Morgan Stanley HireVue Interview: Questions, Format, and a Worked Answer

Morgan Stanley uses HireVue for its campus pipelines. Candidates report 4 to 5 questions, 30 seconds to think, and up to 2 minutes to answer. The scored questions cannot be re-recorded.

The firm publishes five core values, and the first one, "do the right thing," shows up in the question bank more than at most banks. Expect at least one question about a judgment call. This page has the reported questions, what each is testing, and a worked answer.

Want a run-through first? HireVue practice gives you the same timed format with your answers scored, free.

The clock and the format are the same HireVue product every employer uses. The timing guide covers what happens when the timer runs out, and how HireVue scoring works covers what the recording is scored on.

Morgan Stanley's stated values are do the right thing, put clients first, lead with exceptional ideas, commit to diversity and inclusion, and give back. The reported questions map to the first three most often.

• Judgment. A call you made under pressure and why you made it.
• Client focus. Putting what the other person needs ahead of what is easy for you.
• Ideas. A time you saw something others had not and acted on it.
• Teamwork. Your part in a group result, stated without inflation.
• Motivation for the firm. A reason that is specific to Morgan Stanley and the division.

Build one story for each line above. Every question below is asking for one of them.

These are the questions candidates report from recent Morgan Stanley screens, with the competency each one is built to test. Your set will be a mix of these and close variants.

1. Tell me about a time you had to choose between doing what was easy and doing what was right. (Judgment, integrity)
2. Why Morgan Stanley? (Motivation, research)
3. Describe a time you came up with an idea that changed how your team worked. (Ideas, initiative)
4. Tell me about a time you had to work with someone whose style was very different from yours. (Teamwork, adaptability)
5. Describe a time you handled a demanding client, customer, or professor. (Client focus)
6. Tell me about a goal you set for yourself and how you reached it. (Drive)

For the shape of each answer type, see HireVue interview questions by format. For the answer structure itself, the STAR method guide has worked examples.

Question: "Tell me about a time you had to choose between doing what was easy and doing what was right."

"In my internship last summer I found an error in a spreadsheet that had already gone to the client. The number was small, about two percent on one line, and nobody would have caught it. The easy thing was to fix it quietly in the next version. I told my manager the same afternoon and offered to draft the note to the client. She sent it. The client thanked us for flagging it, and my manager told me later that the note was the reason she trusted me with the model on the next deal. The right call cost me an uncomfortable hour. It bought me the rest of the summer."

Why it scores: A real trade-off, a specific action, and a consequence that is not just "I felt good." About 55 seconds spoken.

Specific to Morgan Stanley:

• Prepare an integrity story with a real cost. Stories where doing right was free do not answer the question.
• Have an "idea" story. Morgan Stanley asks for a time you saw something new, and most candidates only prepare teamwork stories.
• Say the division name in the "why" answer and tie it to one thing the firm has done that you can describe.

For any HireVue:

1. Day 1. Write one story per competency in the list above. Two or three sentences each: the situation, what you decided, what happened.
2. Day 2. Say each story out loud on a two-minute timer. Most people run long the first time. Cut until each one ends on the result with time to spare.
3. Day 3. Run the reported questions cold, in one sitting, no notes. Then set up the room: quiet, camera at eye level, light on your face, wired internet if you have it.

The full setup checklist and a five-day version of this plan are in the free HireVue practice guide.

After you submit, results often take a week or more. Here is how to follow up after an interview if the window passes, and a salary negotiation email for when the offer comes. Applying for a move up where you already work? See promotion interview questions.

Company guides in this series, each with the reported questions and a worked answer:

• Goldman Sachs HireVue (investment banking)
• JPMorgan Chase HireVue (investment banking)
• Citi HireVue (banking)
• Bank of America HireVue (banking)
• Barclays HireVue (banking)
• Deutsche Bank HireVue (banking)
• Bain & Company HireVue (consulting)
• Boston Consulting Group HireVue (consulting)
• Deloitte HireVue (consulting and professional services)
• EY HireVue (professional services)
• Unilever HireVue (consumer goods)
• PepsiCo HireVue (consumer goods)
• Amazon HireVue (technology and operations)
• IBM HireVue (technology)
• Boeing HireVue (aerospace and engineering)
• Hilton HireVue (hospitality)
• Delta Air Lines HireVue (airlines)
• McDonald's HireVue (restaurants)
• Shell HireVue (energy)
• PwC HireVue (accounting and professional services)
• Accenture HireVue (consulting and technology services)
• Vodafone HireVue (telecommunications)
• Kraft Heinz HireVue (consumer packaged goods)
• Wells Fargo HireVue (banking)
• BlackRock HireVue (asset management)
• UBS HireVue (banking)
• United Airlines HireVue (airlines)
• Emirates HireVue (airlines)
• Marriott HireVue (hospitality)
• Johnson & Johnson HireVue (health care)
• PNC HireVue (banking)
• Kaiser Permanente HireVue (health care)
• KKR HireVue (private equity)
• Keurig Dr Pepper HireVue (consumer goods)
• Target HireVue (retail)
• Walmart HireVue (retail)
• Nike HireVue (sportswear)
• Macy's HireVue (retail)