Supporting new hires and fostering community in an uncertain time

At Bloomberg, our culture is key to who we are, and makes the company a great place to work. Even when we’re working from home, as most of us are right now, our commitment to collaboration and innovation depends on the strength and tenacity of our people.

This is especially true for our new employees who started at Bloomberg during or just before stay at home orders became the norm. Here, a few of our newer employees share their experiences and how they’re settling into their roles.

Yumi Kim, Data Analytics, Hong Kong

I joined Bloomberg in February 2020 as a Data Analyst with the Commodities & Energy team managing energy data, which includes renewables, power & gas, and battery, for Korea. Although I’m based in Hong Kong, the office there was closed at the time, so I decided to start in the Seoul office instead, where I met colleagues on my team who helped me onboard.

After that first week, the Seoul office also closed down, and I had to work from home in Korea for another two months. I’ve since relocated back to Hong Kong.

What stood out right away was the firm’s well-structured plans for any unforeseen change, like remote work on a large scale. Even though I’m working from home, I connect with my teammates easily through the Instant Bloomberg messaging and video meetings. My team, along with HR and the regional management teams, developed robust onboarding for new hires with virtual lunches, happy hour drinks, workouts, and mindfulness sessions to keep employees engaged. My initial apprehension about working remotely turned out not to be a concern at all. 

During my first three months at Bloomberg, I had regular weekly 1-1 training with my teammates to help sharpen my technical skills and subject matter expertise, and I still participate in training sessions to learn more advanced tasks. It’s been great to have these connections so that I can stay up to date and continue learning during this time.

Learn more about how our Financial Products roles support our customers here.

Learn more about how Global Data fuels our products here.

Jose Raudales, Customer Support, New York

I joined Bloomberg’s Customer Support (BCS) team in January and spent two months in the office before we started working from home in March. The BCS team is the front line when it comes to helping our clients with technical and operational inquiries all around the world in over 18 languages. My role involves interacting with clients and answering their Terminal-related questions in real time, now from home.

Bloomberg Customer Support was having an extremely high number of calls by the time my new hire class went “live,” as we helped customers globally adapt to their new working environments.  Our training was excellent and our more experienced colleagues were always available to assist with any questions, which made the on-boarding process much easier.

While almost all our clients were getting ready to work from home, we were doing the same while assisting them with their transition. Doing this would have been really challenging if it wasn’t for the support my team received from our management during the initial transition. Although our experienced colleagues were extremely busy, they always found time to answer our questions. Any expenses we may have incurred during this process — if we needed flat panels or a laptop, for example — were covered by a company-wide stipend provided to every employee. 

My role allows me to be in constant communication with many of our users who, just like us at Bloomberg, are working from home. There is a sense of camaraderie among parents, especially when you can hear the other’s kids in the background. Never a dull moment!

Learn more about how our customer support teams provide best in the business technical and operational support here. 

Lawrence Khor, Content Acquisition and Business Management, Singapore

I am a Market Specialist within the Content & Entities Business Management (CEBM) team and have been with Bloomberg since March 2020. Our team is part of the larger Global Data department at Bloomberg, which ensures that data is seamlessly ingested and available through our products for customers to use. 

I came in to the Singapore office during my first week of work before leaving for the birth of my second child, and have been working from home ever since. 

My work routine has definitely changed since starting to work from home full time after only one week spent in the office. My day-to-day now involves juggling work and video calls while caring for a toddler and a newborn all at the same time. There’s no typical day of work for me, as my role involves solving a wide range of client needs, but having to multitask a new job with parenthood really does spice up my work/life. No two days are truly alike now.

I’ve been supported and reassured by the Bloomberg community during this difficult time as a new hire. Regular check-ins with my colleagues and manager really helped me with my new role. Additionally, Bloomberg allocates significant resources to support our health, wealth and overall wellbeing. That includes connection to a wide range of healthcare providers, access to mental health professionals and perks like fitness and wellbeing discounts and reimbursements.

Learn more about how Global Data fuels our products here.

Tevin Kittoe, Analytics, London

I started in March in the Analytics team. While I’ve visited the office for my interviews, I actually haven’t worked from the office yet. The key to success in working from home for me has been sticking to a routine. I’ve taken up running since the lockdown and run 3 times a week now in the morning before work which helps me start the day. I’ve also found that video conferencing is helpful in keeping in contact with some of the other new hires throughout the workday. 

Getting involved with different Diversity & Inclusion (D&I) communities has also been helpful as a way to connect with the company culture and stay engaged. I was aware of the company’s approach to D&I when I was applying and interviewing for my position, so I made an effort right away to join the Black Professional Community, meet new colleagues through the group, and attend different conversations and fireside chats they sponsored. We talk about everything from representation on TV programs to current affairs, politics, and racial inequality during COVID-19. I like that Bloomberg is a company that doesn’t shy away from sometimes difficult or uncomfortable conversations.

While it’s obviously not the same as being in the office and meeting face to face, it’s still important to me to be involved however I can. 

Learn more about how our Financial Products roles support our customers here.

Veronica Morales, Engineering, New York

I am a Senior Software Engineer on the BVault Surveillance Apps and Reporting team. Engineering at Bloomberg is a 6,500+ person department dedicated to building and innovating solutions for our suite of products. On my team, we are making many performance improvements to the backend systems of Surveillance application, currently focusing on a new version of the application. When I joined Bloomberg, I had about two months in the office before we transitioned to working from home.

I’ve received a lot of support from my manager, as well as senior management. Weekly emails from the Head of HR and various communities have been especially supportive during these stressful times. Merely receiving such communications was reassuring to me. It wasn’t so much the context; it was the tone, which was understanding and sympathetic. I was very concerned initially with what expectations would be, particularly since I was so new to the company.  These communications were definitely calming. Our senior leadership emphasized that we were all in this together and that we would be taken care of as employees.

Learn more about how our Engineers develop our products here.

Madina Radjabova, Engineering, New York

I am a Software Engineer on the Consumer Web Core team, which is the group responsible for maintaining and adding new features to Bloomberg.com. I have been at Bloomberg since mid-February, and experienced several weeks in the office as a trainee prior to working from home.

My onboarding process was virtually seamless. As new hires, all of us already had laptops, so transitioning to training from home and then to working on the team was straightforward. After my training, I was assigned a mentor who has been very helpful with team-specific onboarding. 

One main change has been the commute. I used to spend 30-40 minutes on the subway meditating, reading a book, or catching up on the news. Even working from home, I try to begin my day the same way—prior to logging on, I spend some time reading to maintain the routine. One of my teammates joked that he also tried to recreate his morning routine by walking around the block before logging in to start work.

My team has played a central role in making me feel supported. My manager and teammates have given me many virtual walkthroughs of various products our team owns and have communicated clearly as to what they expect of me. 

Learn more about how our Engineers develop our products here.

We’re hiring! Browse open job opportunities