Top 12 Bloomberg Data Analyst Interview Questions + Guide in 2024

Founded by Michael Bloomberg more than three decades ago, Bloomberg L.P. is a data analytics leader, providing financial and business data and news to companies worldwide. The company provides financial software tools like analytics and equity trading platforms to its clients through the Bloomberg Terminal, which is the biggest source of revenue for the company.

Bloomberg Data Analysts are responsible for aggregating and analyzing financial and market data, performing analytics projects for clients, and maintaining data integrity for the company. They require a unique mix of analytics and finance skills, as well as strong communication skills for client-facing projects.

This guide provides an overview of potential Data Analyst interview questions you might encounter in Bloomberg, spanning various topics, along with some tips to help you excel.

Data analysts at Bloomberg perform various analysis- and data-related tasks for the company. Candidates for Bloomberg analyst roles are expected to have various hard and soft skills, including the ability to extract, transform, and load data and maintaining the flow of data on various Bloomberg platforms. In addition, Bloomberg analysts assist clients with data-related queries and develop data solutions that will help increase sales and revenue for the company.

Key job responsibilities for Bloomberg analysts include:

• Assist clients in a timely and effective manner by providing sustainable solutions to their queries.
• Data validation and system management for clients
• Design and manage workflow configurations for critical functions such as acquisition, work list management, and quality control
  
• Improve data quality and concentrate on how data can be better presented to clients so that they understand various aspects of what they need to improve

Required Skills for Bloomberg Data Analysts

Bloomberg’s Data Analysts are expected to apply problem-solving skills to identify innovative workflow efficiencies, implement technical solutions to enhance our systems, products, and processes, establish links with key players in the financial market by providing exceptional client support, and manage the financial data that feeds the Bloomberg Terminal.

The required qualifications for Bloomberg data analyst roles include:

• A Bachelor’s degree in computer science, mathematics, or a STEM field
• Expertise in technical data science tools like SQL, R, Python, and Tableau
• Excellent written and oral communication skills
• Basic knowledge of data systems, data management, and visualization and reporting tools like Excel

The data team of Bloomberg LP is the epicenter of the organization, and Bloomberg analysts work across industries and functions that help other departments perform better.

There are many roles in the data team at Bloomberg, each with its own specific function. Although the task may vary depending on which part of the data team you are on, the primary data functions at Bloomberg include:

Data Analysis

• Develop processes to improve any data-related issues like unstructured data and invalid data
• Improve data quality and strategize on how the quality can be maintained
• Engage with internal partners to understand business needs and define requirements, performing data profiling and data analysis to drive decision making
• Partner with Engineering counterparts, providing clear prioritization, defining metrics, and collaborating on technical solutions

Business Analysis

• Create processes and standards that make sure the delivery of data and the level of customer service exceed expectations
• Work with other data and core business groups, such as Product, Sales, News, and Engineering, to help develop and enhance product databases and functionality across the terminal
• Apply your passion for deep learning of industry to our team’s overall vision and leverage that knowledge to drive decisions about interoperability of data relevant to that industry
• Manage and mentor the team on large and complex data projects and business initiatives related to the industries they cover

Data Operations

• Develop and evolve a Quality Strategy, and plan for Implementation for Company Financials Data with our Data Governance Team
• Partner with Data, Engineering, and our Data Governance team to ensure consistent principles are leveraged, tools are fit for purpose, and results will be measurable
• Manage efficient prioritization of Engineering and Data efforts within our Project Management framework
• Work with Data and Business to define targets and develop processes to measure the impact on the quality and success of efforts
• Ensure sustainability of systems and efficient regular reporting of all relevant Quality dimensions for all our data stakeholders

Data Technology

• Identify accurate and reliable news sources
• Identify opportunities to build efficiency in our processes and complete your ideas.
• Collaborate with our partners in Product Strategy, Sales, Analytics, and Engineering to understand our client’s needs and build an outstanding news product. In addition, you will also partner with Sales and Analytics to promote new products and ensure strong customer uptake.
• Support news annotation tasks to develop pioneering processes focused on natural language processing, data science, machine learning, and text analysis as we build the next generation of Bloomberg’s proprietary news classification products.

Data analyst interviews at Bloomberg typically consist of 3 to 5 interviews, including recruiter and technical screens and a 4-round on-site interview. The most common questions in Bloomberg interviews are SQL, analytics, and product metrics.

Generally, Bloomberg runs at least two rounds of interviews with candidates. This will consist of a technical round with 1 or 2 Bloomberg analysts and/or a manager. In this technical screen, you will be asked to write code to solve a problem and be provided a chance to learn more about the role and team. The interview process typically includes three rounds:

1. Recruiter Screening Round
2. Video Conference Round
3. Onsite Round

Recruiter Round

The initial step is the recruiter screen. This is a 45-minute interview with the hiring manager. The screen is used to assess your skills and ensure they’re a good match for the role. The primary focus will be a cultural fit and behavioral questions. These will be based on your previous work experience, analytics projects, and resume.

Be prepared to provide in-depth, story-based answers to these questions and communicate your motivation to apply and work with Bloomberg. A common behavioral question in this round is: “Why Bloomberg?”

Video Conference Round

After passing the recruiter screen, you will proceed to the technical video conference round.

In this round, you will meet with a Bloomberg analyst or analytics manager for a one-hour interview. The questions in this round are technical in nature, and cover subjects like SQL, statistics/probability, Python, and/or product metrics.

Generally, these data analyst interview questions require writing code in a shared code editor.

Onsite Round

The final round is onsite; generally, this round includes four-hour interviews. The first three cover topics like SQL, analytics, and product metrics. Plus, the onsite process includes an in-depth behavioral interview.

The coding interview will last for about 90 minutes and is conducted by a senior data analyst. During the interview, you can indicate your preference for paper, whiteboard, or laptop and answer questions in whatever language you’re most comfortable with. The behavioral interview is one-hour long and is conducted by senior managers from Bloomberg.

This interview mainly aims to test a candidate’s motivation for the role, leadership skills, and how good a fit they will be in the company. Questions are usually scenario-based, e.g., “What would you do if you suspected a dataset was missing data?

Bloomberg SQL Questions

SQL questions are the most common in Bloomberg interviews. These questions ask you to write SQL code and include GROUP BY, JOIN, and COUNT functions, as well as sub-queries and window functions.

1. Write a query to calculate the average number of conversations per user in 2020.

2. Write a query to get the max quantity purchased for each distinct product_id every year.

3. Write a query that returns, for each SSID, the largest number of packages sent by a single device in the first 10 minutes of January 1st, 2022.

4. Write a query to get the total three-day rolling average for deposits by day.

Bloomberg Analytics Questions

Analytics questions tend to combine two skills, pulling metrics and SQL code writing. You’ll likely be asked to investigate a problem and often asked to write SQL code to support your analysis.

5. Write a SQL query to measure the quality of search results based on user ratings.

6. What metrics would you look at to investigate the health of a community forum?

7. How would you analyze the data gathered from the focus group to determine which series should be featured on a streaming platform?

8. Write a SQL query to measure the success of a new audio chat feature.

Bloomberg Product Metrics Questions

Product metrics are mini case study questions that ask you to investigate a problem, measure success, or consider the trade-offs of a new feature. These questions test your data sense and product/business intuition.

9. A product manager comes to you and says that a key metric (like friend requests) is down 10%. What do you do?

10. The VP of sales wants to know if delivering more leads to agents provides more value and retains customers for longer. What might be flawed about the VP’s approach?

Try modeling out a scenario of the problem statement to visualize it. We want the average number of leads delivered by each month that the user is active.

• Agents that subscribe 1 Month: 1.5 leads/agent
• Agents that subscribe 2 Months: 3.8 leads/agent
• Agents that subscribe 3 Months: 5.5 leads/agent

This seems to prove the hypothesis, but what might we be missing? Hint: it’s actually an effect of correlation versus causation. Would the insurance agents that received 0 leads in the first-month stick around at the same rate as insurance agents that had received at least one lead in the first month? Probably not.

11. The job board metrics show that the number of applicants decreases while job postings remain the same. Why would this be happening?

12. A meditation app is launched in a new country, but you find that it isn’t performing. What would you investigate to find out why?