Student Hunting

Membership 

• Only ELSA members may apply for STEP. 

• Individuals from countries not covered by an ELSA Group may apply to STEP through the External Applicant status subject to the payment of the External Applicant Fee. The Fee is decided at the discretion of EI. 

• Local and National STEP Officers must be in contact with the applicants and check their alleged membership in the LG/NG at issue (collaborate with e.g. your Secretary-General).

English language 

The SAF must be filled in English in its entirety, including the motivation letter and the CV. 

Any additional documents, as requested by the TNP, may be in another language than English if so specified or appropriate in the circumstances. 

Substantial connection

• Applicants cannot apply for STEP opportunities hosted in the country of their respective ELSA Group (e.g. a member of ELSA United Kingdom could not apply for a STEP traineeship organised in the UK even if the applicant was not a UK citizen), unless: 

• If the STEP traineeship is an “international” one (TN code “EI”) and organised in a country where an NG exists, the members of that NG are also eligible to apply for that STEP opportunity (e.g. the Council of Europe STEP traineeships organised in France are available for members of ELSA France as well). 

• If the member of an NG is an exchange student or a postgraduate student who studied elsewhere prior, that applicant may apply for STEP opportunities in the country where the NG exists. 

Number of applications 

• Each applicant may submit one SAF per Cycle. 

• Each applicant may apply for up to three different STEP traineeship opportunities per SAF.

Personal information

• The personal information, including the contact details, will be forwarded to the respective STEP Officers on the local, national and international levels, and the respective TNP. This way the STEP Officers can verify the application and inform the applicant about the results, and the TNP can contact the candidates for an interview where necessary. 

• By choosing the NG and the LG, the application is forwarded automatically in the SOS to the respective STEP Officers’ review. 

Educational background 

• The names of the universities written by the applicant will be visible to the TNP directly. 

• Ensure that the applicants’ study level matches with the minimum requirements of the TNP. It is sufficient that the applicant reaches the required study level by the time of starting at the traineeship (e.g. an undergraduate applying in the spring for a STEP traineeship requiring “graduate bachelor” and starting after the applicant’s graduation date). 

Language skills 

• Ensure that the applicants’ language skills match with the minimum requirements of the TNP. 

• For each language skill claimed by an applicant, local or national STEP Officers must verify the alleged level by collecting certificates or other proof (cf. section below on verification).

Legal skills 

• Ensure that the applicants’ legal skills match the minimum requirements of the TNP. 

• For each legal skill claimed by an applicant, local or national STEP Officers must verify the alleged level by collecting certificates or other proof (cf. section below on verification).

CV and additional documents 

• Each application must contain a CV attachment (PDF) written in English. 

• Additional documents, as requested by the TNP, may be in English or any other language as required in the circumstances.

Motivation letter 

• For each STEP traineeship applied, there must be one customised motivation letter written in English for each. The motivation letter is written into the free-text space in the SAF. 

• The maximum length of each ML is 5,000 characters including spaces. 

After the SAF has been submitted by the applicant, the respective local/national STEP Officer can view it in the SOS. Thus, it is important that you actively log into the SOS and keep an eye on the new applications appearing for your review between the STEP Launch and the External SH Deadline. When there is a new SAF, it needs to be reviewed and accepted by both local and national STEP Officers in the SOS. The local STEP Officer should contact the applicant as soon as possible after noticing the SAF in the SOS, and verify at least the following before approving the SAF: 

• Membership status = Check that the applicant is actually a member of the LG; 

• Minimum criteria = Check that the skills that the applicant alleges to possess meet all or most of the minimum requirements of the TNP(s). 

• Study level = Check that the applicant’s educational level by the start date of the traineeships applied for meets the minimum requirements of the TNP(s).

• Language skills = Check that the applicant has proof for each skill claimed. 

• Legal skills = Check that the applicant has proof for each skill claimed. (Be cautious where the applicant claims to be advanced in multiple legal skills.)

• Motivation letter + CV = Check that the documents fulfill the necessary stylistic and professional requirements (e.g. political correctness, etc.). 

In order to complete the verification process, please refer to the Verification & Matching Guidelines released by EI before each Cycle.

Once reviewed and approved by the local Officer, the SAF can be reviewed and approved by the National Officer. Only after the national Officer has approved the SAF in the SOS by the Internal SH Deadline, the SAF is forwarded to EI and the TNPs. 

The SAF can be altered until the Internal SH Deadline by the respective local/national STEP Officers if necessary (e.g. fixing the language skills, etc.).