The interview process consisted of one phone interview and one in-house interview, which comprised four consecutive interviews.

The phone interview was structured and lasted approximately one hour. It was largely a review of my CV, along with numerous questions about my knowledge. I suspect they ask the same questions to all candidates and skip over any areas where a candidate demonstrates unfamiliarity. The questions ranged from the size of an int to multithreading experience. At one point, the interviewer placed me on hold without notification. After a period, he returned and asked, "What was your question?" This interaction suggested a lack of courtesy.

The in-house interview was peculiar. I arrived early, but the interviewer collected me quite late. He claimed he had come in extra early, believing the interview was scheduled an hour sooner. Despite this, he was late and informed me of this fact. He then left me in a room with a video call set up to speak with the interviewer from the phone call. This interviewer stated that some of my previous answers were unsatisfactory and inquired if I had improved responses. This also felt discourteous. At one point, he asked why I did not program in my spare time. I explained that I used to, but as people age, their responsibilities change. At this remark, he finally dropped his professional demeanor, smiled, and became friendly.

The subsequent rounds were unusual. I met two individuals who presented code on paper for review. They appeared deeply disengaged and clearly did not wish to be conducting the interview. They mentioned they were no longer on the team, having left it.

The third interviewer was arrogant and dismissive. He asked questions and interrupted me before I could finish my responses, exhibiting a clear power dynamic. He posed a whiteboard question but stood behind me, sighing and checking his watch. He then left to attend to his phone and used it. He presented another whiteboard question, again standing behind me and sighing, before cutting the session short. His behavior suggested a continued power trip.

The final interviewer stated he had limited time, but by this point, I had mentally disengaged approximately an hour prior. The interviewers were rude and evidently disliked their jobs. Observing my surroundings, I noticed that workstations were closely packed, and the office appeared dreary and outdated. As I was leaving, I overheard two people complaining in the kitchen area.

Overall, the experience left a very negative impression. I had expected a more professional and polished approach from Morgan Stanley, but this was not the case. I gained the impression that there are individuals within the organization who are not highly productive but possess significant egos, and that there are issues with staff retention within the teams.

Furthermore, there was an internal recruiter whose background as an ex-agency recruiter was evident through their communication style and tactics. This included emails that were either unresponsive or ignored, followed by unsolicited calls demanding immediate availability, which was an absolute nuisance.

Their compensation was also not particularly competitive.

It is a shame, Morgan Stanley. I had anticipated a much higher standard from your organization.

How do you compare two trees?

Merge two arrays of numbers.

Last time I spoke to you, some of your answers were not very good. Do you have better answers for me this time?