About STEP
Student Trainee Exchange Programme started its work in 1984 and since then
it became the most important and well known among students activity of the
Association. At the moment 41 national groups offer more than 400 traineeships
each year.

The main idea of the program was to create the network of traineeships exchange
all over Europe helping students and young graduates to find a job during
holidays in law firms, banks, public offices and other law related institutions.
The employer gives a job for 4-12 weeks and a sallary, expecting responsible
and conscientious work from the trainee.

To find legal firms, institutions and enterprises taking part in the programme
as employers is the beginning of the STEP procedure. The special application
(Traineeship Specification Form) filled by a future employer helps to fix
special requirements expected from a potential trainee. The employer specifies
all the requirements he demands from the trainee as e.g. language skills,
percentage of studies finished at the time of the traineeship, specialisation
in chosen field of law.

Each year all the jobs offered by the different Local Groups are collected by
ELSA International into a Catalogue of the traineeships and sent out to every
Local Group.

Then each student who wishes to apply for a job has to fill in an application
(Student Application Form) and a Ranking list in which he chooses up to six
favourite jobs .

These applications from all over Europe are sent to the Vice-president  for
STEP of ELSA International who is matching them taking into consideration
the choice made by the student in the Ranking List.

The employer normally receives more than one application from student from
different countries and he has the  right to make the final selection.

STEP JOBS OUTSIDE EUROPE

Since  1991 ELSA co-operates with sister organisations like  ILSA (
International Law Students' Association) and ALSA (Australasian  Law
Students' Association), which means that ELSA can offer to its students
traineeships in USA and India, and at the same time our STEP programme is
opened to American and Australian students.