Beatrice Sagoe

Title: PA
Department: Legal PA services
Location: London

After five years secretarial work for property surveyors I joined Herbert Smith in December 2006.

My qualifications include an ILEX Legal Secretaries' certificate Level II from NESCOT College and Level III from Lambeth College. I am in the process of adding to these with a Psychology BSc (Hons) from the Open University.

The secretarial opportunities here include the chance of secondment to international offices, which is great. It is good to know HS has the confidence in our abilities to allow us to take them to other international offices.

The best thing that’s happened to me here was receiving the Client Service Award in March 2008. This was for spotting an error made on a registration certificate at Companies House. I managed to sort the problem out in time for an important transaction to be carried out. It was nice to be appreciated and recognised in this way.

Outside work there are plenty of social and sporting activities organised. I have been playing for the HS netball team since I joined, which has helped me get to know people in other parts of the firm. Community involvement is also encouraged. For my part, this is the second year I have been a reading partner at Thomas Buxton school.

I would sum up the firm by saying it is a friendly place to work with a good diversity policy, where CR is taken very seriously. The financial rewards and benefits package are competitive, but beyond that HS genuinely listens to and looks after its staff.