Husker Internships: Will's Finance Intern Experiences

College of Business Author

07/17/2025 Added

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Will Blatchford, economics and finance major from Lincoln, Nebraska, talks with Assistant Dean Rachel Larson about his internship experiences at NBC Trust Company, Skyline Advisors and Solomon Partners, and how the College of Business at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln helped him get them. He minors in accounting. Will is involved in Wall Street Scholars of Nebraska, the Nebraska Business Honors Academy and Beta Theta Pi fraternity.

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[00:00:00.400]Hello, my name is Rachel Larson
[00:00:02.400]and I'm the Assistant Dean of
[00:00:03.600]Academic and Career Development
[00:00:05.040]at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln
[00:00:06.580]College of Business. Part of my
[00:00:08.500]role is to help students
[00:00:09.840]find their career paths after
[00:00:11.530]graduation, so I'm so excited
[00:00:13.250]to talk to you today with
[00:00:14.640]Will Blatchford, who's going to
[00:00:15.900]tell us a little bit about his
[00:00:16.970]internships opportunities. Hi,
[00:00:18.720]super happy to be here. Thanks
[00:00:20.000]for having me. Excellent. Well,
[00:00:21.600]so where are you from? What's
[00:00:22.640]your major? Yeah, from Lincoln,
[00:00:24.310]Nebraska. I graduated from Pius X
[00:00:25.830]High School. I'm currently
[00:00:27.280]majoring in Finance and
[00:00:28.540]Economics at UNL. I've enjoyed
[00:00:30.290]every part of it so far and
[00:00:31.610]going into
[00:00:31.920]my junior year now. Well, I
[00:00:33.330]know that as a rising junior,
[00:00:34.800]it's pretty incredible that you've
[00:00:35.840]already
[00:00:36.080]had a couple internship
[00:00:37.110]opportunities, so tell us a
[00:00:38.330]little bit about those. Yeah,
[00:00:39.840]for sure. So,
[00:00:40.720]my first internship that I
[00:00:41.830]actually completed was an
[00:00:42.950]investment internship with NBC
[00:00:44.320]Trust Company.
[00:00:44.960]NBC Trust Company is a wealth
[00:00:46.460]management shop in the south
[00:00:47.910]side of Lincoln with around 10
[00:00:49.520]employees. It was a super great
[00:00:50.810]experience. It was one year
[00:00:51.970]through the school year and
[00:00:53.120]a little bit of the summer.
[00:00:54.800]What I got to do there was, you
[00:00:56.500]know, hands-on,
[00:00:57.280]work with client portfolios. I
[00:00:58.960]got to make recommendations for
[00:01:00.580]investments that we put
[00:01:01.680]into client portfolios and it
[00:01:03.100]was really just a great
[00:01:04.170]experience overall working with
[00:01:05.790]a small team,
[00:01:06.400]a lot of autonomy, and being
[00:01:07.910]able to, you know, get my foot
[00:01:09.510]in the workplace and learn some
[00:01:11.060]soft
[00:01:11.280]skills as well was great. And
[00:01:13.020]then I currently am starting an
[00:01:14.760]internship with Skyline Advisors.
[00:01:16.800]It's an investment bank in
[00:01:18.350]Omaha, Nebraska, and there I'll
[00:01:20.380]get a lot of work in Excel,
[00:01:22.000]PowerPoint, doing financial
[00:01:23.370]modeling and valuations for
[00:01:24.640]companies. And so it's super
[00:01:26.000]exciting work and it's, you
[00:01:27.120]know, it's a lot of fun. So,
[00:01:27.120]yeah, it's a lot of fun.
[00:01:27.120]It's something that I've
[00:01:28.000]prepared for for a while, so I'm
[00:01:29.180]super excited to get into it.
[00:01:30.400]That's great. Well, how did you
[00:01:32.330]find these opportunities?
[00:01:33.760]Yeah, so Skyline Advisors, I
[00:01:35.470]found that internship through
[00:01:37.280]Wall Street Scholars.
[00:01:38.720]Skyline recruits directly from
[00:01:40.000]Wall Street Scholars. They
[00:01:41.180]usually take one intern a year
[00:01:43.440]from the group. And this year I
[00:01:45.260]was lucky enough to perform
[00:01:46.820]well on my interview and
[00:01:48.320]eventually land
[00:01:48.960]the role. But a lot of like the
[00:01:51.470]internship for NBC Trust
[00:01:53.490]Company, that one I found by,
[00:01:56.000]you know, I
[00:01:56.960]was just really trying to get
[00:01:58.140]my foot in the door with
[00:01:59.090]finance and, you know, going on
[00:02:00.580]Google Maps
[00:02:01.200]and seeing every finance, you
[00:02:02.700]know, spot in Lincoln or Omaha.
[00:02:04.360]Where can I get my foot in the
[00:02:05.680]door? Eventually, cold emailed
[00:02:07.570]a couple of the guys at NBC
[00:02:08.890]Trust Company. They saw my
[00:02:10.410]email,
[00:02:10.960]they responded. And the next
[00:02:12.190]day we had a coffee chat and
[00:02:13.220]got an interview from there.
[00:02:14.560]And so,
[00:02:15.200]you know, putting putting the
[00:02:16.870]preparation in and, you know,
[00:02:18.320]really wanting to get that
[00:02:19.760]experience
[00:02:20.480]I think would help me.
[00:02:21.600]Yeah, I love that, like hard,
[00:02:23.140]like groundwork effort that you
[00:02:24.670]put into that first internship.
[00:02:26.400]That's pretty cool.
[00:02:26.800]But you also mentioned Wall
[00:02:28.960]Street Scholars of Nebraska,
[00:02:30.880]which is a student organization
[00:02:32.510]here on campus. So tell me a
[00:02:34.020]little bit more about that
[00:02:35.380]group.
[00:02:35.760]Yeah, so Wall Street Scholars
[00:02:37.530]is an investment banking
[00:02:38.600]private equity focused group.
[00:02:39.920]Currently, we have around 40
[00:02:41.830]students. And essentially, we
[00:02:43.760]meet twice a week. One of the
[00:02:45.920]meetings usually consists of
[00:02:47.260]bringing in a speaker, whether
[00:02:48.700]that's currently an investment
[00:02:50.250]banker or
[00:02:51.280]a private equity associate, or
[00:02:52.900]maybe it's an alumni from the
[00:02:54.340]group. Whatever they do usually
[00:02:56.080]involving
[00:02:56.640]corporate finance, they come in,
[00:02:58.350]they might give a little
[00:02:59.480]presentation on where they are,
[00:03:01.090]what they
[00:03:01.280]do at their firm. And then we
[00:03:02.450]have the opportunity to ask
[00:03:03.550]questions to them. So those
[00:03:05.260]Wednesday,
[00:03:06.080]those are usually Wednesday
[00:03:07.060]night meetings, those are great.
[00:03:08.310]And then Thursday night
[00:03:09.200]meetings, we
[00:03:09.680]have technical meetings, which
[00:03:11.360]are, you know, preparing the
[00:03:12.920]underclassmen for interviews,
[00:03:14.640]whether it be going over
[00:03:16.080]accounting, valuation, discounted
[00:03:18.460]cash flow analysis, just really
[00:03:20.560]getting
[00:03:20.880]those hard skills honed into
[00:03:22.160]the underclassmen. So when they
[00:03:23.690]get to these interviews for
[00:03:24.920]these high
[00:03:25.520]finance jobs, they're going to
[00:03:26.480]be able to do a lot of the work
[00:03:26.480]that they're supposed to be
[00:03:26.480]doing.
[00:03:27.120]They can ace them.
[00:03:28.240]That's awesome. Well, and I
[00:03:29.980]know you mentioned networking
[00:03:31.760]and interviewing, which is a
[00:03:33.450]bit of
[00:03:33.920]part of our curriculum,
[00:03:35.170]actually. So as an empowered
[00:03:36.630]professional, we have what is
[00:03:38.130]called
[00:03:38.640]our professional enhancement
[00:03:40.110]program. So this is a series of
[00:03:41.610]four classes that students are
[00:03:43.060]required
[00:03:43.600]to take to help them be
[00:03:44.590]confident, professional and
[00:03:46.010]connected by the time that they
[00:03:47.430]graduate.
[00:03:48.080]So tell me a little bit more
[00:03:49.410]about what you've learned in
[00:03:50.860]those particular courses.
[00:03:52.480]Yeah, so I would say that BSAD
[00:03:54.680]222 through the
[00:03:56.320]Professional Enhancement
[00:03:57.540]Program was definitely the most
[00:03:58.980]impactful on me so far. I took
[00:04:01.190]it my
[00:04:01.680]second semester of freshman
[00:04:03.440]year. And I think what I gained
[00:04:05.420]most from that was just
[00:04:07.120]learning
[00:04:07.920]how to build my resume and how
[00:04:09.700]to present myself to
[00:04:10.980]professionals, including the
[00:04:13.000]practice networking
[00:04:14.160]event that we had, talking to
[00:04:15.940]employers, knowing how those
[00:04:17.760]conversations go and practicing
[00:04:19.540]those
[00:04:19.760]conversations, knowing what
[00:04:21.150]questions to ask, and just how
[00:04:22.520]to behave in a professional
[00:04:23.840]environment
[00:04:24.240]like that, really helped me a
[00:04:25.800]lot. And then the second
[00:04:26.160]semester of freshman year, I
[00:04:26.160]took it my
[00:04:26.160]second semester of freshman
[00:04:26.190]year, I took it my second
[00:04:26.200]semester of freshman year, I
[00:04:26.220]took it my
[00:04:26.320]when it came to the summer when
[00:04:27.280]it was really time for me to
[00:04:28.320]network with other
[00:04:28.910]professionals.
[00:04:29.520]It was just really good to have
[00:04:31.140]that practice and then also an
[00:04:32.880]instructor to guide me
[00:04:34.000]throughout
[00:04:34.240]that process and really hone in
[00:04:36.000]on my resume and and find what
[00:04:37.620]sticks and find what's going to
[00:04:39.410]make
[00:04:39.520]me pop out to an employer. So
[00:04:40.990]what other classes here at the
[00:04:43.200]University of Nebraska-Lincoln
[00:04:44.560]have
[00:04:44.720]been beneficial for you as you've
[00:04:46.400]gone through your internships?
[00:04:48.160]What have you learned and been
[00:04:49.600]able to apply in them? Yeah, I'd
[00:04:51.280]say there's
[00:04:52.000]definitely a few courses that I've
[00:04:53.550]taken that have fit well into
[00:04:54.780]my internships and really
[00:04:56.000]given me the experience that I
[00:04:57.980]needed to excel. I mean, I
[00:04:59.640]would say first off, my
[00:05:00.720]internship with
[00:05:01.200]Scotland Advisors. You really
[00:05:02.700]need to understand the
[00:05:03.710]accounting basics and what
[00:05:05.360]makes what makes
[00:05:06.720]those income statements drive.
[00:05:08.050]And so I think, you know,
[00:05:09.050]Accounting 201, Accounting 313,
[00:05:11.040]those
[00:05:11.280]financial accounting courses
[00:05:13.150]have been super helpful for me.
[00:05:15.190]The instructors have been super
[00:05:16.560]helpful. They really just make
[00:05:18.720]every, every piece of the
[00:05:20.390]puzzle clear. And that's what I
[00:05:22.860]needed to
[00:05:23.120]know for my internships. And
[00:05:24.240]that's, I needed those
[00:05:25.080]accounting basics.
[00:05:25.840]I needed those accounting
[00:05:26.550]basics to really understand
[00:05:27.520]what I'm doing.
[00:05:28.480]And they've done a super great
[00:05:29.980]job in making me understand
[00:05:31.370]those concepts.
[00:05:32.400]That's great. I know Warren
[00:05:33.790]Buffett said that accounting is
[00:05:35.260]the language of business.
[00:05:36.400]So even with your finance and
[00:05:37.840]economics degrees, accounting
[00:05:39.380]is still very helpful with that.
[00:05:40.640]Exactly. Yeah, that's that's
[00:05:42.050]actually I actually added in
[00:05:43.170]accounting minor, partly
[00:05:44.400]because I mean,
[00:05:45.280]you see that on the walls here
[00:05:46.410]at UNL and you see how
[00:05:47.190]successful Warren Buffett was
[00:05:48.440]and you see,
[00:05:49.040]you know, you have to
[00:05:50.240]understand accounting to to
[00:05:51.860]really immerse yourself in
[00:05:53.420]finance. And so I can I
[00:05:55.680]couldn't agree more. But I mean,
[00:05:56.710]I feel like everyone agrees
[00:05:57.510]with Warren Buffett, everything
[00:05:58.560]he
[00:05:58.720]says. But yeah. Great. Well,
[00:06:02.160]what is something that you've
[00:06:03.360]accomplished in your past
[00:06:05.280]internship
[00:06:06.080]that you are really proud of?
[00:06:08.000]Yeah. So I'd say at NBC Trust
[00:06:09.910]Company,
[00:06:10.800]one of the things that I was
[00:06:12.130]most proud of was I had the
[00:06:13.380]opportunity to build a three
[00:06:14.880]financial
[00:06:15.280]statement model on a public
[00:06:16.700]company in the health care
[00:06:18.040]industry. And that's something
[00:06:19.810]that I had
[00:06:20.400]never done before. I really
[00:06:21.900]hadn't taken up a task like
[00:06:23.260]that. I had previously worked
[00:06:24.860]in the Big Red
[00:06:25.520]Investment Club building a
[00:06:26.870]little less complicated model,
[00:06:28.500]but, you know, really immersing
[00:06:30.160]myself in
[00:06:30.720]this company and digging into
[00:06:32.170]their 10K and seeing what makes
[00:06:33.840]them tick and eventually being
[00:06:35.360]able to
[00:06:35.680]present a presentation to my
[00:06:37.710]boss to make an investment
[00:06:39.580]investment recommendation on a
[00:06:41.920]public
[00:06:42.240]company was something that was
[00:06:43.990]super exciting for me. A lot of
[00:06:45.790]autonomy, too. I learned a ton
[00:06:47.760]and I
[00:06:48.800]was eventually able to make a
[00:06:50.730]presentation and present it and
[00:06:52.670]it would actually influence the
[00:06:54.800]decision on a public company.
[00:06:55.360]And so I think that's something
[00:06:55.360]that I'm really proud of.
[00:06:55.360]And I think that's something
[00:06:55.460]that I'm really proud of. And
[00:06:55.650]so I think that's something
[00:06:56.040]that I'm
[00:06:56.160]really proud of. And so I think
[00:06:56.810]that's something that I'm
[00:06:57.360]really proud of. And so I think
[00:06:57.360]that's
[00:06:57.360]something that I'm really proud
[00:06:57.410]of. And so I think that's
[00:06:57.430]something that I'm really proud
[00:06:57.470]of.
[00:06:57.600]That was something that was
[00:06:58.480]super awesome for me to do as
[00:07:00.320]an intern.
[00:07:01.040]That's awesome. So what's next
[00:07:03.280]for you? I know you're a rising
[00:07:04.440]junior. So
[00:07:05.200]after this internship, what are
[00:07:07.800]your ideas and thoughts of the
[00:07:09.840]rest of your college experience?
[00:07:11.600]Yeah. So after Skyline Advisors,
[00:07:14.240]I'm set to go to Chicago and
[00:07:16.160]intern at
[00:07:16.800]Solomon Partners as an
[00:07:17.640]investment making analyst in
[00:07:18.740]their business services group.
[00:07:20.080]And that's kind of my goal is
[00:07:22.220]to eventually get there and
[00:07:24.380]work hard
[00:07:25.200]on an internship and eventually
[00:07:26.730]hopefully receive a full time
[00:07:28.150]offer after that and
[00:07:29.120]hopefully go full time in
[00:07:30.490]Chicago after that. But, you
[00:07:32.320]know, that's kind of the
[00:07:32.960]professional goals.
[00:07:33.680]But I mean, here while I'm at
[00:07:34.880]UNL, I've only got two years
[00:07:36.080]left and I just want to
[00:07:36.960]continue to make
[00:07:38.080]the most of it and build those
[00:07:39.340]relationships with those
[00:07:40.490]friends that I have and
[00:07:41.490]continue
[00:07:42.000]to make new ones. Just kind of
[00:07:43.820]enjoy my time while I'm here.
[00:07:45.760]Well, you've definitely maximized
[00:07:47.600]your
[00:07:47.840]first two years of college. And
[00:07:49.340]so I have no qualms that you're
[00:07:50.640]going to do that again for
[00:07:51.840]the rest of your experience. So
[00:07:53.170]thanks for chatting with us
[00:07:54.290]today, Will.
[00:07:55.040]Yeah. Thanks for having me.

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Husker Internships: Will's Finance Intern Experiences

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