How to Answer: Talk about a time when you succeeded despite being under intense pressure.
Advice and answer examples written specifically for a Morgan Stanley job interview.
3. Talk about a time when you succeeded despite being under intense pressure.
The Goal
The hiring managers at Morgan Stanley want assurance that you can handle working under pressure. The goal of your response is to provide evidence that you have the mindset and tenacity to behave professionally and appropriately while working under intense pressure.
Written by Rachelle Enns on May 18th, 2022
Pro Tip
This question presents the opportunity for you to be a storyteller. Using the STAR method, form an engaging story-based response that showcases your proudest accomplishment. STAR is an acronym for Situation, Task, Action, Result.
Use a solid and compelling example of your poise under pressure. Be as specific as you can while remaining concise and on topic. Your answer should include a story of a time when you were under pressure related to the pressures you may face in this new position with Morgan Stanley. Your response should come from a recent work-related scenario.
Written by Rachelle Enns on May 18th, 2022
How to Answer
Talk about a specific time when you were under a lot of pressure at work, yet you succeeded. Outline the situation, explain why you felt under pressure, and describe your actions. Spotlight that you made well-calculated decisions even though you faced strain, pressure, or conflict. If your actions made a measurable impact, discuss the results you generated.
Written by Rachelle Enns on May 18th, 2022
What You Need to Know
The average HireVue interview takes approximately 30 minutes to complete. This one-way video interview typically includes 3-5 questions. Depending on the HireVue parameters set by Morgan Stanley, the asynchronous interview platform will generally give you 30 seconds to prepare a response and up to 2 minutes to answer each question. It's important to note that HireVue stops recording as soon as your time limit is up, so it's better to run under time than overtime.
Written by Rachelle Enns on May 18th, 2022
Answer Example
"Throughout my career in the financial services sector, I have gained the skills that help me constructively deal with stress. (Situation) Last year, one of our investment managers retired and she passed me one of her most important legacy accounts. I was thrilled to have the opportunity; however, this account was notorious for being high-pressure. (Task) I knew that onboarding this client would be challenging. It would take a great deal of diligence, research, and time on my end. I felt overwhelmed, but I knew that serving this account to the best of my ability would speak volumes about my firm and be a valuable addition to my portfolio. (Action) During this time, I sought out a mentor with more experience than me in the financial sector. This individual taught me incredibly beneficial approaches and tools for managing my time, controlling stress, and regulating my mindset under pressure. (Result) As a result, I successfully onboarded this new account and even received accolades from the client, which reached my leadership team. Now, when I feel immense pressure on the job and in my personal life, I lean on these mechanisms and techniques to get me to the finish line with focus and poise."
Written by Rachelle Enns on May 18th, 2022
Anonymous Interview Answers with Professional Feedback
Anonymous Answer
After a few false starts and heated discussions with the management team, I was able to convince them to shift the strategy away from a costly direct-to-consumer model to a platform-based approach via partnerships with key stakeholders: 1/government-piloted tax collection, pension payment to retirees, and cash assistance programs during the pandemic. 2/ regional mobile operator that only operates in Portuguese-speaking countries. 3/ second-tier banks who did not have a strong digital platform 4/ universities, consumer staples, and gasoline distribution networks. As a result, we raised $5 m in a series A and grew our user base from 100K to 1.1 m in 12 months."
Marcie's Feedback
Anonymous Answer
I was assigned to build a $3m LP fund model from scratch within two days with a bunch of preliminary assumptions, so the team can further position its fund strategy at the next meeting. It was the 1st time I built an LP fund model from scratch at that time.
To build the model efficiently under pressing time constraints, I reached out to an associate on my team who is more exp in the model building than me, I learned the structure of the model quickly and ask for tips.
I finished building model from scratch quickly and take questions to associate for advice. I took his advice and revised it. After doing this a couple of time, my model was refined and acknowloged by my boss. As result, I successfully presented model at the meeting and the team was able to refine the fund strategy further."
Marcie's Feedback