Applied via LinkedIn - received an email from HR to confirm the time for a phone interview. As I currently work shifts, I asked them to call between shifts. They did not confirm the time, and after they missed the first agreed time, I emailed them asking what happened. They apologized and agreed to call at the same time, the next week. Again, they missed the interview. Apparently she was stuck in meetings. Third week on, they call at the wrong time, so I have to call them back and I finally get through to a different person who qualified me for the job. Phone Interview: Notice period, previous work experience, languages, and asked what my interest in finance was as I majored in Russian and Politics. I talked about QE2 and the long-term inflation danger. They asked me what I knew about Bloomberg's products, and I missed out on the trading platform - claimed ignorance. Overall, I thought it went poorly, but sure enough I was invited for the first round in-house. First Round: Seven of us arrived in the London office. It was a sociable group, and we all introduced ourselves (as opposed to most other group interviews/assessment days I've been to where the people were nervous and cold). We had two "guides" that told us what to expect: presentation on Bloomberg; a brief shadowing of an analytics member; 2:1 interview; tour of the premises. Interviewers were intelligent and experienced, and it was probably the best interview I've had. Whether or not that's because I was successful and wanted the job, or if it truly reflects the nature of the company, I can say they did not pry on dangerous parts of my CV, i.e. why did I leave recruitment, why been out of work, etc. They were keen to understand my character, my ambitions and clearly my knowledge of finance. I can say from experience that it is very difficult to feign interest and enthusiasm, so having read the FT/Economist/Bloomberg.com certainly helped my case. "What do you know about the job" "What did you observe when you shadowed analytics" "How do you open a sales call". These were good, probing questions that get at one's soft skills and business acumen. Fundamentally they wanted to know: Could I understand and become proficient in the discourse of finance, that is, understand its complexity and sell financial innovation; did I have the ability, character, and confidence to sell, to ask questions, to negotiate and work through disappointment; and finally, was Bloomberg a cultural fit, i.e. did my values and beliefs fit with the company.

First round of interview was a brief phone call with an HR representative. Second round was a super day at the headquarters in NYC. The superday consisted of shadowing an analytics person, touring the building, doing a quick group problem, independently doing work on a Bloomberg terminal, and then two interviews with one manager each from Analytics and Sales.