When Dext Capital planned its first internship program, the expectations were modest. Bring in a handful of undergraduates, rotate them through the company’s departments and let them take small tasks off busy teams. By the time the 14-week program wrapped on Sept. 18, the interns had automated workflows, analyzed vendor pricing, underwritten small-ticket deals and presented a capstone project to the Oregon-based lender’s senior leadership team.

The three interns — Rayne Domingo and Adi Saravanan of the University of Oregon, and Quinn McNamee of Oregon State University — started June 15 as juniors headed into their senior year. They arrived knowing little about equipment finance. Saravanan didn’t even know what “equipment” meant in this context. They left with a working understanding of how a deal moves from application to funding, and one of them has already signed on to come back.

For an industry that regularly talks about the need for new talent, the program offers a template other lenders can borrow.

Building a Pipeline

The program grew from a simple problem. Equipment finance rarely appears in a college curriculum, even for finance majors, and Dext was growing quickly enough that it needed a steady supply of capable people.

“Dext launched its internship program to introduce undergraduate students to equipment finance and give those interested in the broader finance industry an opportunity to gain real-world experience,” Danielle Shields, CLFP, vice president and human resources director at Dext Capital, says. “At the same time, the program allows us to build a strong pipeline of talented individuals entering the workforce.”

Shields designed the program and recruited the class with Rodolfo Pineda Campos, an HR associate who also mentored the interns. Dext attended career fairs for the first time this year, visiting Oregon State, Portland State University and the University of Oregon. Shields says Dext wants to be “a company that students actively seek out, whether through their experience in our internship program, relationships we build with universities or word of mouth.”

Conrad Nilsen, CPA, CLFP, chief financial officer at Dext Capital, sees the effort as an investment in the industry and the company. “Building a pipeline of student talent is a great opportunity to advance the next generation of professionals in our industry,” he says. “Most students are unlikely to encounter equipment finance in school, but it offers tremendous career opportunities across finance, credit, operations, technology, sales and many other disciplines.”

A Rotation With a Home Base

Because Dext’s teams work together in one office, Shields built the program as a rotation that let interns see every stage of a transaction up close. The first week served as a crash course. The interns reported to HR, where Shields gave them an overview of the industry and a preview of each department, and modules from the Equipment Leasing & Finance Association provided foundational knowledge.

Each intern then followed an individual schedule that moved through a different department each week, mixing shadowing with real tasks that helped the host team. The early rotations leaned toward finance, accounting and credit.

Week one also included an assignment that sounds simple but taught a lot. Each intern had to pick someone in every department to interview, then reach out, schedule the meeting and work around the person’s calendar without help. The exercise gave the interns a contact in each area to call when questions came up.

Domingo says the interviews brought the whole company into focus. “The employee interviews during week one were an excellent way to meet employees across each department and understand the impact they have on the company. After completing the interviews, I found that I could piece together the full deal flow and better understand how Dext Capital operates as a business.”

Saravanan says the payoff lasted well past week one: “Interviewing someone in each department gave us a peek into each department, but more importantly gave us someone to reach out to during the rotation in order to learn more.”

Social events rounded out the experience. The interns joined lunch-and-learns, Tuesday lunches with different departments, the company picnic and a credit and operations week. They also lunched individually with each executive, with those meals spread throughout the program. “Talking to the leaders of the company in this setting was an opportunity I am extremely grateful for, as I know it’s not something most people experience,” Saravanan says.

Domingo agrees. “I enjoyed being able to build relationships in a more casual setting and learn about them beyond just their roles,” Domingo says. “It contributed to a very comfortable and welcoming workplace environment, too.”

More Than Busywork

Dext expected to assign small projects that would keep the interns productive. The interns quickly outgrew them. Departments handed over work that had sat on the back burner for lack of time, particularly daily tasks ripe for automation, and the interns’ fluency with AI made them a natural fit.

Nilsen says the quality of the questions set this group apart. “They asked great questions because they wanted to understand the ‘why’ behind what we do and weren’t afraid to engage with contributors and subject-matter experts at every level of our organization,” he says. “That kind of curiosity and willingness to learn is exactly what you hope to see in an internship program.”

Shields saw the same traits. “What stood out to me most was how they were able to take ownership of meaningful projects and deliver results that had a tangible impact on our team’s day-to-day workflow,” she says.

Scott Eshleman, chief risk officer at Dext Capital, says the group left a mark: “The first group of ‘Dexterns’ set a high bar for future groups as they were eager to learn, willing to take on projects and were determined to make a lasting impact on Dext.” 

The Capstone

The interns saved their biggest project for last. On Sept. 17, presenting as “The Guinea Pigs,” they walked the senior leadership team through the summer: what the experience delivered, what they noticed about the company, where Dext is strong and where it could improve.

They also cataloged their work. McNamee, a computer science major, built a daily cash distribution automation for finance and worked on a sentiment analyzer for IT. Saravanan analyzed Salesforce logins for IT and a vendor analysis for credit. Domingo, who is studying business administration with a finance focus, ran a credit-vendor project that compared vendors’ services with Dext’s monthly invoices to see whether pricing is reasonable and negotiable, and built a toggle that breaks out write-offs by sales channel for finance. Domingo also underwrote a few small-ticket deals.

Their observations were largely complimentary. They described a company with consistent deal flow, a tech-forward approach, a growing presence in channels such as data centers and specialty trucks, and a supportive culture in which teams help one another.

The gap they flagged came straight from the rotation. As Dext grows, queues grow faster and take longer to clear, and departments that rarely interact often don’t know what the others do. The interns suggested department education: short sessions in which teams explain what they own, what they need from others and where work gets stuck. Dext sees value in the idea and will likely incorporate aspects of it as the concept develops, though the final approach may look different from what the interns proposed. The company has already tried a version of it, a “Day in the Life” workshop during operations week. 

“Through the rotational program, they gained visibility into how each function operates day to day and recognized that greater transparency across departments could benefit the company as a whole,” Shields says. “Their unique perspective helped them spot redundancies and inefficiencies, as well as opportunities to strengthen employees’ understanding of how other functions work and contribute to the business.”

What Surprised Them

The interns kept returning to adaptability.

“The most surprising thing was the wide array of equipment and software that can be financed, especially the recent GPU and AI deals,” McNamee says.

Saravanan reached a similar conclusion: “I think what I took away as the biggest eye-opener is how versatile and adaptable equipment finance is. As new technology and innovations occur, equipment finance is able to support.”

Domingo was struck by how many people it takes to close a transaction: “I was surprised by the number of departments involved and the level of collaboration required across companies in the industry.”

Credit Leaves a Mark

All three interns singled out the credit department as the rotation that stood out most.

For McNamee, the draw was the auto decision team: “What stood out to me was how many factors we analyze when evaluating the creditworthiness of a potential lessee.” 

The rotation also showed McNamee the pace of the business: “I got to see how efficiently and quickly deals move from underwriting to funding.”

Saravanan says he didn’t realize how much depth the discipline holds: “As a finance major, I never knew credit was so intricate. Observing the parameters used for certain equipment types, methods to check credit and seeing how the credit teams’ work differs really stood out to me.”

Domingo, who learned about underwriting, risk analysis and financial spreads in the department, says the experience shaped what comes next. “From the internship, I am further compelled to look into credit and finance careers that combine analytical thinking and narrative work,” Domingo says.

Coming Back

The program was built to create a path back to Dext after graduation, and one intern is already on it. McNamee will return soon as Dext’s new AI engineering associate on its Innovation team, working three days a week in the Portland, OR office while finishing his senior year at Oregon State. Dext hopes to create opportunities for the other interns to return as well. 

“Companies like Dext are very tech-forward, and with my background in computer science and automation work I did this summer, I could see myself coming back to put my specialized knowledge to use,” McNamee says.

Domingo, who is graduating in 2027, sees a fit. “The equipment finance industry has the right balance of individual and collaborative work that I value,” Domingo says. “I had the space to focus on my own responsibilities while still maintaining the people-aspect of the job.”

Saravanan sees opportunity in the range of work. “Deal structure, financing options and how we interact with lenders give a broad variety of experience within the realm of finance which I am interested in,” Saravanan says. 

Nilsen says that kind of enthusiasm is what makes an internship program valuable” “Seeing the growth and opportunities available at Dext firsthand, these interns expressed a strong desire to return after graduation. That’s one of the greatest benefits of a strong internship program: it allows us to build relationships with talented students early in their careers while introducing new perspectives and capabilities into our industry.”

Advice for Other Lenders

For lenders thinking about launching their own programs, Shields offers a straightforward recommendation: build around how the organization really operates.

“For companies considering an internship program, my advice would be to build the program around how your organization actually operates and create opportunities for interns to make meaningful contributions,” Shields says. “There is tremendous value in bringing in fresh perspectives, particularly from students who are entering the workforce at a time when technology and the way we work are evolving so quickly.”

Eshleman sees a bigger reason to try: “Developing a pipeline of young talent is important for Dext since it will take new leaders and thought processes to continue to grow the company for decades to come.”

Dext’s first cohort of interns is back on campus, and they’re making the case for the industry. “As a finance major, the opportunities are plentiful,” Saravanan says. “I think if more people got the exposure to equipment finance like the other interns and I did, there could be more exposure to this opportunity-filled industry.” 

That is the case Dext hoped the program would make: that a student who started the summer unsure what “equipment finance” means can finish it wanting to bring more classmates into the field.•

Rita E. Garwood is editor in chief of Monitor.