I applied online. The process took 2 weeks. I interviewed at Bloomberg in Nov 2011
Interview
The HR was not professional in the second round interview. She was out for lunch and no one in the office was informed of my interview. In the end, I didn't have enough time to complete my shadowing with one of the generalist.
I applied through an employee referral. The process took 1 day. I interviewed at Bloomberg (San Francisco, CA) in Mar 2012
Interview
Basic questions like why you want to work for Bloomberg, why sales, why are you leaving your current job, etc. They then called two days later and set up an in person interview. A week after that they cancelled it saying "we are reviewing our headcount". Never even got in the door.