Cambridge hosts a welcome banquet at the beginning of each summer program which allows the intern group to become acquainted with members of the Cambridge Team. This event kick starts the summer and helps the interns build friendships. The event begins with introductions by executives and is quickly followed by a catered meal from a local restaurant. Individuals such as President and CEO Amy Webber speak at the event, offering useful insight and tips for making the best of The Next Step® program.

Interns have the opportunity to participate in Cambridge sponsored courses throughout the summer. Several courses are required, but interns have the flexibility to enroll in additional courses to better equip themselves with the knowledge necessary to find success in a corporate setting. Courses consist of resume workshops, problem solving, proper work etiquette, along with an analysis and in-depth look at interviewing tips and techniques from the Human Resources Team.

Throughout the summer, Cambridge hosts a variety of events where interns have the opportunity to socialize in a relaxed setting with fellow interns as well as senior executives. Many interns have expressed that the intern social events are the best way to network and socialize with Cambridge associates who are sometimes harder to reach during work hours.

Throughout The Next Step program, interns are invited to informational sessions that educate them on professional development and current issues. The events are catered and led by a variety of Cambridge teams and generally begin with presentations lasting from 10-15 minutes followed by a group discussion.

One of the requirements of The Next Step program is for the intern group to plan and organize a local volunteer event. The interns are granted a full day of paid time off in order to fulfill the project. This opportunity not only gives interns the ability to serve the local community, but it’s a great way to bond through volunteering.

Accounting –Commissions

The Accounting Department consists of several teams that specialize in commissions, fee billing and processing, accounting systems, financial reporting, and payroll. The Commissions Team pays our financial professional compensation based on commissionable transactions and collects debit balance payments from financial professionals. This team also handles compensation agreement setup, direct deposit authorization forms, licensing invoices, collection efforts, and garnishments.

Students studying accounting, management, finance, or business will likely be the most successful in this role. 

Office Assistant

The Office Assistant Team provides financial professionals the opportunity to have dedicated support staff for their business that works remotely out of the Cambridge home office. The team can provide financial professionals support with financial paperwork generation, submission, and follow up; client service including cashiering and account maintenance; reporting and planning; communicating with clients via phone, email, and mailings; scheduling client appointments; and updating client information in our client relationship management (CRM) system.

Students studying management, finance, banking, investments, or business administration will likely be the most successful in this role.

Executive Administrative Assistant

The Executive Administration Team is responsible for being the first line of support for our most senior leaders, the executive council members. This team coordinates meetings, travel logistics, and collects pertinent information for our executive team to make decisions. There is no detail too small for this team. The Executive Administrative Assistant intern will work in several departments within the company which will provide comprehensive exposure to many of the aspects of not only the company, but the industry as a whole, as well as Cambridge's role within the industry. Many of the skills utilized to execute daily and project-related duties are transferrable to other positions and industries thereby giving the intern real-world work experience.

Students studying office assistant or business specialist majors will likely be the most successful in this role.

Advocacy & Supervision

The Advocacy & Supervision Team is responsible for acting as advocates and relationship managers for Cambridge financial professionals with high-level items of importance including acceptance, process, policy, payout, and compliance. They are also empowered to review and make decisions and recommendations in a supervisory capacity for escalated items. This team’s purpose is to ensure the success of Cambridge and our financial professionals through balancing supervision and relationships through advocating for the firm and our clients utilizing Cambridge’s core values.

Students studying finance, marketing, or business analytics will likely be the most successful in this role. 

Compliance

The Compliance Department is comprised of a number of teams that are responsible for supporting regulatory compliance while providing excellent service to our Cambridge financial professionals and internal associates. The compliance teams include advertising, anti-money laundering, compliance support services, compliance communications, compliance technology, external audit, outside activity review, registration and licensing, resource center, and surveillance. Working with the Compliance Department allows our interns to learn the basic functions of a broker dealer as they relate to the regulatory environment we work in and how to service financial professional clients in the environment successfully.

Students studying finance or similar majors will likely be the most successful in this role. 

Fiduciary Services

The Fiduciary Services Department supports our financial professionals through regulatory and industry changes so that they can continue to provide their clients with exceptional customer service. In addition to providing guidance regarding new and existing regulations, the fiduciary services team reviews advisory paperwork, supervises financial planning activities of financial professionals, serves financial professionals with retirement plans, and provides sophisticated planning strategies. Fiduciary Services interns will gain an inside look at the lives of our financial professionals and at the different career options within Cambridge.

Students studying finance, economics, or business administration will likely be the most successful in this role. 

Investments and Insurance

The Investments and Insurance Teams are responsible for performing due diligence reviews on new insurance and investment products and product companies. These reviews take a deep dive into many different aspects of the product or companies and are typically ongoing reviews. The team’s mission is to support the highest quality and most diverse product offerings in the industry for our financial professionals and their clients while mitigating risk for Cambridge. This would be a great internship for someone interested in becoming a product analyst, a financial advisor, or a variety of other positions in the financial industry. 

Students studying management, finance, or business administration will likely be the most successful in this role. 

Human Resources

The Human Resources Team supports all departments across the company with the purpose to maximize and align the value of our workforce with the firm’s core values, culture, and initiatives. The team is made up of leadership, generalists, and benefits specialists. The Human Resources intern will get to serve as a generalist for the intern group as a whole.

Students studying business management, communications, or human resources will likely be the most successful in this role

HR Consulting

The HR Consulting Team supports financial professionals with the sourcing, hiring, and development of associates in their offices. The HR Consulting intern will get to serve as a recruiter and consultant to the financial professionals that use the service. 

Students studying business management, communications, or human resources will likely be the most successful in this role.

Cambridge’s Legal Team is responsible for protecting the firm, our financial professionals, and their clients by resolving problems and mitigating risk through offering guidance, support, and white glove customer service. This team handles contract negotiation and review, arbitration and litigation, and evaluates risk. The intern will have the unique opportunity to experience what it would be like to work as in-house, corporate counsel in a traditional legal role with the added layer of experiencing what it would be like to utilize their law degree in the context of compliance and risk work, a non-traditional role. The intern will be exposed to several areas of practice, including but not limited to securities law, contract law, employment law, and corporate governance as well as risk and compliance work.

Students studying management, finance, or business administration will likely be the most successful in this role. 

Client Solutions

The Client Solutions Team serves as a team of experts for our financial professionals that need assistance with finding financial planning solutions for specific high-net-worth clients. This team is also responsible for identifying financial professionals that could benefit from some of our Cambridge Source offerings. Cambridge Source is comprised of a menu of services, such as virtual office assistant, HR consulting, website design, etc., that financial professionals can elect to participate in for a fee.

Students studying sociology, economics, psychology, finance, or business will likely be the most successful in this role. 
 

Consulting Services

The Consulting Services Department is comprised of a number of Cambridge teams who are responsible for helping Cambridge Financial Professionals through strategic business coaching and professional consultation related to a variety of challenges. The Consulting Services intern will have the opportunity to work closely with our Practice Management, Business Consulting, Financial Institutions, and Success and Acquisition Solutions Teams. The Practice Management Team provides coaching and consulting our financial professionals and helps them understand Cambridge’s best practices so the financial professionals can have an efficient and profitable office. The Business Consulting team works with select financial professional offices to take a deep dive into their business plan to help them identify their strengths, weaknesses, and opportunities for growth. The Financial Institutions Team works with financial professionals who wish to grow their business through an arrangement with a bank or credit union. The Succession and Acquisition Solutions Team works with financial professionals who are interested in growing their business through a merger or acquisition, finding a successor, or structuring a buyout with an existing partner.
Students studying business, finance, or banking will likely be the most successful in this role. 
 

Graphic Design

The Public Relations and Creative Marketing Team facilitates financial professional and associate-directed communications. This team provides guidance on public relations and creative marketing initiatives while developing marketing collateral for the firm and its financial professionals. The team leads the firm’s initiatives in social media, internal website design, communication strategy, and both national and local advertising campaigns.

Students studying graphic design or similar majors will likely be the most successful in this role. 
 

Digital Marketing 

The Public Relations and Creative Marketing Team facilitates financial professional and associate-directed communications. This team provides guidance on public relations and creative marketing initiatives while developing marketing collateral for the firm and its financial professionals. The team leads the firm’s initiatives in social media, internal website design, communication strategy, and both national and local advertising campaigns.

Students studying data analytics, marketing, business administration, or similar majors will likely be the most successful in this role. 
 

Strategic Projects 

The Strategic Projects Team serves as the marketing arm of our Business Development Team. They are responsible for creating and implementing strategic marketing efforts to attract financial professionals to join Cambridge.
Students studying communications, digital/media communications, journalism, mass communications, event planning, marketing, or marketing management will likely be the most successful in this role. 
 

Website Designer

The Source Marketing Team works with Cambridge financial professionals to provide marketing solutions for their businesses. The team specializes in website design and development, copy writing, creative writing, digital ad campaigns, social media, search engine submissions, and google analytics. The team provides marketing consultations, content creation, editing, and graphic design as they create websites and print projects.

Students studying website design, graphic design, or similar majors will likely be the most successful in this role. 

Ops Learning Tracks

The Operations Team provides financial professionals the information, tools, support, and guidance necessary to conduct effective and efficient business with Cambridge. The team’s mission is to continually strive to enhance the experience they are delivering to their financial professionals and to understand the experience they are creating and execute on improvements. The Operations department is one of the larger departments at Cambridge and there is a vast array of knowledge that an intern can gain from internship experience. 

Students studying management, finance, business, education, or similar majors will likely be the most successful in this role. 

Project Management

The Project Management Team provides expert guidance and leadership to project teams through all phases of the project's life cycle, from initiation to closing. They strive to manage project constraints by ensuring project plans are implemented on schedule, within budget, and within scope while maintaining project alignment with the strategic goals and mission of Cambridge.

Students studying business administration, management, finance, business analytics, or information systems will likely be the most successful in this role. 

IS Software Developer

The Information Systems Team provides service to all Cambridge financial professionals, administrative staff, and home office associates. This team supports Cambridge’s purpose through four core capabilities: product portfolio management, architecture and engineering, agile delivery processes, and infrastructure and security. The software development team designs, develops, and tests software features and components. Any computer science graduate that is serious about getting their career off to a good start will be attracted by the modern software development practices and technologies in use at Cambridge. The intern will apply his or her knowledge of software development in a real-world environment. The work that the intern will do at Cambridge will combine the information from different courses into one project that help the intern gain an understanding of the bigger picture of software development.

Students studying computer science, computer information systems, or computer engineering will likely be the most successful in this role. 
 

IS DBA Data Science 

The Logical Database Administrator Team provides strategic governance of Cambridge’s enterprise data. The team supports Cambridge by working with business functions to optimize an Enterprise Data Model and by working with the IS/IT team to support data development, design guidance, and the review process.

Students studying computer science, data science, mathematics, or statistics will likely be the most successful in this role. 
 

IS Development Support

The Information Systems Team provides service to all Cambridge financial professionals, administrative staff, and home office associates. This team supports Cambridge’s purpose through four core capabilities: product portfolio management, architecture and engineering, agile delivery processes, and infrastructure and security. The Development Support Team provides software development life cycle tools, instructions, assistance, and support to development teams so that they are able to deliver stable products in a predictable and expedient manner. For an intern interested in exploring what test automation and how it fits into the Continuous Integration/Continuous Delivery (CI/CD) model, this will provide first-hand exposure. The intern will learn how to use cutting edge tools to build components of a fully automated suite of regression tests. This will be relevant background for anyone interested in a career in software development, testing, or CI/CD automation, all of which are being actively and continuously improved at Cambridge.

Students studying computer science, data science, mathematics, software development or a similar major will likely be the most successful in this role. 
 

IT Help Desk

The Information Technology Team supports and maintains computers and communications systems used at the home office. The team is the foundation for every electronic device that drives Cambridge’s success including: the phone system, exterior door security system, associate workstation computers, printers, fax machines, services, drives, and more. The team utilizes Microsoft Active Directory Forest.

Students studying MIS, computer administration, IT administration, and computer systems networking will likely be the most successful in this role. 
 

IT Production Support

The Information Technology Team supports and maintains computers, applications, and communications systems used at the home office. The Production Support Team helps support Cambridge applications, like CLIC and Salesforce, by updating, configuring, and troubleshooting problems. By actively monitoring and responding to incidents throughout our daily operational activities we add value because we keep our production environment healthy and running during critical hours of operation for our financial professionals. An intern on our team should possess the ability to troubleshoot issues that arise due to server performance, application performance, etc. both individually and in a cross-departmental capacity. An intern on this team should also have strong communication skills both verbally and written to assist in documentation of solutions to incidents, processes and more.

Students studying MIS, Computer Science, Infrastructure/Network Administration, or Computer Forensics will likely be the most successful in this role. 

Cambridge is an internally controlled financial solutions firm focused on serving independent financial professionals and their investing clients. These independent financial professionals offer investment advice to hundreds of thousands of clients across the United States to help them meet their financial goals. Cambridge is also a national corporation with a registered investment financial professional, as well as an industry leading independent broker-dealer.

The Next Step^® internship program is a 10-week, paid summer opportunity for college students. It provides a unique experience for college students to gain first-hand knowledge working in the financial services industry. You’ll be working side-by-side with talented Cambridge associates and leaders, getting real-world experience designed to better prepare you for your career, complete with a professional mentor. The goal of The Next Step internship program is to expose students to the career opportunities available within the financial services industry. Since we’re uniquely positioned in southeast Iowa, the atmosphere is in line with Midwest values, but offers career opportunities that you would find in much larger metropolitan areas. It’s a great place to live and learn.

Cambridge is located in Fairfield, Iowa. It is approximately an hour away from Iowa City, two hours from Des Moines, and five hours from Chicago. For air travel, many people use the Cedar Rapids or Des Moines airports.

For information regarding the current internship listings, please select Apply Now

Students who join Cambridge for The Next Step internship program spend the summer working as part of a departmental team within Cambridge. Each intern learns the ins and outs of Cambridge and how it fits into the overall financial services industry, while gaining practical experience in their distinct field of study. They have the opportunity to take courses through Cambridge’s Knowledge Center University, volunteer, and create a final presentation outlining what they have learned. Additionally, each intern is paired with a Cambridge mentor for career advice and professional development.

Students may also pursue Cambridge’s The Next Step financial professional internship program. This program is based at financial professional offices across the country and connects you with independent financial professionals interested in mentoring the next generation of financial services professionals.

Typically, the internship lasts 10 weeks, starting in May and ending in August.

Yes

All students enrolled full-time in a college or university and have completed one semester are eligible to apply. Students must also have at least one semester remaining after the completion of the internship to be considered.

Most interviews happen in the late fall and wrap up at the beginning of the year. We strive to have all internships filled by January 31.

Yes, interns typically work Monday through Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. CT in accordance with standard working hours at Cambridge.

Cambridge typically receives 600-700 applications each year.

Cambridge accepts 20-30 interns each summer throughout the company. Typically, a team takes on one intern and students work alongside experienced professionals who are able to help them learn and grow in their respective area.

Interns are offered 16 hours of paid time off (PTO) and eight hours of compensated volunteer time.

Cambridge offers interns the opportunity to live in corporate housing or dormitories at surrounding universities. Interns are able to live with fellow Cambridge interns throughout the duration of the summer to allow an easier relocation transition. Often, we see great friendships and networks created among students as they live and work together throughout the summer.

No, Cambridge offers a carpooling benefit and encourages associates to carpool with others. With associates from over nine surrounding counties, interns can find someone to carpool with easily through the carpool system. Carpoolers receive premium parking and a paid hour off each month.

Yes, roughly 30 percent of interns return to Cambridge for full-time positions after graduation.

Yes, some internship positions can be offered as college credit. It is the student’s responsibility to work with their academic advisor to ensure the internship meets the criteria of the school’s program and that the proper paperwork is filled out to meet requirements.

The Next Step internship program was launched in the summer of 2012.