Legal Executive Review

Overall, the placement experience at SAP for me was outstanding. I was given an immense amount of responsibility and I was really made to feel that I was impacting the business by the work that I was conducting.

During my placement at SAP, my team were nothing short of amazing. The support they provided was constantly of a high standard and were always willing to go out of there way to ensure that I was comfortable and developing within my role.

I always liked to use my initiative so never really like to rely on my manager or my team to solve every problem that I encountered. However, if I ever needed that support to escalate issues that I was not able to deal with or needed advice on how to go about handling the situation, my Manager's door was always open. I had quarterly reviews with my Manager to review my progress and offer any guidance. This was very beneficial as my Manager collecting feedback from different stakeholders within the business to understand where I needed to develop,

When I first started at SAP, I hit the ground running. The workload was heavy and I needed to learn a lot of complicated skills very quickly. During this early stage, I did feel that the workload was heavy and struggled to balance my workload. After the initial induction period, I became more accustomed with the role and could complete tasks quickly than before. At this point, I learnt how to manage my workload and became more confident within my ability. I was still busy on a daily basis but once you know how, the workload is manageable.

SAP prides themselves on giving their interns real business roles and treats them as a full time members of staff. After 13 months, for me, I can safely state that this is certainly the case. I had my own workload and responsibilities to take care of and was treated the same as the senior members of the legal team.

I spent a lot of time training "on the job" at SAP. I was constantly working with the other legal counsels to gain an understanding of the different skills needed to succeed as a lawyer. Due to the fact I was given this role with a lot of responsibility, I learnt a massive amount in a short amount of time. Skills that I will use throughout the rest of my professional career include professionalism, attention to detail, negotiations and analytic skills to name just a few.

The atmosphere within my team and the office was amazing. Our department would always celebrate birthdays together with champagne and cake and there was always plenty of socials to attend. SAP is a prime example of a company who rewards their staff for working hard.

As the second legal intern, I came into the role with a good structure already being established for managing the intern.You are allocated a Buddy so you are able to have that one person that you can lean on for support.

Working in the legal team, I got the opportunity to attend different seminars with the rest of the department. This was a great experience to see how solicitors work on their development once qualified and what topics they cover. SAP also offers different personal development courses that Interns can attend.

SAP does not offer training contracts for their legal department. Therefore, it is unlikely that I will return to this firm if I continue to pursue a legal career. However, they have offered full time jobs to a selected amount of interns. It could be a possibility to return to this company but working within a different capacity.

I was always attending socials with my team. We worked closely together so often enjoyed spending time unwinding together also. There was also opportunities to attend socials with the other interns including drinks, comedy nights and trips.

The further you go into London the more expensive it got, therefore it wasn't a weekly occurrence to socialize in the city. However, there was plenty of surrounding areas where you could enjoy spending time with colleagues which didn't break the bank including Richmond and Windsor.

There are few places to go out within Feltham, however there are good transport links into the City to find a good place to drink.

SAP supports many local charities and encourages staff to give back to the community. I was also invited to Wimbledon and Ascot which was a great experience.