Sales and Trading Summer Analyst Review

I really enjoyed the internship as I was challenged again and again and learnt so many new things each day. I also appreciated how much time senior people at the firm took to get to know us and meet with us on Zoom 1-on-1. Overall, I felt valued and welcomed during both rotations. Also, the training sessions we had each week throughout the programme were very interesting and helped me to understand the material better.

I felt valued a lot while being at Morgan Stanley. Not only junior people and HR representatives took time to get to know us but also senior managers across the firm. They listened to my final presentation, gave me advice as well as feedback for my projects and also, asked us to share our thoughts, impressions and ideas with them. So overall, I felt valued in a professional way but also in a personal way as they tried to find out who I am outside work as well.

During the virtual summer programme, we had a great support system which consisted out of circa 4-6 people during each rotation. Some of them helped us during the whole programme and some were only responsible for guiding us through the rotation. However, everyone in the firm I talked to was willing to help me, for example, helped me to understand a theory or formula better or just gave me advice or answered my questions in 1-on-1 calls.

The internship helped me a lot with my degree at university with is Business Management. The concepts covered during the internship did not only go into more depth about what I had previously learnt at university but also gave me insights into more niche practices of finance. Also, the internship helped me to develop several important soft skills, such as clearly communicating an idea in a pitch or working closely in a team. Lastly, it was my first UK internship which will help me a lot in regards to finding jobs in the future.

Morgan Stanley found several ways to engage the Intern class during these special circumstances, for example with trading simulations, presentations, games and training sessions. Compared to an in-person internship, there were a few differences such as having fewer opportunities to shadow an employee at their desk. However, the programme was very well structured and we had many different ways to engage with the people on the desk and also set aside several time slots in which we learnt about finance more theoretically.

The general atmosphere was generally good throughout the programme. Of course, we interns we a bit sad that we could not go to the office but on the other hand, everyone was still excited to be part of the Morgan Stanley community and work with such influential and smart professionals. Since the firm made an effort to involve us in any way possible, we felt valued and are therefore very thankful for the investment the firm made in us.

Morgan Stanley invests a lot in its interns and especially this year they also gave us an allowance for buying the appropriate technology, so that no one is at a disadvantage if they do not have a big enough monitor or a headset for the many Zoom calls. Moreover, they also hired an external training firm which went over all relevant materials with us over the course of 7 weeks to understand the different products and desks.

The virtual experience helped me a lot to find my place within the firm and also showed me that I would like to work at Morgan Stanley. Especially since the programme was a rotational programme, we had the chance to work at different desks and see how different teams work. Overall we had the chance to learn more about both, Equity and Fixed Income products. Lastly, we could also network a lot during the internship which helped a lot to find my place at the firm.

The culture is a very important part of the Morgan Stanley experience and all the interns got to experience this difference even during a virtual internship. Firstly, every employee at the firm is extremely open-minded and willing to both, listen and help whenever they can. It is important to keep in mind that such a collaborative working environment is not to be taken for granted in a fast-pace and high-pressure environment such as Sales and Trading.

Morgan Stanley paid us for the original ten-week internship length even though the programme was only seven weeks long. Additionally, we were sent free gifts and also we had an allowance for new tech equipment. Also, in case a vaccine would have been found or COVID would have not been a concern of safety, Morgan Stanely had promised to fly us into London so we could work in the office if that would be an option again.

There were a lot of opportunities to network with employees. Firstly, people in our support system and from HR helped us to identify people it would be interesting to speak to and also they guided us in regards to whom to reach out to next. However, I was also very proactive to meet people on my own and therefore, I had many meetings with junior and senior professionals across different desks and many people came to listen to me presentations and gave me feedback afterwards.