Horrible place to be a junior banker
Pros
Standard investment banking training makes you really good at finance and accounting Morgan Stanley's name always got the attention of anyone who looked at my resume Superficial attempts at making the culture better
Cons
Where to begin... Awful culture. Described on Wallstreetoasis as "dog-eat-dog snake pit" - very accurate description from my experience as well. No sense of camaraderie, analysts treated like sweatshop workers (senior bankers recruit by picking those who they think can churn out the most work, no regard for cultural fit) Extremely judgmental and high pressure / stress-inducing culture from senior bankers No one cares about your development or exit opportunities, they just want their work done Split into Corp Finance and M&A group; unfair to Corp Finance analysts who don't get as much technical exposure or any deals on their resumes Don't expect to be able to recruit outside of California Four analysts quit within a 6 month period of working there (out of 10 analysts)