By Nicole Deeken, 2022 Summer Intern.
Every year when summer rolls around, FCS Financial welcomes interns to experience the different sectors of the agriculture lending industry.
This summer we welcomed six interns. Hannah Anderson, Brooke Schnarre, and Nicole Deeken, marketplace interns; Caitlin Hicks, operations intern; and Valentina Hurtado-Uribe and Andrew Delphey, business interns.
Students selected to participate in the internship program receive the opportunity to travel among different branches throughout the state and shadow FCS Financial employees.
Interns gain insight into the company and its functions by working with loan officers, credit analysts, auditors, appraisers, financial service specialists, and crop insurance agents, among other positions.
After working in various positions throughout the first few weeks, interns customize the last two to four weeks to focus on their area(s) of interest. Along with gaining knowledge from various mentors, interns are responsible for completing a project throughout their time at the company.
At the end of the internship, the interns present their project and experience to leadership and the Board of Directors to showcase what they have accomplished.
Ultimately, each intern showcases a different experience and why they enjoyed their internship.
Brooke, a marketplace intern, is from Centralia, Missouri. She grew up on a diversified cattle and row crop operation. Through her family’s involvement with agriculture, she was able to develop a great relationship with FCS Financial.
“I decided to apply because my family has always been very involved with Farm Credit. They were a very good organization and family orientated,” she says.
Brooke has enjoyed seeing the “behind the scenes” of the operation after working with loan officer, Joe Abbott, since she was young. She has thoroughly enjoyed her experience and found a passion for crop insurance which she dove into deeper during the final four weeks of the internship.
Hannah is from Cole Camp, Missouri, where she grew up on a small cattle operation. Coming in with an open mind, the marketplace internship has exceeded Hannah’s expectations as well.
“It’s crazy how much of a priority they make you feel like here, they really want you to enjoy your internship. Everyone is so nice to you and wants to teach you,” she explains when describing the employee atmosphere.
Hannah has primarily spent her time traveling around the central area of the state. During her time in those offices, she realized her interest in the loan officer and appraisal roles.
With focus being on the customers and their needs, she feels these positions really allow her to make a difference in the farmers lives and on their operations.
The marketplace internship has been a great new learning experience for Nicole, a marketplace intern. Nicole is from Linn, Missouri, where she grew up on a diversified hog, cattle, and row crop operation.
She has gained an abundance of knowledge from passionate individuals she explains, “I love seeing the interactions between customers and how trusting they are. I have seen so many cool farming operations and met so many caring people here at FCS.”
The loan officer and crop insurance positions have stood out most to Nicole because of the customer interaction. She hopes to continue gaining knowledge and building relationships that she will carry into the future.
The operations internship was a perfect fit for Caitlin, who will soon be graduating Mizzou with a master’s degree in accounting. Caitlin is from Mount Vernon, Missouri, where she began expanding her knowledge of agriculture during her time in her local FFA chapter.
She has been employed with FCS Financial part-time for about a year and a half.
She used the internship to help discover her future career path and shadow different departments of the company that reflect other areas of interest.
“My expectations were to grow my knowledge about FCS Financial and other departments. There are other areas in the departments that I really didn’t know a whole lot about,” she says.
Appraisal and audit have been departments that Caitlin has enjoyed gaining knowledge from and will continue to expand on.
Valentina and Andrew, being part of the Latino community, found FCS Financials’ business internship to be a great opportunity to learn more about the agriculture lending industry while connecting with Latino farmers.
“It’s a paid internship, you get a ton of knowledge, and you get to meet a lot of people who are good at their job and passionate about it,” Andrew says. “So, if you really want any type of business knowledge, this is a good place to get it.”
Andrew is from Oswego, Illinois, and began learning Spanish as a child. During junior year of college, he studied abroad in Spain for a semester to continue expanding on his Spanish heritage.
Valentina is an international graduate student from Colombia where her family is involved in coffee bean farming and the chicken processing industry.
The internship has impacted Valentina by changing her perspective on Colombian agriculture, “Working here and seeing how important Missouri agriculture is makes me want to get more involved in my family farm.”
They have both enjoyed gaining more knowledge about the business industry and expanding their view of agriculture.
Each intern at FCS Financial is given the opportunity to have an individualized experience. The ability to expand their skill set and gain knowledge about the agricultural and financial industries is something each intern values and will take into future career endeavors.
FCS Financial values the opportunity to mentor talented, college students and provide the opportunity to find clarity in their passions moving forward. Focusing on the younger generation to create leaders for the future makes internships a valuable piece for successful companies such as FCS Financial.
The deadline to apply for next summer’s internships is in early November. Find more information about our internship online.
