Sample Essay On Art AND Architecture Informational Interview

Introduction

For this assignment, we were asked to interview a leader or someone from the higher management level of an organization and write a paper outlining the questions asked and the responses answered during the interview. The first step involved in taking on this assignment was choosing the organization that will be reviewed. The organization chosen was Bloomberg. Bloomberg L.P. (i.e. Limited Partnership) is a digital media, data, and financial software design and manufacturing company that is based in New York, United States. It is a for profit business organization that was founded by no other than Michael Bloomberg in 1981 along with Bloomberg co-founders, Thomas Secunda, Charles Zegar, and Duncan MacMillan. What makes Bloomberg a significant organization, at least for its customers and its stakeholders, is the fact that it provides up to date information about the movements of the financial, equity, and commodities markets. It also provides financial software tools which include but may not be limited to analytics, commodities and equity trading, and data service packages to individuals, financial institutions, and other interested organizations. Some of the most prominent revenue-generating products developed by Bloomberg are Bloomberg Terminal, the Bloomberg Professional Service, Bloomberg News, Bloomberg Television, Bloomberg Business Week, Bloomberg Markets, and Bloomberg Pursuit. To top this long list of Bloomberg L.P. branches of, Bloomberg even has its own radio station. Based on the direction of the trend that Bloomberg is following, at least when it comes to expansion, it may only be safe to say that the company still has a tremendous room to grow, improve, and expand its services, and the markets that it is trying to cater. For this assignment, the author of this paper wanted to interview the most prominent and important people in the organization as much as possible. In fact, our primary target was Michael Bloomberg himself, or if in case our initial expectation that he would not be able to grant our request to conduct an interview, at least we were planning to interview the organization’s current Chairman of the Board, Peter Grauer. It is worth noting that Michael Bloomberg, aside from being one of the founders of the organization, also acts as the president and chief executive officer of the organization. Different approaches were used to get at least one of these two key people featured in this informational interview project; emails, faxes, and letters were sent to these two people’s offices but after more than a week’s worth of wait, the author of this paper has so far received nothing. In short, the request for a sit-down interview with them was not granted. It was figured that Bloomberg could still be featured in the informational review. As mentioned earlier, Bloomberg has numerous branches or departments. In fact, so many that some were already omitted. If it was really that impossible to get the primary targets grant the request for an interview, we simply had to improvise. It was decided that the interviewee candidates would be chosen based on who would be the most accessible. Among the different branches that Bloomberg has, the Bloomberg Media, specifically, the digital content and media department, seemed to be the most accessible. The author of this paper attempted to contact Joshua Topolsky, the head of the said department, for an informational interview. Thanks to his rather flexible schedule, he managed to spare some time to do the interview. He, however, requested, that the interview be done over the phone so that he would not have to spend time travelling to wherever the interview site or location would be set. In the interview, ten key questions were asked. It is worth noting that the main objective of the informational interview is to get to know the interviewee from a professional perspective, his involvement in the subject organization, among other relevant issues that may be covered.

Can you introduce yourself to us?

Thank you for allowing me to introduce myself. I am Joshua Topolsky. You can call me Josh for short because that is what my colleagues over at Bloomberg Media’s Digital Content department call me. A little bit of background about myself, I started out my career as a journalist in the field of technology a few years ago. One of the companies or organizations I have previously worked in includes Engadget. I know a lot of you guys over there at the university know about this fantastic site. Basically, what I was doing there back at the time is almost similar to the type of job I am doing here at Bloomberg. I was editor in chief back then and my responsibility was to regulate all of the entries and contents being featured in our site. If there were problems with the grammar or anything similar or related to that, I am the man that the people in the company would have to rely on. After more than three years of having a happy working relationship with the people from Engadget, I decided to start my own site. I called it This is My Next. It served as a temporary home for me and my ex-Engadget colleagues. Apparently, some of my colleagues missed me and decided to follow me on my journey in the world of blogging about technology. What I did during that time, with my colleagues of course, was create and publish technology related news, reviews, editorials, and basically any form of content that you can find. One thing I find funny about that experience is that I was able to learn how it feels like to be pressured because majority, if not all, of the responsibilities were resting on my shoulder. It was not long until I got employed at The Verge. It was not really much aside from being a permanent network. We even announced its establishment on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon. It was a huge success, thanks to the marketing gimmicks that we used and of course, to my dear friend Jimmy. The Verge actually got featured numerous times in that show and so its success is actually in huge part because of that. After serving the company for a stretch of more than three years, I decide to accept my current position at Bloomberg. I believe that all of my past professional experiences were meant to put me where I am not, at Bloomberg. I was hired as the editor in chief in the digital content management department of Bloomberg Media. I work for Bloomberg yes, and it just so happened that I got assigned in the Bloomberg Media, specifically, in the digital content management department. How did that happen? I honestly do not know. All that I want to share to you guys now is that I have this thought that the human resources managers over at Bloomberg must have known even before I got hired that I would fit to my current position now, bragging and kidding aside. So that is all about my past professional experiences that led me to where I am today. I honestly assume that you guys are not interested at knowing more specific things about my personality?
If you are going to pick one part of your professional experience that really made the biggest impact to your current job responsibilities in Bloomberg, what would it be?
If we are going to base the number of years that I have spent working as a journalist in the field of technology, I would not call myself a veteran. I am an experienced journalist, yes, but a veteran in the field, maybe not yet. Over the past decade, I managed to get a hold of three job positions, as the editor in chief apparently, of some, I would say, really prominent companies. If I am going to be given a chance to pick one experience that I think really mattered to my current job responsibilities in Bloomberg, I would say the ones, the experiences I had when I was working for Engadget. I did not know a lot of things about being a journalist in the field of technology at that time. I was not that brilliant editor in chief that I am now. In simple terms, I was a newbie. I had a lot to learn and within the more than three years of time I spent inside that organization, I can say that the learning and experiences I acquired from there are the ones that I still proudly carry today. Now, please do not get me wrong. I am not saying that the learning and experiences I obtained from the other companies I have worked for after I left Engadget do not matter. I am just saying that what mattered the most were the ones I had at Engadget.

What motivated you to pursue a career in the field of technological journalism

I have always wanted and, in fact, enjoyed sharing information to people. I find it not just a hobby or an interest but also a passion. In fact, I am so passionate about it that I am willing to dedicate a huge portion of my life to it. Perhaps even by the time that I am already old, you guys would still see me in tech magazines, sites, or any other possible form or media outlet that may be discovered and popularized at some point in the future. Gosh, I seriously hope that I am still alive when that time comes. Another thing is that I think that this world will never run of out of things that one can write about, even if it is just going to be within the field of technology. When I was in college, I have always dreamed of being a journalist. Now, the hard part was that i did not know what type of journalist I wanted to be. Later on, I realized that I was particularly interested in gadgets such as phones, speakers, computers, and the likes. And so one big thought came to my mind; I asked myself, why not just be a tech journalist. After all, the field of technology is a booming one, it has lots of job opportunities and the market for technological and electronic devices is just on a wild bull cycle. Hey, for someone who is working in Bloomberg, you really have to be familiar with the terms that are used in the financial industry. Basically, a bull cycle means a rally, a market environment where everything seems to be on an uptrend, where valuations tend to be always on an increase. So far, these are the things that I know have motivated me to become the person I am today in the field of tech journalism.

What were some of the biggest challenges you encountered in working as the Digital Content Media head in Bloomberg Media

As you all know, Bloomberg specializes in providing digitalized contents that are primarily related to the financial, equity, and commodities market. These are meant to be used by people who are very proficient in the field of finance and economics. As one of the key people in the digital content media department, one of my main responsibilities was to ensure the correctness of the information. Now I am going to ask you a question; how do you think you would be able to correct information that are primarily related to finance and economics if you are not proficient in those two fields in the first place? The answer is you cannot, at least based on the standards set by the ones who will read the news, reports, and basically every entry that Bloomberg Media will develop. Now, I am not saying that I am a newbie when it comes to finance and economics. All that I am saying is that I am not an economist or a financial advisor. I am a tech journalist. So the challenging part there was that I had to become proficient in those two fields if I want to excel in my current job, just like how I did in the previous ones.
So far, have you learned more things about finance and economics, in your more than one year of stay in Bloomberg?
Yes I have learned a lot of things within that time. In fact, I can already joke around to people that I am an economist or even give them financial advices.

What do you think of Bloomberg as a company?

I think Bloomberg is a great company. It offers a lot of benefits to its workers. It treats them like a family and as one of its employees, I can proudly say that once you’re at Bloomberg, you are not going to ask for anything more.

What do you think of Bloomberg’s products and services?

I think our company’s products are really great. They aim and actually help the people make sound investing decisions. We do not just help institutions and organizations make money from the economy and financial and commodities market. We help individual people become successful too.
If there is one issue that your department currently faces that you want to be solved immediately, what would be it.
That is a good question, I think my answer to that would be the lack of dynamic qualities that our current website offers. I mean, we live in a highly dynamic world where almost everything gets changed. So I guess it only makes sense for our department to offer something that is similar or is at par with that. Unfortunately, this is something that cannot be done overnight so I guess I will have to deal with it.

Give some of the most important decisions you made as one of the leaders in your department

Well I can only give one important decision but that is because I know this decision made a lot of impact. Whenever I deal with people, I tend to be very dynamic. I always ask them what they want and how they plan to get it done. If all seems ok, I then go with the way they suggested. I then take responsibility if ever something goes wrong along the way.

How do you keep your subordinates inspired and motivated?

I always tell them that they do not need to be inspired and motivated all the time. Being inspired and motivated for me is a personal issue or preference. As long as they get the job done on time and based on the set standards and requirements, it would not really matter how inspired or motivated they were when they were doing their part of the job.
What are the sources of the ideas that your department use whenever it releases new products or services or make improvements on existing ones?
We tend to brainstorm a lot when it comes to the things that you mentioned. And so, my answer would be everyone. We all make use of everyone’s ideas, thoughts, and feedbacks. I believe this is one of the greatest assets of our department because there is more than just one mind that works in generating ideas and so as a result, we tend to generate really good ones.

What is the most important thing for your organization?

I think the most important thing for our organization, or for our department at least, is getting the job done. This is what being a journalist taught me. I always face tight deadlines and huge volumes of work. And every time, all I think about is that I should get the job done or else, the entire team or department would suffer.

How do you describe the culture of your organization?

Bloomberg’s culture is something that is really easy to understand; well, at least if you are at the least bit interested of understanding it. It all depends on the person whether he or she is willing to make the necessary efforts to blend in or not.

Do you share your visions and ideas to your subordinates? Explain.

Yes I do. In fact, I always make it a priority to do it because I always believe that team work is essential to any department’s success.

Can you explain the impact of your performance in the department so far?

This is a hard question. As I always say in my answers to your questions, I believe that what is important is to get the job done and as long as I continue to meet that goal, the impact of my performance on the organization would always be positive.

What is the one mistake you can never forget that you did in the past?

Miscalculation is something that is inherent in almost any field. In the past I made one, although I would not elaborate the details. I learned from it and until this day, I still carry with me that lesson.

What do you think are the qualities that a leader must have?

A leader must know how to lead. It is as simple as that. This is something that is qualitative and I do not really believe in leadership theories. As long as you can move people, then you can call yourself a leader.

What are the things that you do to ensure that you still grow professionally?

I make mistakes, acknowledge them, and learn from them. This, for me, is the only way how one will grow professionally.

How do you see yourself five years from now?

I see myself still working in Bloomberg, although I cannot say what position I would be holding by that time.

Do you think your organization has been a socially responsible one?

I think yes. Again, this is because of the nobleness of the cause that its products and services have. Basically, they all aim to help people become more financially liberated and I think that alone makes Bloomberg qualified to be called a socially responsible organization

Thank you Letter

Dear Mr. Joshua Topolsky,
I would like to thank you for granting our request to have you interviewed despite your busy schedule. We have definitely learned a lot of things from this encounter. We hope that you continue to be a blessing to other people as you continue to share with them a lot of information about finance, economics, and as you keep a lot of people updated about the latest news. More power to you, your department, and of course, Bloomberg.
Regards,