Media Releases

New Bloomberg Finance Lab gives students a leg-up on competition for jobs

Nov 09, 2017

Students from North Central College will be able to compete for some of the best jobs in business thanks to the College’s new Bloomberg Finance Lab.

“Our new Bloomberg Lab brings the real world of business and finance into the classroom,” said Dr. Diane Anstine, professor of economics and dean of North Central’s School of Business and Entrepreneurship.

“Every business student will complete at least one course in the new Bloomberg Lab, where 9 workstations are equipped with the Bloomberg Terminal software, the iconic dual monitors and Bloomberg’s unique keyboards,” said Anstine. 

The Bloomberg Terminal delivers data, news and analytics through innovative technology, quickly and accurately to the world's leading business and financial decision makers. The Lab is also equipped with a 34-foot-long stock ticker and clocks noting the time from cities around the world.

“The Bloomberg Lab is a physical manifestation of what North Central College provides its students,” said Anstine. “We have a robust, growing and cutting-edge business and entrepreneurship program. Our Bloomberg Lab is a significant sign of our institution’s commitment to students, who we are as a College and where we’re heading.”

And, students agree.

For Madison Adamski—a senior triple-majoring in finance, marketing, and entrepreneurship and small business management with a minor in international business—becoming Bloomberg- certified “will really give me a leg up in my job search. The certification allows students at North Central to become more competitive in the marketplace. I will be a strong job candidate.”

Haris Hadzic, a senior majoring in finance and economics, realized firsthand what a Bloomberg certification can mean. “Before the start of term, I applied for an internship with a prestigious trading firm in downtown Chicago. I made the first round of interviews but, in the second, (recruiters) asked if had experience with Bloomberg, and I have not. That’s when I got cut. Now with North Central’s Bloomberg service, I will have that competitive edge.”

Micaylan McDonald, a senior triple-majoring in actuarial science, finance and economics, said he lab “will help bridge the gap between concept-textbook learning and real-life application. For students entering the workforce, it will give us a competitive advantage over other candidates.”

According to Patrick Gray (photo below), assistant professor of finance and economics, the Bloomberg lab “revolutionizes teaching. It replicates a trading room environment just as you would see on Wall Street. And, students can become Bloomberg-certified by completing a series of modules that cover economic indicators, equities, fixed income and currencies.”

 

Leading business and financial subscribers worldwide use the Bloomberg Terminal, a software platform that provides trusted real-time and historical data, market-moving news and analytics to help business and financial professionals make better informed investment decisions. The College’s subscription to the Terminal serves as a resource for both students and professors. It will enable students to become familiar with tools used in financial services, thereby reinforcing classroom theory, while professors can use it to further their own research.

“Students will now have an even better opportunity to interact in a very valuable way with faculty who can share their significant practical experience in the finance, accounting and economics fields, and apply the principles and concepts that the students learn in their classes,” said Gray who, prior to teaching at North Central, worked in finance and recalled when Bloomberg became a tool of the industry in the mid-1990s. “My desk looked like the bridge of the Starship Enterprise. I had four monitors and everything I needed in front of me,” he said.

“I’m very proud of our students and institution,” said Gray. “There’s nothing that makes me happier than students who ask me, ‘I have three job offers, which one should I take?’ We’ve done well as an institution, but we’re a whole lot better and competitive with the addition of Bloomberg. We’ve notched up our game to a whole new level.”