Long hours i.e. "facetime" in the office seemingly valued above actual productivity. I had the feeling that the main path to promotion was to work overtime. You feel somewhat surveyed and judged for leaving early for example.
You must scan your staff badge when entering and leaving the building so data is collected on exactly how many hours you spend in the office.
Constantly bombarded with alerts, emails, information, tv screens etc - you cannot switch this off and there are few quiet areas to retreat to. The open plan environment is very noisy, bustling and busy as this is part of the company's "brand".
The proprietary internal email and other Bloomberg internal systems that you must use are not flexible nor user-friendly.
Surprisingly harsh personal feedback i.e. request that I act more deferentially towards the hierarchy and express my opinion or give feedback less often even though company values include innovation, open to ideas, data-driven...
Managers are often smart people who are very good at the work they are required to produce (i.e. analysis, reports), but do not have particularly good people skills. That is, they promote people not because they will run a team well, but because they are very good at their current role. When I raised concerns with HR or senior staff about my manager - this was not addressed. I continued to struggle to communicate with my manager throughout my time at the company and felt actively disliked, but with little power to change my situation.
Self-promotion is key as opportunities to advance your career do not present themselves to you per se - you must seek them out.
There is a little pressure to dress rather formally and corporate (high heels, suit jackets), but this is only strictly enforced in client-facing teams.
