November 29, 2011 – Students at more than 250 colleges and universities seeking jobs and internships in finance, consulting and related fields are discovering a new exam designed to showcase their abilities at no cost to major companies throughout the world.
The Bloomberg Assessment Test (BAT) is a comprehensive aptitude exam that measures a student’s strengths in 11 different areas ranging from economics and analytical reasoning to situational judgment and verbal skills.
The BAT (www.takethebat.com) was quietly launched less than one year ago and, so far, more than 20,000 students have taken the exam at such universities and colleges as Michigan State, Johns Hopkins, Cornell, Mt. Holyoke, UC Santa Cruz, and Notre Dame.
The free, three-hour exam is open to undergraduate and graduate students, no matter what their major, if they are seeking internships or jobs in areas such as finance or consulting or just want to measure their competitive strengths or weaknesses in a range of subjects.
The exam results are available to the student and included in the BAT Talent Search database, which lists the scores anonymously. A number of major employers, including investment banks and consulting firms, in the Asia, Africa, Europe, and the United States are using the BAT for recruitment purposes.
More than 500 test takers have already made connections with prospective employers.
The test results provide considerably more insights into a student’s skills and abilities than a resume. Recruiters can search the database to find students who have strengths in areas of particular interest to them.
The recruiter then invites the student, who remains anonymous, to connect with the company and learn about potential positions. Students interested in the company can accept the connection and then will be contacted by the recruiter.
The BAT was developed by the Bloomberg Institute, a subsidiary of Bloomberg LP, in partnership with a global team of senior executives from leading financial institutions and faculty from major universities.
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