While walking around London’s financial district, Jasleen Sahota promised herself that one day she would work in one of the capital’s towering skyscrapers.
It wouldn’t be long before the 22-year-old, who studies Business and Finance at De Montfort University Leicester (DMU), realised that dream and traded the Hugh Aston Building for the 38-storey Scalpel skyscraper.
Her opportunity to return to London came after landing a placement year at leading management software company SAP – albeit not the role she had originally thought she was applying for.
“I applied for the wrong role and got an interview for a business associate internship, not a finance associate,” Jasleen said. “I enjoyed the interviewing experience – I know that’s something not everyone says – but they really just wanted to get to know me and I felt I wanted the business associate role after the first interview.
“Everything worked out in the end. There were definitely times though where I was just admiring the view of the city from my desk.”
Jasleen passed the interviews and assessment centre with flying colours, finding herself working in the company’s Digital Value Advisory team, where she would work with clients across a range of industries including the public sector, retail, automotive and consumer products.
She would work on analysing financial statements before supporting the consultancy team to create a company case study to demonstrate how SAP’s software could help make businesses more efficient and profitable.
Jasleen said: “It honestly couldn’t have been better. The team were really respectful and I never felt burnt out but instead empowered to push my limits. I’d have weekly catch-ups with my manager to ensure the workload was manageable and I was only given tasks where the team thought I would benefit personally.
Growing up in Coventry, Jasleen became interested in pursuing a career in finance by watching her father build his own business as an electrician and her mother work as an accountant.
She knew her university experience had to combine her love of numbers with a broad understanding of business and felt that DMU’s Business and Finance course would give her what she needed. The opportunity to complete a placement year sealed the deal on studying in Leicester.
The support available to students through the award-winning DMU Careers Team was the cherry on top and Jasleen utilised their CV and cover letter writing sessions to help her secure the placement with SAP.
Jasleen said: “I watched my mum and dad work together to build a business and was very interested. They always instilled in me that university would open up more opportunities for me and help me get into higher positions.
“As soon as I started my second year I was immediately applying for placements. I knew having a whole year in industry would give me a head start in my career, not just because I could put it on my CV but because I’d also have an idea of what I want to do when I graduate.
“A lot of the modules I’m learning now I can apply to real-life scenarios because of my placement. My time management and teamwork improved and I can balance my work/study life better.”
Despite being mostly off-campus during her first year due to the Covid-19 pandemic, Jasleen has flourished socially and will look back on her time with the Sikh Society as one of her DMU highlights.
“My first year was online but as I got to my second year, I started to get the proper university experience. I was going out a lot more and met some great, like-minded people,” she said.
“I’d urge anyone studying at university to join a society and enjoy some time away from just their studies.”
Posted on Tuesday 23 April 2024