Omar Diouri started his internship helping customers on Bloomberg’s Global Technical Support (GTEC) team in London and became a Bloomberg employee while still completing his final year of university. Read why he wanted to turn his summer experience into a career.
'As a GTEC intern at Bloomberg, I had responsibilities that supported our clients’ technical questions with the Bloomberg Professional® service (the Terminal) and needs via instant messaging, phone and email. I’ve always had a passion for excellent customer service and this internship allowed me to hone in on my communication skills while also learning about the Terminal’s essential role in the financial industry. Plus, I even got to build my leadership skills by ensuring my team members had the latest information on all ongoing technical issues.
This same supportive and helpful customer service I provide to Bloomberg clients is evident throughout the company, be it with other departments or even how interns are treated. I remember on our first day, we were warmly welcomed and when we started to feel tired in between a whole day of seminars and training, everyone were just as kind and excited as they were since the morning. I really enjoyed working with such nice, talented colleagues who made me feel part of a big family every day of my Bloomberg internship. They’ve been so helpful throughout my internship; they almost raced for who could help first!
At a large company with nearly 19,000 employees, I thought I was just going to be another number, another intern at Bloomberg. But, we had a variety of networking events to connect with people within the company, including all interns in London and globally. This inclusive, friendly atmosphere and openness among everyone is a true testament to the transparent and collegial culture of Bloomberg. The biggest surprise was when I won the Peer Internship Award for organizing additional intern socials and networking activities. I’m proud to be part of such an amazing company that really values and recognizes people’s contributions big and small. It’s truly a meritocracy here.
There were times when I struggled during my internship, particularly when I was assigned more projects than I could handle on top of my other daily tasks. One of these projects was the Starboard Upgrade project, when we launched an updated keyboard for the Terminal (check out this video; it’s really more than just a keyboard!). While working on this project, I suggested changing a query in the tool all the stakeholders used to monitor the project to improve the tool’s usability. I was caught off guard by how open the team was to this idea and we actually implemented my suggestion. This experience taught me a lot about myself and gave me the opportunity to hone my teamwork skills and confidence in proposing ideas.
I always made it a personal goal to give my best every single day of the internship no matter how challenging it may be juggling multiple projects. But, the biggest challenge was definitely getting hired for a permanent position at Bloomberg while still completing my final year of university. Nothing is impossible — I made it!'
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