Students and staff at Manhattan College are working on completing a manual that will help students navigate through Bloomberg, a website that provides business and market news, data, analysis and other things of that nature.
More specifically, “Bloomberg for Education brings the pace and excitement of real business and macroeconometrics into the classroom,” the Bloomberg website says. “Students gain hands-on experience using the same information and technology relied on by financial professionals all over the world, to help gain an edge in a competitive job market.”
Dr. Amira Annabi teaches Quantitative Finance along with Options and Futures Markets at MC, as she has been highly involved in the mission to bring both Bloomberg and the Bloomberg Manual to the college.
“I truly believe in students using Bloomberg,” said Dr. Annabi. “I think it will really enhance their learning experience.”
With that said, Dr. Annabi understood the difficulties of using the website, which sparked the creation of the Bloomberg Manual that aims to show students how to ultimately make the most of the website.
“I’m really passionate about the manual,” said Dr. Annabi. “This thing is like my baby.”
Dr. Annabi continued to share how the Bloomberg Manual will assist students in figuring out the seemingly complicated website.
“The Bloomberg Manual is a customized document explaining all of the Bloomberg functions used in class and in the field,” Dr. Annabi said. “We don’t see anything like this offered at other schools, my goal is that as soon as this manual is ready, we will post it on the Bloomberg website so that it is available to other students from other schools.”
This is not the only objective, however.
Dr. Annabi also has a goal that is much more focused around Manhattan College students specifically.
“At the School of Business we start making a difference,” said Dr. Annabi. “Our goal is to increase our students chances of working on Wall Street. Bloomberg knowledge will increase students chances of getting a job and doing really, really well at that job.”
Dr. Annabi added that the manual includes screenshots, examples and a step by step process on how to complete tasks that students might have as they use Bloomberg.
Manhattan College Student and Bloomberg Assistant, Nich Weyland, also praises the use of Bloomberg as well as the manual in the classroom setting.
“The whole idea of the manual is to give students more exposure to what Bloomberg offers, it’s another way to help students learn,” said Weyland. “If you go into the field without Bloomberg knowledge, it could set you back, but if you learn more about Bloomberg earlier and all it has to offer, it could pay dividends in the end.”
Weyland acknowledged that every student is unique, adding that the manual is designed for all types of learners.
“As a student I know that every student learns in different ways,” said Weyland. “This manual just helps that.”
Dr. Annabi mentioned a similar idea, “We do anything we can to not only help those who struggle, but also those who want to do more.”
The manual is easily accessible also, “We use dual screen computers in class, the manual is on one screen and Bloomberg is open on the other,” said Weyland.
Weyland went on to share that Bloomberg is a quick and easy way to find out information about companies, it adds a hands on experience to the classroom and also that whenever the manual doesn’t work, Bloomberg help support is an effective last option resource.
Dr. Annabi began teaching at Manhattan in August of 2012, and at the time Bloomberg terminals were not available to students. Since then, the School of Business has invested money to bring 12 Bloomberg terminals to campus, which has allowed progressive integration into her syllabus. The creation of the manual is the next step in aiding the student experience.
“Most of our students want to stay in New York City and work on Wall Street, but when they are interviewed for jobs they will have to answer, ‘what else can you offer?’, knowing Bloomberg partially answers that question,” said Dr. Annabi. “Students can also receive a free Bloomberg Market Concept Certificate after eight hours of training, which I also encourage students to add to their resumes and their LinkedIn profiles.”
Bloomberg accounts are free for students to create using their school email addresses, and the manual can be accessed on Moodle or at The O’Malley Library.
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