Kaleb Knighten's 2025 Summer in NYC

Blog Post #6: Professionalism  Before and towards the beginning of my internship program, I thought that the full-time employees would be the most hyper-professional people, alongside the firm's culture. However, in reality, that isn’t the case. This program has taught me the importance of awareness, as there's always a time and a place for certain levels of professionalism. The people at the company are extremely personable, but also can be very professional when that time comes, and as an intern, that is something that can be tricky to balance. Being professional enough to show your personal value add, but also being personable enough to avoid a typical surface-level colleague-to-colleague corporate relationship. Overall, I feel that the balance and situational awareness are what make Morgan Stanley’s culture stand out as a whole.

 Blog Post #5: Leadership Leadership is not only very prevalent throughout my experience at Morgan Stanley, but it’s also extremely important. Relative to many other large banks, Morgan Stanley’s leadership stays at the firm for a lot longer than the average tenure. The leaders, managing directors, and executive directors are not only sources of inspiration but also sources of information and help, which came as a surprise to me at first. My initial thought was that the higher-ups would neglect interns as they already are busy with constant meetings and deliverables, but in reality, they are so welcoming of interns and junior employees. Oftentimes, because of how much experience they have under their belt, conversations with the leadership at MS are typically the most insightful, as they always touch on what helps motivate them to continue working hard in the office every day, even after 20+ years .