Job Hunting

Scope of the Job Hunting

STEP traineeships must be offered in a law-related area, yet the TNPs do not have to be law firms. The general rule is that the TNP must be able to provide legal work of some kind to a trainee. 

STEP Officers can freely contact organisations that are located in their respective territory. If you wish to approach an “international contact”, i.e. law firms situated in five (5) or more countries with over 100 legal professionals (as stated on their website), or other organisations active in more than five (5) countries, you must first request for the permission of EI (see the “External relations” part of the DB). 

Similarly, if you wish to approach an organisation located in another country, you must first request permission of the NG active in that country or EI. 

Job Hunting Database

• Creating and maintaining a database of organisations and contacts is strongly encouraged for proper and sustainable knowledge management purposes. 

• The database could be created on the national level and shared with all the LGs. 

• The information included in the database should cover inter alia whether the organisation has been contacted already (when, by whom, what was the outcome), the area in which the organisation is active, etc.

• It is beneficial to collaborate with the President in creating and maintaining the database to avoid unnecessary collission in external relations strategy. Moreover, when the President is negotiating partnership packages, note that STEP can be incorporated therein. ● The Secretary-General can assist in gathering information about your alumni network. 

Advice

• Check what types of STEP traineeships have been offered previously in other countries; 

• Contact your local/national ELSA alumni; 

• Check with which organisations your ELSA Group is already collaborating/partnering; 

• Use personal contacts of your own and the members of your ELSA Group; 

• Get support from your university (a recommendation from a professor for ELSA is valuable and persuasive in JH); and 

• Check different legal directories (e.g. Legal 500, Chambers & Partners, Martindale-Hubbell International Law Directory) and LinkedIn for inspiration on who to contact. 

You can find further advice on Job Hunting and your approach towards potential TNPs in the Job Hunting section of the STEP Handbook

The TSF is filled in by TNPs. Nevertheless, a STEP/ELSA Officer may complete the TSF on behalf of the TNP with explicit permission to do so. The TSF should be filled in and submitted online by the JH Deadline. The TSF constitutes a contract between ELSA and the TNP. The contract requires the TNP to fulfill a set of specified obligations of due diligence when filling in the TSF (inter alia providing copyright-free images and materials) and in case the TNP chooses to have STEP trainees. In case the TNP does not fill in the TSF themselves, STEP Officers should make them sign the TNP Contract separately.

On the Officer's Portal you may find:

• The online TSF (That must be submitted in order to participate in the programme)

• The Word & PDF Version that you can have the TNP sign and then submit it online.

TSF, step by step 

General information 

• Name of the organisation = The full name, including the relevant department/branch (e.g. (“University of Hollywood, Department of Law”). Request for the permission to translate the name in English, if the name of the organisation is not in English (e.g. “Kansaneläkelaitos” could be promoted better as “KELA – the Social Insurance Institution of Finland”), or even if it is complicated/ambiguous (better and more informative promotion could be to add a descriptive tag line after the firm name, e.g. “a leading Ukrainian M&A law firm”). 

• Short description of the organisation = The more informative and engaging the description, the more attractive the TNP is for the applicants. Thus, remind the TNP to provide a good yet concise description of their organisation and activities, or write one yourself (e.g. year of establishment, notorious for what, the size, expertise in, etc.). 

• Country + city = Make sure to choose correctly from the drop-down list. 

• Address + phone + email = This information is not publicly visible, but necessary for ELSA to establish contact the organisation if necessary. ● Website = Not required, but highly encouraged, as it provides more information and thus may persuade more applicants to apply. 

• Logo = Not required, but highly encouraged as well. All images uploaded must be copyright-free (i.e. the permission of the copyright owner to use the image), as ELSA releases itself from any third-party claims of intellectual property infringements. 

Contact Person 

• Name + surname + phone + email + ELSA alumni = None of this information is publicly visible, but necessary for ELSA to establish contact if necessary. 

Type of organisation 

• Academic/educational institute = An academic or professional training institution 

• Commercial enterprise = A business unit 

• Consultancy = An organisation providing professional expert advice 

• Financial institution = A financial institution providing different financial services 

• Intergovernmental organisation = A supranational organisation of States or organisations 

• Law firm = An organisation providing professional and qualified legal advice 

• NGO = A local/national/supranational non-governmental organisation which are independent of governments and governmental organisations (usually also non-profit) 

• Notary = An organisation/person providing legal formality services (e.g. certification) 

• Public institution = A local/national/supranational executive body 

• Other = Anything else not mentioned above, e.g. “charity”, “legal advice centre”, “court”, etc. 

Information about the Traineeship 

• Location of the Traineeship: The Traineeship may take place either “on-site” physically, “remotely.” or "negotiable" (To be decided between Trainee and TNP based on the circumstances) 

• Starting and ending date = If the TNP has a flexible timeframe in mind during which it could receive trainees, mark down the earliest and latest dates of this timeframe (“preferred start date”, “preferred end date”). 

• Trainee duration = If the TNP has a flexible duration in mind, mark down the minimum and maximum length of duration of this scale, indicating the relevant time unit (i.e. week, month). 

• Number of hours per week = The indicative workload of trainees 

• Number of Trainees you want to take = The indicative hosting capacity of the TNP during the whole Cycle (not simultaneously necessarily) 

• Payment after deductions = If the remuneration amount is flexible, mark down the minimum and maximum amounts of this scale, indicating the relevant currency of payment and the time unit (e.g. €100/week). 

• Other benefits = In-kind payments in fringe benefits, which the TNP should further specify at the bottom of the TSF under “additional information”

Educational level 

The education requirement is a minimum requirement, i.e. where the TNP requests for “graduate bachelor”, undergraduate students are not eligible to apply whereas both graduate bachelor, graduate master, and postgraduate PhD applicants may all apply. 

• Undergraduate = The applicant has not received his/her first Bachelor’s degree yet and is still enrolled in the Bachelor studies by the start date of the Traineeship. 

• Graduate Bachelor = The applicant has graduated with a Bachelor’s degree by the start date of the Traineeship. 

• Graduate Master = The applicant has graduated with a Master’s degree by the start date of the Traineeship. 

• Postgraduate PhD = The applicant is pursuing or has completed higher education (PhD). 

 Language Skills

The TNP may request under this section for up to three (3) language skills. Like the other sections, this selection is considered as mandatory requirements during Matching. Thus, any preferences, which are not strict requirements, should be further elaborated under the “additional information”. 

• Basic = Cf. A1/A2; the applicant has an overall understanding of the language and can communicate in simple terms, engage in routine tasks, etc. 

• Good = Cf. B1/B2; the applicant has deeper understanding of the language and can communicate concrete matters and even some analytical and abstract concepts. 

• Fluent = Cf. C1/C2; the applicant can understand complex communication and communicate with spontaneity and ease, including technical discussions in the field of his/her professional/academic specialisation, with native speakers. 

Legal skills

A new limitation was introduced at ICM Baku in 2019. For traineeships requiring undergraduates, the TNP may specify up to two (2) advanced legal skills. Furthermore, the TNP may specify a total of five (5) legal skills required. If the TNP requests the possibility of adding more, they should do so in the “Additional Information” section of the TSF. 

• General = The applicant has completed a basic/introductory course on the subject, and thus is familiar how to navigate the contingent themes of this legal subject. 

• Advanced = Building on the “general” level, the applicant has deeper knowledge in the subject by having taken an additional course to study the subject, conducted legal research on the topic (e.g. thesis, ELSA Legal Research Group, etc.), completed additional activities on the topic (e.g. work experience, essay competition, moot court, etc.). 

Trainee tasks and additional information 

• The tasks and responsibilities of the Trainee(s) = The better the overview, the more informed applicants the TNP receives. 

• Additional requirements/information = The TNP should elaborate here anything that was left unsaid in the form before. 

Due to the recent circumstances and challenges presented by the outbreak of the novel COVID-19 virus, remote STEP Traineeships were introduced as a means of continuing the STEP Programme in a socially responsible way. You may refer to the new Digital Traineeships Guidelines for further information.