STEP
STEP
| Help Wanted! ELSA London is looking to recruit directors to form a STEP team. We are looking for confident, outgoing, determined people who are hardworking and not easily discouraged. If this description fits you and you are interested in becoming a director, please email now with your CV also please describe how you will go about increasing the profile of STEP. |
STEP - Student Trainee Exchange Programme
What is STEP?
STEP is an acronym for the Student Trainee Exchange Programme. It is through this programme that ELSA members may gain international work experience (traineeships).
Each year, ELSA offers between four and five hundred students the opportunity to work in a law related environment in a foreign country. Most of these traineeships will be in Europe but occasionally there may be opportunities to work further afield. Not only does this programme enable law students and young lawyers to gain first hand experience of the substantive and procedural law of another country, it also allows them to experience a foreign culture and perhaps even put their language skills to use. Traineeships can be as brief as 2 weeks or as long as 18 months. They can also occur at any time of year although, for obvious reasons, those during the summer or Easter holidays are most popular. STEP participants can find themselves undertaking traineeships in any law related environment. For example, your traineeship may take place in a law firm, court, public institution, bank, in-house legal department, consulting firm, NGO, charity or international organisation. Most traineeships are paid but it is the experience that should be your prime motivating factor. Do not view these traineeships as a way of making lots of money!
Before and during the traineeship, ELSA provides assistance with finding accommodation, applying for visas (if necessary) and organising social events to involve the trainee in the daily life of the local community. This is what makes STEP special.
What are the benefits?
The benefits of a STEP traineeship are immeasurable. STEP allows ELSA members to acquire an increased knowledge of a particular legal system or area of law and so strengthens the professional skills of the trainee. As important as the academic and professional skills are, the improved language abilities and the experience of another culture that the trainee gains while participating in STEP are invaluable.
In addition, the trainee acquires valuable contacts, personal as well as professional, and possibly also future employment prospects.
Taking part in STEP helps prepare students, trainees and pupils to become better lawyers of tomorrow, able to work in an increasingly international environment.
How to apply
The procedure for applying online for a traineeship can be divided in three steps:
1. Register on ELSA ONLINE.
2. Present the appropriate certificates or college transcripts to ELSA London. Once these have been checked and verified, your online application form will be accepted and activated. You will be able to access your STEP application using your chosen password and user name. Once activated you have access to ELSA ONLINE for one year.
3. Search and apply online for the traineeship of your choice. You will be automatically matched to the traineeships available in the database and the traineeships that you qualify for will be listed on the screen. This list is being updated regularly as the pool of available traineeships changes. NB. You may only apply for one traineeship at a time.
Update!
It is now possible to make a manual application for STEP utilising a Back-Up system (BuS) introduced in October 2006. Members must still complete an ELSA London.
Furthermore, members may now select up to 3 traineeships by completing a Flexibility Sheet. SAFs and Flexibility Sheets can be requested by sending an email to ELSA London
