My STEP Traineeship at Konecranes

After graduating from Law School in Austria I decided that I want to gain international professional experience as the knowledge of different legal systems is essential nowadays, especially considering globalization and the growing number of multinational businesses.

Therefore, I applied for a traineeship at Konecranes, a world-leading group in the lifting business, through the STEP programme of ELSA. The STEP programme offers various legal traineeships all over Europe and is in my opinion the best and easiest way to find a suitable traineeship in order to gain working experience in different legal fields in a foreign country.

All ELSA members (students, graduates and young lawyers) can apply for a maximum of three traineeships. Then the applications get pre-checked by the STEP officer of the responsible ELSA group and submitted to the traineeship providers, who make the final decision. I had a Skype interview with two of the lawyers from Konecranes and about a week later, I received an email from ELSA International that I was selected and immediately confirmed my attendance to the traineeship. The application process is really easy. Furthermore, the local ELSA team (in my case ELSA Helsinki) is very supportive when it comes to handling the necessary administrative matters (e.g. finding accommodation, registering in the country, tax matters…) and they also organize meetings among the trainees.

So, this is how I ended up working at Konecranes in Hyvinkää, Finland and it has been a very good experience so far as I have the opportunity to learn from a highly professional global legal team. The everyday work routine in a global company such as Konecranes is very diversified and therefore I am able to profit from a wide range of tasks, such as drafting of contracts, Board of Director resolutions as well as non-disclosure agreements, reviewing legal templates and conducting legal research. Besides, I got the possibility to experience a new culture, new sports and travel a lot within Finland and also to St. Petersburg, Stockholm and Tallinn. I would strongly recommend everyone to apply for a STEP traineeship and make this special and unforgettable experience.

Kirjoittaja

Julia Holzmann

ELSA Finland