The Bloomberg Essentials Online Training Program offers students the skills and knowledge they need to access the Business Terminal. The company Bloomberg, long a valuable resource and business tool in investment and financial management, has created a technology for business that allows companies to access data over many fields to help them make business decisions. They then built a training program that teaches business students how to use the Terminal. This program is called BESS.

What is this Program?

According to the Wikipedia, this business tool is “a computer system that enables professionals in finance and other industries to access the professional service through which users can monitor and analyze real-time financial market data and place trades on the electronic trading platform.” In other words, this is a database of current corporate and industrial financial data that can be used to make decisions concerning investments and markets. Obviously, having access to this kind of information in real-time is a valuable commodity for business. Professionals versed in the use of the terminal have an advantage in obtaining and progressing in their positions.

Resource: 25 Great Master of Financial Engineering Programs 2015

What is The Program?

This is the training program created by Bloomberg to help professionals access their system. The program, offered online, consists of three modules: the videos, the exams and the certification. Goals of the BESS program are:

  • To deepen research
  • To develop analytical skills
  • To teach students to make decisions based on real-world data
  • To allow students to prepare for professional challenges
  • To give students a platform upon which they can test their skills.

Each video lasts thirty to forty minutes. The program begins with four core videos: “Getting Started”; “News “Market Monitors and Launchpad and API (Data in Excel)”. Those videos and the examinations that follow them are prerequisites for the second section of videos: “Equity Essentials; Fixed Income Essentials; FX Essentials and Commodity Essentials.” After each of these videos, there are corresponding videos that you can take to test your knowledge. If you earn a 75 percent or higher score you can request certification in that area. You don’t have to complete all four of the second set of videos; you can test only one and certify in that competency.

Why Get Certification?

Investment corporations and other companies in the finance industry rely on the Terminal business information to make decisions. Job applicants with the BESS training have an advantage at interviews, as more employers are asking if they have the training to use the Terminal. In addition, if they know how to access and analyze the data found there, they are more likely to be promoted to managerial positions. Reviewers of the Essentials program say that the training helps them even in their own investing.

Bloomberg’s business acumen is well-acknowledged, and its terminal is increasingly becoming a standard business tool, especially in investments and finance. Job applicants who have taken the Bloomberg Essentials Online Training Program will have a better chance of employment and promotion.

Additional Resource: Top 10 Most Affordable Online Master of Finance Degree Programs 2015