bridge only 12 minutes away by Tube, and Canary Wharf also has a good range of bars.

Very good, good bars, a few clubs, but London was only 12 minutes away on the Tube. Especially good during the summer when the sun is out and you can sit by the water.

Yes. They had a large range of clubs, ranging from sports to foreign societies. The firm also provides Christmas and Summer balls which are excellent.