Morgan Stanley FAA Program (NYC)

I recently applied for the FAA program at Morgan Stanley in one of their NYC offices. The process is as such. First apply, take general reasoning test, do the 'day in the life at MS' virtual exercise, 15 phone screening, conduct Hirevue digital interview, and then complete the business plan template for how you will acquire clients. That's where I am now, and I'm expecting a phone call for next steps in the process (probably in-person interview).

Has anyone gone through this process before and know what to expect? How selective are they? How important is the business plan? has anyone done the FAA program? Something a little more insightful than "It's really tough, hopefully you have a reach uncle." would be helpful to me and would appreciate any feedback. I'm graduating in May from a non target school in NJ and had internships with Merrill Lynch and Oppenheimer in WM, and did an 8th month program with Goldman Sachs.

I have no doubt WM is what I want to do, but I'm interested to know what other people know or think about Morgan Stanley's FAA program. Thanks

3 Comments
 

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Best Response

The business plan part is mainly used to see if you have any clue on how to build a client base. They are looking for you to have a target market and then actionable ideas on how you will go about connecting with these prospective clients.

The in person interview will simply screen out potential applicants that don't have an aptitude for sales. Without this you won't last long in wealth management.

Difficulty and selectivness can vary from office to office. In big offices in major metro areas (New York, Los Angeles, etc.), they will extremely selective because they have a huge applicant pool. That said you can differentiate yourself during this process by having a well crafted, specific business plan that outlines your niche market with a well throughout plan on how you will market yourself.

Hope this helps, good luck!

 

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