City University of London recently hosted a careers event for students on its MA in financial journalism course, involving leading financial editors in the industry. The course is financially supported by the Marjorie Deane Financial Journalism Foundation.

The “meet the financial editors” event included Mark Trevelyan, EMEA learning manager at Reuters; Duncan Mavin, managing editor at Dow Jones group; Michael Stothard, editor of Sifted, the Financial Times’s new technology platform; Emma Smith, managing editor at Business Insider; Andrew Bonnington, managing editor at Argus Media; Grainne McCarthy, deputy chief news editor of the Wall Street Journal; and Andrew Wells, Global Steel Editor for Fast Markets.

The panel introduced their organisations and their roles within them. Each editor explained their internship programmes and the work experience opportunities that they offer students. They then took questions from the students, which they answered with great attention to detail. The students very much valued the opportunity to gain advice about how to start a career in financial journalism.

The MA in financial journalism students also had another opportunity to attend a careers day at Bloomberg LP headquarters in the heart of the City of London. This building has won several awards and is often called the world’s most sustainable office building.

The students were hosted by Daliah Merzaban, senior editor for the EMEA region at Bloomberg, who gave them a tour of the building. Many students were mesmerised by its architecture and design. Financial journalism student Wendy Thi-Nam-Nguyen said: “I was fascinated by the interior designs and what a great place it was to work in. And the pantry was grand. But most of all, the amazing work space and the news studio were very interesting.”

Ms Merzaban highlighted the fact that every screen around the office is logged into the Bloomberg’s terminal system to help journalists with their daily tasks. The tour ended with a presentation about the company’s internship programme for would-be journalists. Hannah Curley, Early Engagement Programme Manager, gave helpful insights about how to apply to their internship schemes.

”I was inspired to apply for the internship programme, that was the highlight of the day,” comments Marina Safronova, a student on the MA in financial journalism course. “I can reach my dream and the first step is to apply and one day work for Bloomberg.” Overall, the students enjoyed the tour and gained a great insight into Bloomberg’s news operations and publications. Most importantly, they were all inspired to achieve their dreams.