Find Talent with an Internship Program

Equipment finance leaders share tips for creating a win-win experience for students and organizations. 

If the equipment finance industry is serious about attracting and recruiting diverse new talent, companies need to understand the impact that hosting an internship program can have on their efforts.   

According to a poll from the National Association of Colleges and Employers, 80% of respondents believe that internships provide the highest ROI in leading to entry-level hires, followed by 8% for career fairs and 7% for on-campus visits. 

Internships come in many forms and can range from shadowing an executive for a day, to working for an eight- or 10-week summer session, to a flexible semester schedule or even a multi-year engagement. They provide a chance for college students to get exposure and experience, network and learn about career pathways without committing to any significant career decisions. And they give you the opportunity to evaluate if they work well within your organization and add value to what you are trying to accomplish.

Double Exposure 

“You get a snapshot of the student’s strengths, passion, drive, enthusiasm and, yes, punctuality,” says Donna Yanuzzi, Director of Equipment Finance, 1st Equipment Finance (FNCB Bank) in Exeter, Pennsylvania. “The student gets hands-on experience, and the company benefits from the work they perform. The bonus is that if the intern makes a significant contribution, they have a strong chance of being hired. It’s a win-win for all.” Yanuzzi is also Chair of the Equipment Leasing & Finance Foundation’s Academic Outreach Committee that has developed resources, including a platform for companies to post their internships and the widely-used Guest Lecture Program (see sidebar). 
Offering internships is critical for raising awareness and visibility among students and giving them on-the-job experience because it’s more than likely that they are not learning about equipment finance in college. “One of the things I’ve always found with the equipment finance industry is that once you’re here, you tend to stay. But getting here, historically, has been a matter of chance and circumstance,” says Miles Herman, Chief Executive Officer, LEAF Commercial Capital, Inc., headquartered in Philadelphia. “As industries go, ours kind of flies under the radar. It’s not an industry many set out to enter, but it is a very well-loved industry by many of those who’ve made a career here.” 

“[Having interns] allowed us to be made aware of opportunities that might not have occurred to us.” 

- Nathan Gibbons, QuickFi

Diverse Perspectives

The professional experience that students acquire is just one of the benefits of offering internship opportunities. Companies gain strategic advantages from access to different, fresh perspectives to addressing business issues and seeing opportunities that may not be apparent within the organization. Interns are often closest to many rapidly evolving customer preferences, and also closest to exponentially advancing technologies, many of which are making humanity better, notes Nathan Gibbons, Chief Experience Officer at QuickFi, based in Fairport, New York.  

“I’ve spent most of my professional career involved in the process of recruiting young talent because of the strategic competitive advantage this demographic offers. In my experience, their perspective and insights continue to be unique, timely and optimistic, and they often convey a level of excitement and anticipation about the future and the possibilities,” Gibbons says. “It’s allowed us to be made aware of opportunities that might not have occurred to us, to create solutions to problems that we may not have figured out on our own and, in some cases, to identify ways to deliver new value to customers.”   

Internship programs are highly recommended for businesses that want to attract talent from underserved communities. To tap into communities you are looking to recruit, it’s important to cultivate strategic partnerships with organizations that have a direct pipeline to them, advises Eboni Preston-Laurent, Director of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion at ELFA.  

“By diversifying your network and outreach efforts, you cast the broadest net possible for talent acquisition,” she says. “You can connect with the career center at a local Historically Black College or University or an all-women’s college to ensure that your opportunity is shared with targeted student populations you’d like to attract. Companies may also consider connecting with LGBTQ+ advocacy organizations or diverse fraternity and sorority networks to share news about your internship position as well.”

Get Down to Work 

Companies can create an attractive internship program or opportunity regardless of their size. For example, some companies host two or three interns per year, while others host 20-25 each year. The key is to provide meaningful, relevant experiences that will enable both the intern and you to learn about each other.  

At LEAF Commercial Capital, Inc. interns are hands-on with all aspects of the business. Every week each intern is exposed to different departments and roles in the company. They meet with those department heads and rotate through departments to learn what each does. As a result, it is not uncommon for an intern who comes in for one area, say accounting, to decide that an area like credit is where they want to be.  

“We want our interns to get their hands dirty, so to speak, and do real work that makes a real difference for our company and the businesses we serve,” notes Tara Berlingo, Senior Human Resources Business Partner at LEAF Commercial Capital, Inc. “I think it’s that difference we’re able to make that makes equipment finance such a sticky industry for the people who find their way here. We want interns to understand for themselves how great it feels to be a real ally to businesses and to help them and the economy grow with equipment financing. Once they’ve had a chance to be part of that, they often become very excited about making a career in the industry.”

“By diversifying your network and outreach efforts, you cast the broadest net possible for  talent acquisition.” 

- Eboni Preston-Laurent, ELFA

Personal Connection 

An internship in and of itself will seldom compel a high-caliber individual to go to work for an organization full time, unless that organization pays attention to meeting that individual’s psychological needs. QuickFi conveys this by relying on the feedback, insights and perspectives of its interns to help drive and govern the strategic direction of the organization. Gibbons says, “We know that humans crave a sense of purpose, and a sense of connection. This was important to me when I started out in my career and entered the workforce, and it’s no different for the generations now entering the workforce.” 

Herman agrees that it is important for their interns to see the personality of their organization and meet senior leadership. He says, “We hold kickoff and closing meetings in which I meet with all interns. I think exposing interns to the whole company and its leadership has been a big reason so many of our interns end up making a career here.”

Back to School 

Internships are also a natural and necessary complement to a company’s other academic outreach and talent recruiting efforts, which for many equipment finance companies include the Foundation’s Guest Lecture Program. Yanuzzi believes a Guest Lecture college or university visit is the perfect place to find the best talent with a fresh perspective and great ideas. She observes, “When you go into college classrooms, students are impressed with the career opportunities in equipment finance, and the obvious next question is ‘How can I get an internship?’”  

“I think exposing interns to the whole company and its leadership has been a big reason so many of our interns end up making a career here.”  

- Miles Herman, LEAF Commercial Capital, Inc.


QuickFi is heavily involved in the academic space and has connections with several in-state and out-of-state colleges and universities in the Rochester, New York region, home to numerous prestigious colleges and universities. “Our ongoing relationship with them allows us to continually give back, while gaining exposure to the passionate, innovative minds that will shape our future. We speak to their classes about emerging trends in commercial lending, and explain why their students are uniquely positioned to facilitate significant, positive change to our industry,” says Gibbons. “In some cases we’ve gotten to the point where we’re actually embedded in the curriculum.”  

For a decade now, the Guest Lecture Program has been a key part of LEAF Commercial Capital, Inc.’s university broad-based student outreach and recruiting program that also leverages university job fairs, co-op centers and other opportunities to bring in a diverse range of new talent. Herman advises businesses looking to recruit new talent: “Take advantage of every opportunity to connect on campuses and ensure that your program goes beyond just giving interns experience in a certain business function.”   

As an added bonus, Yanuzzi has found that presenting at colleges and universities has made her a better leader. “I look at these young people and they’re kind of fearless, they have a lot to offer and their minds are quick, so I learn a lot from them also,” she says. “You leave the Guest Lecture with a sense of satisfaction that you may have made a difference in someone’s career path. It’s not only rewarding for the students but it’s equally rewarding for us as we are helping to strengthen the future of our industry that has given us so much.” 

“I hope everybody will add their company’s openings to the Foundation’s internship page.”  

- Donna Yanuzzi, 1st Equipment Finance (FNCB Bank)

Get the Word Out 

The Equipment Leasing & Finance Foundation has a free, online platform where students can search internship opportunities in the equipment finance industry. Companies are strongly encouraged to post the internships available in their organizations at the Internship Resources webpage (see link in Academic Outreach Resources sidebar). These internships are widely shared with students during Guest Lecture presentations and other outreach.  

“I hope everybody will add their company’s openings to the Foundation’s internship page,” Yanuzzi says. “We want to be able to point students to the list on the website and say, ‘Look at this wealth of companies offering opportunities for students just like you to come into this industry and work and stay.’ It helps you find talented people and helps get more talented people into our industry.”