Operations Summer Analyst Review

Given the circumstances, I found the programme very enjoyable. Initially adapting to working virtually was a challenge, but the whole Summer was run so well that any initial concerns were quickly ironed out. Having come through 7 weeks of working virtually, I still feel as though I have been given a great insight into Morgan Stanley and its people.

From week one, I was given the opportunity to train and work on real live work which, in hindsight, seemed unfathomable given that I was working virtually away from the office. This truly allowed me to feel like I was adding value to the team as my work had an impact on theirs and vice versa. Furthermore, I also fulfilled project work to help my teams efficiency which I hope in the long run will allow them to work more effectively. This is something I am proud to have undertaken as well as my day-to-day work.

From the offset, HR were hugely supportive of us during the virtual experience. They ensured we were being checked in on and that any queries we had were answered or raised with the correct person which was great. My team were also very helpful for me and gave up a lot of their time to call me or share their screen to show me how to do tasks and discuss any issues I had as well.

The skills I learned over the course of the internship will be hugely beneficial to my degree as my team covered an area of finance (derivatives) that will be covered next semester in one of my University classes. I hope that having this knowledge will also help my outwith my degree as I have developed practical application experience on the topic which will prove more beneficial than theoretical application of the topic.

From Networking to Events to Day-to-Day work, the programme was structured extremely well from day one and we were given plenty of different experiences throughout our 7 weeks. Every event allowed us to gain new perspectives and meet more people from around the company, which for me, was a massive high of my virtual experience as I wondered whether the networking opportunities would be more limited virtually. This proved to be very wrong!

For the duration of the Internship, the Intern class displayed a huge level of camaraderie which really helped us to all adapt to the new way of working which we had and I am really grateful that HR allowed us to have a pre-programme interaction with the Intern peers. Elsewhere, every employee made it really easy for me to reach out to and were willing to give up their time to speak to me for catch ups or 'coffees' which really helped me to settle into Morgan Stanleys culture.

From the pre-programme webinar series to the 7 week Internship, we were given many opportunities to undertake training and development. In the pre-programme we did Excel training, Financial Markets introduction and a personal development programme. Whilst undertaking the Summer programme, we had division specific training for compliance, technical knowledge and general company policies which helped us to experience what the training programme as a full-time analyst could look like. All in all, all of the training and development was hugely beneficial and was continual throughout the programme.

I was fortunate in my team that I got a real experience of what it would be like working on live Client work, however, I was also given a Project too, so had I not had the live Client work, I would have got a real taste of what it was like to work as a full-time employee.

The webinars that were run throughout the programme were hugely beneficial to my understanding of the companies culture as we were able to see different levels of seniority across different divisions. Having spoken with all of these people, it was very clear that the culture of Morgan Stanley was helping people around you to do great things which was particularly inspiring. This further translated into the team I worked in as well. Furthermore, Morgan Stanley ran a charity initiative throughout the programme which helped me to see their culture of 'Giving Back', something I was unsure I would get to experience on the virtual programme.

The broad nature of the divisions we had interaction with on webinars and networking meant that I was able to see which divisions suit my interest, as well as the teams in the division I worked in over the summer. This was hugely beneficial for me and I felt that Morgan Stanley made a real effort to ensure we got this exposure which I was hugely grateful for.

Due to the nature of working from home, expenses were drastically reduced. We were paid a pro-rata salary of a full-time employee for the 7 weeks.

There were many opportunities to meet people from across the firm, from webinars to networking to general social events. These opportunities were ran pretty much daily which was great for interacting and continuing to meet as many people across the firm.

These events were great and provided me with the platform to ask questions, build networks and generally understand employees backgrounds and find common ground!

I felt that the giving back initiatives that Morgan Stanley are involved in were made accessible to Interns, as the Intern class were given a charity initiative to take part in over the 7 weeks. Furthermore, I was able to join the email groups for networking groups and the office specific initiatives which was great for gaining further insight and meeting new people.

I would recommend this experience highly to a friend who has an interest in exploring opportunities within a top Investment Bank and has a genuine desire to work with some of the brightest minds in industry.