Insight Week Review

The Bloomberg insight week has been incredibly interesting. Despite it was only one week long, it has been filled with content and information, so that we had a 360 degree exposure to the company and its industry. [This section of the comment has been removed by a member of the RateMyPlacement Team because it did not meet our site terms and conditions] the coordinator and the Team Leaders were extremely engaging and approachable. They answered to any questions we had and they were always at our disposal to solve any problem with the terminal. The panelists organized extremely interesting sessions, while the activities were super fun.

I felt extremely valued even before starting the week. Since the call to communicate that I had been selected, [This section of the comment has been removed by a member of the RateMyPlacement Team because it did not meet our site terms and conditions] had always been cordial and friendly. The week has been hosted online because of the travel restrictions resulted from Covid with almost 50 insiders to coordinate despite connectivity issues and different time zones. Still, the team was able to give importance to everyone, answering to all our questions and organizing funny activities to team-bond and network.

As already mentioned, throughout the entire week the whole team was at our complete disposal for any doubt, question or curiosity. For example, during the whole week we had a project to complete, using material from the terminal. Despite the significant introduction to its functionalities that we received from them, the terminal is immense, hence we would have not been able to use it at its full potential if they didn't have guided us and if they didn't help us choosing the right functions for the results we wanted to accomplish.

Bloomberg is pivotal in both in the financial sector and in the data and technology one. I believe that this exposure to the company is going to be extremely relevant both from an academic and a professional point of view. During the week we had access to the terminal, hence we had the access to an infinite amount of financial and economic data; surely, the information and the knowledge that you receive at Bloomberg is expendable everywhere in the above-mentioned sectors.

Despite being virtual, the insight week had been thouroughly planned and the team leaders costantly checked that all the insighters were on the right track at the right moment. The fact that we acquired so much knowledge in just one week is a clear example of the attentive work of the coordinator and the team leaders. Despite the schedules were quite tight, they always let us have a 5 minutes break if they saw us a little bit exhausted.

The culture in Bloomberg is pretty unique, you can easily ask questions to almost everyone in the company, regardless of their position. Their approach was reflected also in the way they treated us during the week, exposing us to many employees and allowing us to interact with them freely.

The insight week per se was an introduction to the company and, in a sense, a sort of training. They also presented us some of the teachers that train the employees that presented us their methods and the programs they offered. After this week I firmly believe that Bloomberg invests a significant amount of resources in helping its employees developing the skills required for the job and even the skills that are not strictly related to their position, but that they are interested in acquiring.

During the week we met several employees with 5+ years in the company that extensively explained how do they operate on a daily basis, what are their tasks and what they like about the company. Their sessions were extremely valuable to form an opinion concerning what a full time position in the company looks like.

Beside receiving a general oversight of some of the main departments in Bloomberg, this insight week was also usfeul to understand the culture of the company. In Bloomberg, the hierarchy is quite flat, but most importantly, the whole system is extremely transparent, meaning that in any moment you can contact any employee, regardless of their position or department. In addition, Bloomberg believes in giving back to the community: during the week we were exposed to Bloomberg Philantrophies and we were presented the various philantrophic programmes available for the employees.

While I entered the insight week with some doubts about the position I would eventually like to cover, I am now much more convinced about what I want to do. As already mentioned, the week gave us much exposure to the company's business and the way they operate, but this can be seen also in a broader way. It was my first effective contact with the professional world and they found the way to make it extremely gentle.

The fact is that the insight week was online. Had it been on person, as originally planned, they already committed to pay my plane tickets and the stay.

The entire week was developed in such a way that we could meet as many employees as possible with the most diverse backgrounds and roles.

We had several opportunities to network with the other insighters (e.g. team-bonding activities and IB chat) as well as many sessions to interact with successful interns or this year candidates. The activities were organized so that we could maximise our exposure to other individuals and meet several people at the same time. The shyness went away pretty fast thanks to this approach, as we could break the ice with some people that took our same path just a few years before.

They walked us through a broad range of societies and sport teams in Bloomberg so that people could integrate their work experience with some of their favourite hobbies. However, what I was really excited about were the philantropy opportunities to which they devoted an entire presentation. Bloomberg is renowned worldwide for its commitment to the local societies in which it operates. I find extremely engaging the fact that the company involves its employees in these activities.

Absolutely. For an economics student, the financial service sector is extremely appealing, but the risk of ending up in companies with toxic environments and unhealthy competition is fairly high. What I love about Bloomberg is that it blends the culture of a big-tech company with the knowledge in the financial sector of an investment bank with additional traits that are unique to Bloomberg such as its commitment to transparency, diversity and inclusion. When they say that they work on purpose and that they want you to find yours, they really mean it.