Hey, well I know this isn’t directly related to “college admissions”, but this forum gets the most hits…
Anyways, this Thursday, May 26th, I’m going for an interview at Morgan Stanley with an Associate Vice President to get a paid internship during the summer. The specifications for this position were very vague. Well this man, the associate VP went to my high school and gave a career presentation. He left his card and told the school that he’s looking for students interested in an internship. I totally jumped on the opportunity! This would be wonderful if I get the internship because I am greatly interested in possibly taking Economics and working for a prestigious insitution like Morgan Stanley in the future.
Well, all he told the school is that he’s looking for people with good computer skills, which I have. I pretty much know everything except for Excel. I see that may be a problem right because Excel is like the main program that is used? Well my dad is a CPA and uses Excel everyday. I will sit down with him and he will show me the basics, hopefully tomorrow or so. I pick up things pretty easily so I’m not too worried about that. It’s just everything’s been so busy lately (this week is my last full week of school, then next week is finals and graduation!). He asked for 2 letters of recommendation and I have those set.
I guess what I’m asking for is any advice… I’ve actually never went to an interview for anything (a real job, scholarship, college… never) so I kind of don’t know what to expect. The secretary told me to dress nicely so I’m going to wear a skirt and nice blouse. Are there any pointers anybody can give me? Has anybody ever gone to an interview for a similar type of internship? I’m a very social person with good people skills (I used to do some sales and was successful in selling $1000’s of cooking machines), but I guess I just have fear of the unknown so you guys that are familiar with interviews please give me some pointers! I would love to get this internship.
<p>Just be yourself and show them that you are capable of making a great addition to their internship program. An interview is a way for them to get a feel for who you are. As long as you walk in there confidently and and show them that you mean business, you have an excellent chance of getting a job. Bottom Line: Sell Yourself and Emphasize Your Strengths!</p>
<p>Don't wear too revealing/sexy clothes is my advice. I made a mistake of wearing a tight sweater for an internship job in accounting and the guy kept asking me if I were going to get married soon(nearly 30 years ago). I was young and naive, so I did not get the job. I guess that is my advice for you is to be a bit more conservative in your dress code. But things have changed now and I doubt if they could ask such thing but they could make a mental note and not hire you.</p>
<p>"The secretary told me to dress nicely so I'm going to wear a skirt and nice blouse."</p>
<p>same advice as SusieQ2007. no skirt. </p>
<p>there's some questions that will usually show up for an interview. for example, what are your strengths and weaknesses? outline those in your head in advance so you know how to answer them. always back them up with a story to tell. don't just say "my strength is being a hard worker"... show how you are a hard worker through a story, perhaps an event that happened in your selling of cookie machines. so i also suggest reflecting back on some of your qualities and also things you've learned through different experiences and activities. since your job requires computer skills, they will probably ask you your level of profiency on same major programs, probably word, excel, access or powerpoint. mention your level of proficiency and perhaps state what kinda projects you've done on it (if necessary). it's okay that you're new to excel, be honest and say you're new and you're still learning and you're willing to learn. they may even train you with that positive attitude. worse situation would be they throw you into a position that's excel-intensive and you have no clue what to do. also, they might ask what your goals are, where do you see yourself in 5 years, or why do you want this position, or what do you know about morgan stanley, and why do you want to work for morgan stanley (as compared to somewhere similar)? these are some questions to ponder just in case, and i suggest you think about them in advance and make sure they're consistent.</p>
<p>No, I did not say no skirt, I said not to wear anything too sexy. That is different.
Also please check out the Excel for Dummy book, get familiar with some terminologies so you can sound like you know Excel.</p>
<p>Wow, that's great! Good luck! It's a really wonderful opportunity!
I always wanted to get an internship with Morgan Stanley since Finance is my major. Unfortunately they never come to my college, and they certainly didn't come to my high school. I applied via the system online, but I don't think anyone even reads those applications, since MS already gets tons of applications from the campuses it visits. :-(</p>
<p>My D just was offered an internship for the summer and school year. She doesn't know Excel(she admitted that but also said she learns fast), so they will be training her for 1 week in that program and other programs prior to starting the job. </p>
<p>FYI she wore a pant suit to the interview, but never put the jacket on (held it). Not really professional, but I think for a HS student it was acceptable.</p>
<p>I think dress code must be changing. Years ago, if you're female you must wear skirt(conservative) one to go for interview with pantyhose and the works. I used to work at Home Savings and the dress code was you couldn't wear a skirt without pantyhose, you couldn't tuck your shirt in your pants, etc..
Things must have changed lately, I also wear pant suit to interview, never wear skirt. But I thought it was my preference not a rule, so may be I'm a little behind in the dress code.</p>
<p>That's funny..I have a Morgan Stanley internship interview on Tuesday. My comp sci teacher told us about it because we are part of a mentoring program with Morgan Stanley. I think the seniors are going to get most of the internships as they've already finished their mentorship and they're applying too.</p>