Bloomberg Assessment Test: finance score online

https://www.bloomberginstitute.com/bat/start/

Bloomberg is rolling out a finance Bloomberg Assessment Test. You can choose to have your score made available on the BB terminals. I think it is a pretty interesting concept. Villanova MSF students are taking it this Saturday. I might be taking it also. If I do take it I'll make sure to report back to everyone.

 

LOL yeah, the sample Q's were weak, but you need to realize that the test is not just for finance people. It has all different levels of questions and stuff. Either way I think it might be decent. It is free until 2011 and I think they are fine tunning the test.

 

As stated before I just took this during the start of November and I just received this e-mail today

Dear BAT Participant,

We are pleased to inform you that XXXX has requested your contact details in order to conduct an interview for either an internship or a full-time position. We will pass along your information: name, email and confirmation of BAT results to XXXX in the next few days UNLESS you send us an email explicitly telling us not to.

Thank you again for your participation in the BAT and helping us develop a new way to bridge together students and employers in the financial services industry. As you know, recruiters worldwide will have access to our growing database of scores and will request an introduction to you if they see a good fit. Your personal information will remain confidential until you give us permission to release it to specific employers who show interest.

We congratulate you on your results and you should assume you have done well relative to other BAT participants around the world for XXXX to be interested in talking to you.

Good luck!

The BAT Squad

Is this real life!?

 

Nachos - It may be too late (I'm not sure whereabouts in Canada you are) but I received a few e-mails from my Career Services Center regarding this test. I know they gave my school two different days to write it and a few other schools have some coming up fairly soon.

 

I'm a senior undergrad at a small public school in the Midwest, got an 86% and the results pdf says the median of 2,095 scores is 57% so far... others scored 84 and 81, I don't understand why sample at-large has so many low scores like 40% or lower, the test covered very basic material and didn't seem difficult

 

Got mine today, 85%. It does seem odd that there is so much at the the bottom end, you would think guessing and knowing something would give better results than that. Nikhiln75 did you hear anything more about which division they were?

 

The reason was because there is no limit to who can take the test. Freshman, Sophomores and Juniors can all take the test. At my school, unless you are a junior you can't take any of the real finance courses (corp finance valuaiton etc)...so a lot of sophomores went and took this test without taking a single finance course, so you could understand the low scoring. Also a lot of people just don't have extensive finance knowledge even if they have taken courses.

Its a credit risk analyst position for the summer, interview is on Friday

 

Congrats on the interview. Tell us how it went!

I agree about the low scores being reasonable. The test will be given at my university next month, and I expect several undergraduates to sign up for free. Some of which probably don't know a single answer to the practice questions given.

 

I also took the test at Rutgers and landed an interview!

I think it is a fairly decent test that cover a broad swath of material. The economics was the most challenging for me because the material was not fresh in my head... i.e. Intermediate level Macro that I took first semester junior year...otherwise than that if you are a current finance major the rest of the test in general is not easy but if you put your mind and focus then you will do quite well.

The economics section took me the longest because I haven't taken an econ class in three semesters...I am double majoring in finance and econ.

Hope that helps!

 

I just got my score back today. It breaks it down by percentage correct in each section. It also gives the median of everyone's score.

Finally it compares you to "peer" students, by year and major, giving you a ranked percentile in every section and overall!

As others have said, the test wasn't very hard. It had some difficult questions thrown in though. I attempted to study, but it didn't help at all.

Good luck to everyone!

 

Just got my score yesterday. My school did it more as a test of their own teaching quality, which will get pretty interesting. Worth taking the test for sure. No need to study for it though

 

Interesting, I wish this was available a few years ago! Depending on the questions, I think this may become very powerful and popular among not only the large institutions, but smaller shops, boutiques, and hedge funds. Appears to be a great and easy way to quickly screen for students from top schools with a decent knowledge of finance -- and these smaller companies may not have the resources to do on-campus recruiting.

 

I looked at the concept of the exam, and with a name such as Bloomberg it seems very promising. But where I go to school, there seems to be a huge buzz about the Certified Business Laureate Exam, which is hosted by GF Education Group. Last time I checked they were promoting their exam for free which is usually sold for $500. We have about 50 sign-ups at my school and we are organizing study sessions to get the certification of being "CBL certified"

The company promises to have a job offer within a year after graduating or your money back. (well its free for now) so this doesnt really apply for us.

If your thinking about signing up go to http://cblexam.com/index.php/students/register-for-exam/ (hopefully there still giving out a promotional registration) also

there Facebook Page is Awesome,! I think every 2-months or so they do promotional challenges giving out iPads and cool stuff. check them out here http://www.facebook.com/CBLExam

 

To be completely honest... I've never even heard of the CBL exam. I couldn't find much information on their website regarding its prestige.

I'm guessing it isn't finance focused? Either way, good luck!

 

Ok... I'm British and I'm taking the test soon. I don't do accounting/finance so I'm concerned about the Inv banking (2 parts) investment management and global markets parts of the test. The only knowledge I have is just from reading lots of IB books...

I've got my internships sorted for first year, 4 spring weeks and 1 summer. So it's just to see where I stand.

https://www.bloomberginstitute.com/bat/start/sampleQuestions.pdf

Could someone please confirm with me the correct answers? I just did these now and want to know which I've done wrong. Ex. 2 - C. 3 - D. 4 - C. 5 - C. 6 - D.

I know fixed bonds obviously go up if interest rates fall, i'm thinking floating ones adjust themselves naturally. Capital Markets must be related to financing; it's in the name. 5+6 are the situational. Can anyone confirm? Thanks alot.

 

Is this only available to current undergrads?

"For I am a sinner in the hands of an angry God. Bloody Mary full of vodka, blessed are you among cocktails. Pray for me now and at the hour of my death, which I hope is soon. Amen."
 

Seems like a pretty cool idea, particularly if companies really work the recruitment part. This could be another good way for non-targets (like myself) to get on to the radars of some of the larger banks/firms. Also, feel free to do a search of your school to see how other students from there are doing on the exam. My school's rocking a low-60% average...Jesus.

Kinda wish they had some more sample questions other than the ones they give on the website (one question per section....really Bloomberg?)

 

It is a great idea.... but it isn't quite there yet.

In January I scored in the 99th percentile for 4th year finance students, but barely received any requests to view my profile. Bloomberg asked to contact me twice... along with two other small finance companies. I responded that it was okay all four times, but nobody actually contacted me.

Even if nobody contacts you, you can still display it on your resume if you do well... so there is some value.

 

I am not doing a Finance / Economics major and I find most of these questions a mystery - how do you guys think I could prepare for the test?

 

Just did it myself. Yes, the low scores are largely due to freshman and sophomores. It's good practice though, with many of the question prompts putting you in an analyst or intern's mindset: "You are an analyst at Goldman Sachs in the Investment Banking Division..." and then the question pertaining to investment banking. Overall there are 10 sections from financial statement analysis to ethics and everything in between.

 

98th percentile here too but nobody contacted me and it has been 11 months now. I'm not sure if the system is being used by a lot of financial institutions but at least you can show your score on your resume.

 

I ran a search on my bloomberg at work on all on the candidates who took the BAT. It is ranked by the highest percentile based on filter searches like year in school, name of school, geography preferences, etc.

It costs $2,000 to connect with the student/job seeker though so I'm not sure if firms are actually going to use it.

 
WillCooper:
How do you figure out your percentile score on the results page?

It has a breakdown of all the sections and how you scored in relation to the average on one tab and then there should be another tab with a bell curve which highlights what column you are in then it should give you the actual percentage when you roll over it with the cursor.

 

So it looks like the percentage given when you roll over the graph with the cursor is just the percentage of problems correct out of the 150 total, not the percentile that the score is actually in...

 

I'm taking the test on friday, I'm a finance and econ major so I'm not too worried about it but thats what I thought about the GMAT so can anybody give a head ups as to what type of question are on it?

 

I just took it and got a 62.6. I ran out of time and had to just guess on the last few sections. I found the math and logic questions to be the toughest. Idid pretty well on the financial knowledge and aptitude part and bombed on the career skills part. Hope to re-take it. Don't think it can hurt

 

I registered for this Saturday, never heard of this thing until last week or so. Sophomore Econ/International Studies major. Unfortunately never taken a finance class in my life -- how badly is that going to affect my score? If I don't do well will that negatively affect my career prospects? (Debating whether I should cancel and take it some other time when I have a better idea of what it is or juts go in and take it anyway this Saturday).

 

@chubbybunny: I actually do go to GWU. And no, I'm still looking for an internship: I'm just waiting for responses now I guess.

@bankforyourbuck: my bad, I didn't run it through search like I should have.

 

Half the people I have spoken with, don't even know what it is, and don't seem to care once I tell them.

It's also a probably a difficult test for "younger" guys, and from the threads about this subject, it seems as if it really does not do much for recruiting.

PM if you have an specific questions about the test (structure, what to study, etc.)

 

Just had it requested to be tested at my university, and they responded very promptly as well as get it set up/organized very quickly. I'll be taking it in two weeks.

OE
 

I took this at my school. Although it is not widely popular yet, I did receive a phone interview with a small hedge fund through the talent search. It was free to take (actually I got $50 for having the second highest score at my school), and it got me a phone interview. I'd say it was a good use of 3 hours.

“There is only one corner of the universe you can be certain of improving, and that's your own self.” --Aldous Huxley
 
TripWest:
I took this at my school. Although it is not widely popular yet, I did receive a phone interview with a small hedge fund through the talent search. It was free to take (actually I got $50 for having the second highest score at my school), and it got me a phone interview. I'd say it was a good use of 3 hours.

Just to clarify, is the talent search provided by the BAT, or something through your uni?

OE
 
osanjak:
TripWest:
I took this at my school. Although it is not widely popular yet, I did receive a phone interview with a small hedge fund through the talent search. It was free to take (actually I got $50 for having the second highest score at my school), and it got me a phone interview. I'd say it was a good use of 3 hours.

Just to clarify, is the talent search provided by the BAT, or something through your uni?

It is through BAT. All that the test taker has to do is fill out some information and take the test. They can then go online and fill out more information on their profile after taking the test if they would like (I would recommend doing so).

I believe that employers pay Bloomberg to contact the talent. They can search by test score, school, and some other information

“There is only one corner of the universe you can be certain of improving, and that's your own self.” --Aldous Huxley
 

In full disclosure, I work here.

a) Students take the BAT. b) Their BAT scores go into the employer database, which is online at talentsearch dot bloomberginstitute dot com for those who are curious. c) Employers filter forensically for the best talent based on their selected criteria (e.g. A high frequency trading firm searches to find the top 2% of global test takers who scored 100% in two categories: Analytical Reasoning and Math Skills. A recruiter searching to fill an IB Analyst role searches to find students who scored well on the following categories: Corporate Valuation, IB, Financial Statement Analysis and Modeling Skills.) d) Employer connects with test taker.

 
BAT_Wendy:
In full disclosure, I work here.

a) Students take the BAT.

b) Their BAT scores go into the employer database, which is online at talentsearch dot bloomberginstitute dot com for those who are curious. c) Employers filter forensically for the best talent based on their selected criteria (e.g. A high frequency trading firm searches to find the top 2% of global test takers who scored 100% in two categories: Analytical Reasoning and Math Skills. A recruiter searching to fill an IB Analyst role searches to find students who scored well on the following categories: Corporate Valuation, IB, Financial Statement Analysis and Modeling Skills.) d) Employer connects with test taker.

Wendy,

Any tips on how non- finance students can prepare for the test? The syllabus seems very brief, and I have not been able to find a practice test. Would you recommend any books or perpetration materials?

 

This is a good idea, but it still has a way to go to be more established. I have one of the top 25 U.S. Undergrad scores (overall score) and I have had a couple contacts. One small hedge fund that I had a few phone interviews with, a BB that didn't do anything after seeing my resume, and a few other minor things that didn't turn into anything. If you are intelligent and passionate about finance then you should be able to do well on it.

It can be thought of as buying a cheap, out of the money option. It only costs 3 hours of your time so it's worth it. The chances of it getting you a great job are small, but if you can land a HF gig straight out of college it could be worth it. They have it set up now where you can just upload a resume and employers can get it right form there, the only downside is that they get a general resume, not one edited specifically for each job.

Also, I went to a complete non-target when I took it, and I think that could be why I haven't gotten a ton of contacts given my high score. They would rather go for a student who did well and goes to a target/semi-target. It was nice to bring up in interviews, a way to justify that I am just as smart as people from target schools, but it got old having to explain what it was in every interview I had.

If anyone has any more questions on it from someone with a top score (top .2% of all test takers) on it just let me know.

 
sandsurfngbomber:
Just registered! Do the grades stick with me or would I be able to retake the BAT down the line to improve my score (after I have taken relevant courses)?

I believe you can retake, but I think it costs something like $50 bucks now. And if you get a bad score, nobody ever has to know about it.

 

To improve your speed on: "Analytical Reasoning and Math Skills", try calculationrankings.co. For books on Finance I can recommend: bodie Kane, Investments and Derivative Markets McDonald.

Greetz Chip

 

would anybody recommend taking this exam to a freshman who has not really taken any business course. My school is offering this exam this week and im looking into taking it but not sure if i should. Only took one business course and it was very basic.

 

Is the BAT only restricted to current students or is open to the public? I'm trying to get in the door into IB but graduate in 2008 (which was not available then). Have Financial operations and Credit risk experience. Also for people who have taken the exam, is the BAT exam more difficult than the CFA level 1? (can't image it being harder than CFA level 2 but could be mistaken) Thanks for your help

 

just do it. you have nothing to lose.

"After you work on Wall Street it’s a choice, would you rather work at McDonalds or on the sell-side? I would choose McDonalds over the sell-side.” - David Tepper
 

It won't hurt. before you take it Buy the WSO technical guide on here. it'll be an easy/cheap way to brush up on the wide range of stuff you need to know.

Fear is the greatest motivator. Motivation is what it takes to find profit.
 

Thanks yeah I figured it can't hurt. However, if I score in the "Average" range I feel that is nothing to make note of on my resume.. But I could be mistaken. And yes, where can I find that book?

"An investment in knowledge pays the best interest." - Benjamin Franklin
 

A few people at my school took it. One of them was in the top 5% in the country. Recommend it if you know your stuff. No point studying for it as it's still quite new.

 

Don't waste your time. I placed global top 5 in this test, but got no offers through this system at all. Other recruiters didn't seem to care much either.

 

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