Did you know the Parliament offers traineeships to young people? Find out with Adela and Freddie how to apply and what kind of an experience could be in store for you too.

Traineeships: Experience the EU at first hand

I'm Freddie. I'm 23.  I'm French and English.

I just finished a Master's  in International Development.

What is it that these two have in common?

They're both trainees or 'stagiaires'  in the European Parliament.

To get here, they first had to  fill in an application online.

There are Schuman scholarships  for university graduates,

a general and journalism option,  translation traineeships.

There are placements for young people  just out of secondary school.

All of them are offered  to people with disabilities.

I'm a dual national -  two countries in Europe.

I really wanted to experience  the Brussels EU experience

and really grasp what it means  to be European and to work in the EU.

So those were my main motivations  to explore what it means to be European.

In addition to describing their motivation,

candidates must indicate  their language skills and education

and choose two services or Directorates-  General where they would like to work.

I've chosen the DG for Internal Policies

and also the DG for  Parliamentary Research Services,

because they both deal with health policies,  the field that I'm interested in.

Adela applied in August, Freddie in October.

and they finally received an answer  in December and January:

Every year 25,000 people try their luck,  but only 600 make it.

By early March they've arrived  here in the EP.

They have five months to discover  what it's like on the inside:

either from March to July  or from October to February.

There are two periods  for making an application:

After a welcome by their supervisor,  they immediately get down to work.

But what would an ideal trainee be like?

have a great sense of initiative  and work well as part of a team.

I work on the Lux Film Prize which is  the European Parliament's cinema prize.

I've had the good fortune of being elected  President of the Stagiaires Association

where I coordinate the careers,  communications and social boards.

I'm also very lucky to be  in a room full of stagiaires.

Among them, we have many units from  EuroparlTV to Web Communications

and Events and Exhibitions.  And it's just a great atmosphere.

a directorate which is concerned with  requests from the Parliament's Members,

for information, for analysis, for research  on different policy areas covered by the EU.

Here I make my contribution  in the field of health policies

which is related to my professional  background as a pharmacist.

But a traineeship carries  no guarantees for the future.

In order to get a job  with the EU institutions,

they'd still have to pass a competition  just like everyone else.

A traineeship in the EP also means  partaking in the pleasures of the EU bubble.

Every Thursday evening,  the Place du Luxembourg in front of the EP

is the place to be for trainees  and their new colleagues.

We find Adela, Freddie and friends there.

They're all paid the same  1,226 euros per month.

I personally didn't have to  delve into personal funds,

the traineeship money was pretty sufficient  to get me through. So good luck.