Warning: This is not a research job, don’t be tempted to apply if you think it is!!!
Pros
Hours are a lot less compared to if you were doing this elsewhere. Good benefits such as health etc..
Cons
Let me start by saying that if you think that this is a research department you will be horribly mistaken. This department reports into news and is nothing more than a glorified department of news. You will be lucky to find any form of analysis that you could use to form an investment decision and if you did use it as investment advice for your clients I would be very worried. This isn’t necessarily because of the analysts it’s more to do with the direction and strategy from management. There are some very bright, intelligent and talented analysts and associates here and there also some very overpayed, lazy and unqualified senior analysts that have more or less won the lotto by getting paid the sums they do for putting out what they call research. These senior analysts and management are one of the reasons for poor morale in the department and why most people are looking to get out. In the majority of cases this is where washed out and incompetent senior analysts come to retire and die. The only worrying thing is why does management continue to spend the sums they do to hire such incompetent analysts that they believe are well known in the market place and will bring a reputable franchise with them when it always continues to prove otherwise. The downside to this for the rest of the employees is that when it comes to the end of the year, associates and company analysts end up with a 0-3% pay increase because management has wasted so much money elsewhere or only look after the select clique. The management structure also means that the people rating you and the people that you report to at the end of the year don’t actually work with you and have no way of properly understanding the work you have done or carried out during the year. This usually results in a farce of an end of year review, as its based purely on hearsay. In fact one of the senior analysts (one of the better senior analysts) recently left because he had no control over some of the other analysts who were below him in the same industry and left due to the poor quality of research. There are three way you will join this department: Senior Analyst: This is where you are expected to have 15+ years of experience covering your specific industry and are expected to be a well know figure in that space. In reality these are people with a very unknown or poor track record and in some cases haven’t even covered that industry before. On the plus side if you can secure a senior analyst role it’s like winning the lottery in terms of the amount of compensation that management will throw your way. Company Analyst: This is where you will have had a couple of years on the street covering your industry and you come in as an experienced hire. In most cases this is where the smart employees are, but unfortunately are constantly shot down by the senior analysts and management. Associate: This is where you will come in as a junior. DO NOT DO THIS!!! It will be damaging to your career. You will know nothing about financial modeling, you will probably work for a senior who has no idea what they are doing and you will never get a job on Wall Street with the Bloomberg Intelligence name on your CV. This will pigeon hole you for life. This could be a great department but given the Senior Analyst clique and managements strategy it just isn’t. It is a giant blackhole on Bloomberg’s finances with no ROI. If management scrutinized what was going on a bit more, there is a good chance the department would be shut down. Senior people in Bloomberg Intelligence are regularly lying and misleading the senior management in the company.