Bloomberg Internship: My Work Actually Made a Difference

Originally posted on Bloomberg.com.

From the minute I walked into 731 Lexington, I knew the Bloomberg Financial Product Analytics and Sales summer internship would be unlike any experience I ever had before.

I spent the first three weeks in the classroom with the other Analytics and Sales interns, diving head first into the equity, fixed income, foreign exchange and commodity markets, all while learning how important the Bloomberg Professional® service (the Terminal) is to our clients’ workflow.  For the next seven weeks, I was assigned a sales team to which I would report daily.  I spent my day prospecting for potential clients, making calls, pitching campaigns, booking meetings, doing presentations, shadowing colleagues, and helping clients with inquiries.

Although it may not seem like it, I also had plenty of time to take full advantage of all that Bloomberg has to offer too.  I had two mentors to work with throughout the summer, both of whom made it clear they wanted to help foster my future career and do anything they could to help me grow.  And each week, a different company executive presented on a topic beneficial to our professional development. These presentations helped me realize that what I was doing at this internship was really adding value – to the company, clients and ourselves.

I can confidently say that my work during this internship actually made a difference at Bloomberg.  I increased mobile usage for my sales team, helped with new user meetings at a hedge fund, taught clients how to use the API functionality, and was even able to go to the floor of the New York Stock Exchange and assist traders with their Bloomberg queries – all as an intern.

Instead of getting coffee for my managers, I was meeting with various colleagues from other departments over coffee to learn more about the complex financial business and pick their brains on anything and everything Bloomberg-related.  During the ten weeks as an intern, I was constantly treated as an equal, even to those who were many years my senior. I truly felt like part of the Bloomberg family.

Because of the many challenges I undertook throughout this internship, I was able to grow, learn and feel that my summer was well-spent.  Throughout it all, I learned to take initiative.  I set up group meetings for all the interns so we could share our experiences and help each other to succeed. Surprisingly, there was not even a shred of competition among the interns; it was simply a collaborative discussion. This successful outcome encouraged me to take more risks. It taught me that risk-taking helps you become more valuable to a company – but also staying mindful to take ownership of any mistakes.

As a result of my contributions on projects and additional tasks I undertook, I was fortunate enough to be offered a full-time position following the internship and I accepted it before I even left the building that day.  The main reason I was so confident to commit to my future this quickly was because of Bloomberg’s transparency.

I knew exactly what I would be getting into when I returned to Bloomberg the following August.  I understood the company culture and I was familiar with the workload and tasks I would encounter. I knew that I would be excited to go to work each day because of the new challenges I was sure to face. Since becoming a full-time Bloomberg employee, all of my expectations still hold true!

-Jennifer Millman, Analytics, New York

Apply for our Financial Product Analytics and Sales summer internship in New York or San Francisco. Learn more about our internships.