Even though it will probably feel very unequal, the interview should be as much an opportunity for you to think about whether you want to be surrounded by the people interviewing you and the ethos of the chambers. This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. Applying for pupillage has dominated my Januarys and Februarys for the past two years and I wanted to share one incredibly frustrating experience I have had following the latest round of applications/interviews. No legal questions or knowledge required. This is important because, if you get an offer but you felt like you were not really yourself in the interview, things may not work out there. If youre interviewing for a criminal pupillage, be prepared to answer, What are the biggest challenges facing the criminal Bar? Be opinionated without being obnoxious; political without being partisan. Make sure you have properly understood what it is really like to work at that set and/or in that practice area (broadly described:for example my chambers does construction. Your interview is a chance for you to demonstrate advocacy under pressure. Line up a few of these during your interview prep. The pupillage application process continues as hundreds of aspiring barristers prepare for interviews this month online and in person. Mock interviews | Pupillage and how to get it Please note that you must have already secured a pupillage interview to be eligible for this scheme. Recently, in a series of tweets on the @ExcPupillage account some of my top tips for pupillage interview preparation were shared. 'I have my first pupillage interview. Any advice?' - Legal Cheek It is really important to not just dive into the problem. However, as is so often pointed out, resilience is key and rejections are a natural part of such a competitive process, so, its something you have to try and get used to. Pupillage | Doughty Street Chambers An idiot's guide to navigating pupillage interviews I understand that members of chambers give up their very precious time to sift through applications and conduct interviews, but I do not consider it unreasonable for candidates to expect feedback when they have made it so far through the recruitment process. You can then avoid making common mistakes. Try to react positively and dont be afraid to stick to your point. To describe a time you had to act on your own initiative, draw on your experiences to clearly demonstrate the problem or challenge you faced, how you overcame it and the result of your actions. Many will have Masters degrees. . Here are ten examples of interview feedback that you can use in interviews in different situations: When the candidate in . The cookie is used to calculate visitor, session, campaign data and keep track of site usage for the site's analytics report. The Panel are looking to assess your raw intellectual competence, your ability to digest and consider information and your oral advocacy. Be ready to offer a balanced view with respect to both sides of the argument, particularly on political stories. If you have reached the interview stage, you are already well on your way to securing a pupillage. Presidents of University Law Societies are ten-a-penny. It sounds obvious, but nerves in interview upend the most poised performers in your advocacy classes. Your CV counts for absolutely nothing when youre sitting in a cell opposite a screaming heroin addict who has stabbed his cellmate in the eye and is threatening to exact upon you his frustration that his solicitor hasnt been to visit him. This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Analytics". Also be aware of industry-specific issues that are of no interest to anybody outside the Bar, but of enormous importance inside our bubble. You can accept or reject cookies which are not essential for the site to work by clicking on the Cookie settings below. But there will almost always be a tangential diversion into matters of non-law, often preceded by a vicious, Tell us more about yourself. But because that is the case, expecting people to be in the same country, let alone close vicinity, that far in . You will read how your contemporaries spent a year as an intern on an international human rights case, or have written starry and brilliant articles, theses or even books on esoteric and impressively complex aspects of your chosen legal field. We hope the above helps and we would love to hear from you in the comments below if it does. The best way to demonstrate these abilities is to use the S-T-A-R method: Situation Its important to give a structured answer, first outlining the situation you faced as a team. To prepare for your interview, you are strongly advised to do the following: It is common for sets of chambers to give you a legal problem to present or a topic to discuss at interview. The interview procedures adopted by chambers can be very varied. The short answer is that it isnt possible to keep your nerves wholly in check and nor do you need to. Well the Pupillage gateway website has opened for viewing. All of the skills above are what you should be thinking about in your daily life that you can apply to them. In the gap year between the pupillage application window reopening, keep engaging with . Practise with a friend. Tip 3: Be ready to talk about things on your CV in more detail, and also to explain any gaps there may be on your CV. Used by Microsoft Advertising as a unique ID for visitors. In two days of this article being released, we had over 2000 views and several messages saying it was some of the most detailed pupillage advice the pupillage hopefuls had seen. The Application Process | 3VB This applies equally whether you are interviewing face to face or online. You would need to answer this question honestly and remain true to your convictions. Prepare your answers so that they provide more evidence to the panel of the skills that the chambers is looking for, as set out in that chambers selection criteria which pretty much all sets now publish. This cookie is set by linkedIn. Chambers will be looking for evidence of these qualities throughout the interview both in what you say and the way you say it. YouTube sets this cookie to store the video preferences of the user using embedded YouTube video. Debate-related pupillage interview questions are more difficult to prepare for, but you won't be expected to solve a specific problem in two minutes. Some sets will hold only one interview for pupillage candidates, but most will hold two. Your performance at interview plus any presentation or advocacy exercise will be used to assess this. Use The Beginners Guide to a Career in Law to get started, Find out about the various legal apprenticeships on offer and browse vacancies with The Law Apprenticeships Guide, Information on qualifying through the Solicitors Qualifying Exam, including preparation courses, study resources, QWE and more, Discover everything you need to know about developing your knowledge of the business world and its impact on the law, The latest news and updates on the actions being taken to improve diversity and inclusion in the legal profession, Discover advice to help you prepare for and ace your vacation scheme, training contract and pupillage applications, Your first-year guide to a career in law find out how to kickstart your legal career at this early stage, Your non-law guide to a career in law everything you need to know about converting to law. And think about the type of client you are advising just a solicitor or an experienced company director, or an ordinary person who will need legal terms explaining. Read publications and websites such as. However, dont ask questions you should know the answer to; chambers will often provide a great deal of information about pupillage on their website. You will then forget everything you went through before. Your response to some questions will be deliberately challenged by the interview panel. Your CV and experiences will form the basis of pupillage interview questions you are asked. Mock interviews are essential. The well-advised will also have squeezed some pro bono legal advisory work into their non-existent free time. Nor do I think it would take an unreasonable amount of time to send the notes made by the panel (at the very least), to those who ask for them. You might be asked to give your view on a current legal issue whichyoufind interesting (ie you pick the specific topic). They know what is on their website. And if it doesnt work out, there are plenty of other more interesting and worthwhile jobs to do. This will include looking at the feedback of other practitioners, the structure and development of your pupillage and the requirements of the Professional Statement. Tip 2: Structure your answers. Just engage with the questions you are being asked. Most experience of life, even if not obviously relevant to practice at the bar, is a learning experience, and could help the panel get to know you as a person. If you say you want high profile work thats fine, but youre inviting questions about whether you are going to mind doing low-profile work, so have an answer ready. This is a analytic and behavioural cookie used for improving the visitor experience on the website. Tip 5: You only need one good day. So, if your form includes some interesting statements that you learned a lot about advocacy from watching submissions in a hearing during a mini-pupillage, expect to be asked more about that. Some take a sadistic pleasure in setting you Total Wipeout style obstacle courses at a seconds notice. That, I was later told, was the clincher. Pupillage Interview Questions: Examples | The Lawyer Portal Having had the privilege of seeing life from both sides of the interview table, I thought Id offer my own, largely worthless musings on the things I have learned. If you fabricate, we will find you out. If you did that, it would actually be a point against you because we are interested in the analysis of the principles and not how many cases you know. Talking to friends and others who are either applying at the same time or who have just done it. So you can take comfort from the fact that youresupposedto feel fairly pressured. Performance cookies are used to understand and analyze the key performance indexes of the website which helps in delivering a better user experience for the visitors. Go through your whole form, identify all the points you might be asked to elaborate on (these will be points which relate to the selection criteria), and do this for every single one. P - Practise It is very different to have thought about your answers and even to have them written down but it can feel very different when you say them out aloud. The blunt fact is that everybody being interviewed will have a good 2:1 or 1st class degree. Prepare for this by thinking about how barristers you may have seen in mini-pupillages did this, and what you would change about that. This, Im afraid, is the reality. Luck is the clincher. The cookie is set by GDPR cookie consent to record the user consent for the cookies in the category "Functional". You must join an inn before you qualify as a barrister. If you have a passion for something in the law, then demonstrate that. Tip 5: Be engaging. There may be other reasons for it, but sometimes we just do not spot your potential. Some of your interviews will go badly, some may be an unmitigated disaster. To this end, I wrote to a few silks, other established practitioners and some juniors at the Bar to see if we could collaborate on an article regarding pupillage interviews. This cookie is set by doubleclick.net. Motivation: a high level of drive, determination and commitment towards the Bar, the chambers and the circuit (if outside London). You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. Have you identified the key points in the problem? You will be giving a variant of an answer the panel has heard a thousand times before. This question is an opportunity to demonstrate that you are a team player. But you only need one good interview, so dont beat yourself up too much about the ones that go badly. 32 Followers. When the Pupillage Gateway slams shut and chambers began reading the mass of application forms electronically thrust before them in a bid to sift, sort and filter into a carefully selected list of the chosen few who they want to meet in person. Before the interview. I just dont seem to have any. Its also not enough to derail you. Yes, its a lot of work. The people the panel remember from the interview were the ones who gave clear, compelling, insightful answers to our questions, not the people with wacky hobbies. We use cookies to provide you with a better online experience, to tailor advertising based on your browsing, and for statistics and measurements purposes. Forget clich and invention and speak plainly. Think about whether you could be them in a few years and what type of cases they are doing. The purpose of the cookie is to determine if the user's browser supports cookies. Its important to be prepared for your pupillage interview. Draw up a list of likely topics and think about your arguments in advance. Copyright 2023 Legal Cheek Ltd. All Rights Reserved. Theres a mystique about the forensic skills and startling intelligence of barristers. Some sets will hold only one interview for pupillage candidates, but most will hold two. But from my understanding, and certainly in our set, it is much more common to have a structured problem-based interview than it is to have a general interview that asks questions about an interviewee's interests etc. You are the client, what are you advocating for? As a result, chambers can be highly individualistic. The pupillage statistics speak for themselves. Looking at the profiles of other junior tenants on the chambers website can be a sobering experience. There are a million variables that may influence your chances in any given interview. We intend to offer up to three pupillages to start in October 2024, each with an award of 40,000. This is to see how you cope under pressure. On 25 May I then received a response which stated that the chambers could not offer any feedback, except to say that 2 of the applicants were a little better and they were successful. Another set, which you prefer and have always wanted to join, then makes you an offer a week later. The cookie is a session cookies and is deleted when all the browser windows are closed. Keep up to date with the legal news and changes affecting the areas in which you intend to specialise. Tip 4: As difficult as it is, do not care about the outcome. How to ace your pupillage interview: tips from qualified barristers Used to track the information of the embedded YouTube videos on a website. At my first ever interview, I span a fluffy cat story about how I was inspired by the story of somebody I met on a mini-pupillage, and how I aspired to tread in their footsteps. 10 Examples Of Interview Feedback You Can Use In Your Next Interview This question is asked deliberately to gauge how you would respond to criticism. This is the most important case you are going to argue and it cant have a more important subject: you and your future. These cookies track visitors across websites and collect information to provide customized ads. These are some of the most widely debated topics in law, both historically and today. In case you have not read the About section of my website, I initially embarked on a career at the Bar. 1. The third is remembering that although interviews always feel like the panel are trying to trip you up or trick you, theyre not. So it can be helpful to set yourself at ease. Those applying for a specialist pupillage will . Here is a short list of competencies for the Bar: Getting into the Bar requires resilience, adaptability and determination. A crucial element of the preparation for an interview is having the right mindset. The purpose of the cookie is to enable LinkedIn functionalities on the page. The first point to make about the Constable Quotient is that thats alotof nerves. Make sure you've researched the chambers thoroughly. Applications for pupillage with Mountford Chambers commencing in 2024. Second round interviews are more intensive, and candidates are usually given a set of papers to review, following which they present an argument to the interview Panel. This website is witty, it is erudite, it is hard-hitting, it is focused and it is awesome.. Give yourself a pat on the back because it means you are doing something right. Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. It is truly amazing how many people care, want to make the Bar more accessible and took the time out of their busy days (despite some having trials!) One round of interviews, often the first, may be short and focused on a specific skill such as advocacy or may be focused on a set of questions that are being asked to every candidate. You must be aware of recent changes in legislation affecting the areas of law in which chambers specialise. Law Work Experience: Your Guide to Success, Pupillage: a Guide for Aspiring Barristers, changed the way the legal system has to operate, How to Land a Pupillage Event: 5 Things I Learned. There is no way I would have gotten silk because I simply had not set the memory track between my brain and my tongue to let the words come out with the ease with which I had them in my head. How to Get a Pupillage | A Step-by-Step Guide | The Lawyer Portal Tip 1: Thoroughly research the Set you have applied to. This is really important because it completely changes the tone of how you present. Nor does it matter a jot when youre in front of a judge or jury pleading the unwinnable case (or worse, the eminently winnable). Tip 3: Be nimble. Tip 1: If you get through the pupillage application stage and you are now preparing for a pupillage interview, well done. You will be asked why you want to be a barrister. There obviously isnt one solution to this kind of question: the real issue is your mind going blank (Im quite sure mine would). However, the fact that you are a decorated Morris dancer, or were thrashed by Daphne and co on Eggheads, or once interviewed Mike Tyson for your student newspaper with the opener (and closer), For our readers who may not have heard of you, what do you do? these will remain with the panel afterwards. This cookies is set by Youtube and is used to track the views of embedded videos. As with all tests or exams, you should be provided with a pack that contains everything about what you are expected to do. for a first-round interview or to candidates who attended a first-round interview but did not reach a second-round interview. For example, at our chambers, we set different problem questions every year. They are as follows: Treat it like an exam and make time to revise for your interview. One of the things I struggled with in 2017 as an aspiring barrister (especially as an individual that moved to the UK only for my studies) was finding information in terms of what to expect in the application process, how to prepare and the realities of the journey. What is the BTC and How Can I Fund My Studies? If the Set interviewing you does not go for it, then they are not the right Set for you. This is useful not just in increasing your knowledge of the chambers and its members, but in particular, it builds up a confidence that you have a better base to answer questions from. Dont rely on the same example for every question, but demonstrate how you have shown intellect, flexibility, determination, teamwork, research skills, oral advocacy, persuasion, and conflict resolution, among other skills. Second, if you can, find out who is going to be on the panel interviewing you. I do not mean you shouldn't prepare for the interview and give it your best, but the outcome is out of your control. Ask for the question to be repeated and drink some water to give yourself a little time to compose yourself and think about your answer. Pupillage - Twenty Essex Saying something like"I want to come to you because you are a great Set and you do landlord and tenant work", just is not enough. The Times has today published a fine piece on applying for pupillage, reflecting the advice and experience of some survivors of the process, both applicants and interviewers. When you are applying to the Bar, you have to understand that it is an incredibly competitive business, against very able people, who will all want the same things as you, and will have the same skills that they are trying to deploy as you. Perfect what you want to say. So remember, it is not important what the first answer you give is, but how you respond to questions after in the course of the interview. You do not have to hit all the buttons, but having some will be good. Find an area of law or a case within the last year which is problematic and . They know what they do. The Pupillage Interview/Acceptance/Rejection Thread 2023 Watch If you are able to find out, look up the barristers and see who they are. A guide to pupillage interviews - Features Be prepared, particularly during the second round, for a panel of four . Be yourself. While considering other careers is not a problem, you should answer by demonstrating that you have considered other careers that involve some aspect of the law or require skills that are transferable to the legal profession. Top tips for pupillage interviews from a current pupil The instructions vary on the chambers and the types of problems that they set. That is unavoidable. What was good, what was bad? Where one argument is going nowhere, pivot to a better one. Pupillage interview panels will not expect you to be strong in every area of the law. 4. Knowing that it could really help someone and make their life a bit easier is what keeps me going. I advise you not to close yourself off from experiencing different areas of law, even those you think you might not like. This cookie, set by Cloudflare, is used to support Cloudflare Bot Management. A lack of questions could be perceived as a lack of interest, so ensure that you have your questions to hand or memorised, because you wont get another opportunity to ask them. So, for every single pupillage interview you have, really think about who is on the receiving end and prepare with that in mind. Make sure you are up to date with current affairs. The cookies store information anonymously and assign a randomly generated number to identify unique visitors. Stuart Withers on Twitter: "Some pupillage interview feedback. 1 I find this poor. Advertisement cookies are used to provide visitors with relevant ads and marketing campaigns. Barristers in chambers often work as a collective to solve problems. Bewigged and Bewilderedby Adam Kramer QC includes a lot of extremely helpful information, including as to what the various practice areas involve. Its all bollocks of course. The second is developing a solution which you know helps you to calm down this is different for everyone. Answers are more impressive when supported by experience of the Bar and the law. How do you cope with being turned down? Pupillage Interview | The Lawyer Portal Like so many others applicants, I failed to secure a pupillage this year which in itself is very frustrating and disheartening (to say the least). Chambers are only able to interview a small minority of applicants. I was lucky enough that a flippant topic Id picked up on was of enormous interest to a wonderfully fun and quirky member of chambers on the panel, who quickly turned the conversation round to 1980s power ballads. Go with the flow. It seems that it is equally applicable to pupillage interviews. Going out for a walk. Your answer should be sincere, and perhaps you can draw on your experiences of seeing a good barrister in action in Court who you thought demonstrated great character when handling a difficult case. For several interviews thereafter, I cleared my throat and proudly declared my thirst for justice, passion for advocacy and burning need to help the helpless, voice the voiceless and improve the unimprovable. The Guardian is free to access online. My carefully crafted applications have been sent out into the ether, landing in the laps of barristers up and down the country to be sifted through and sorted into piles of 'yes', 'no' and 'never in a million years'. I genuinely dont think hobbies etc make a difference (except maybe if theyre done to a really high level, and even then, imo they only make a difference on the paper sift). How to approach pupillage interviews. Read about the steps involved in becoming a barrister here. Everyone has bad days. Where are the weak points? Recognise your achievement. Smile. Work out what your star selling point is, make it adaptable so you can run it over a number of types of questions. The ANONCHK cookie, set by Bing, is used to store a user's session ID and also verify the clicks from ads on the Bing search engine. If there are things you want to ask about or things that matter to you, do not be afraid to raise them. Theyre trying their best to enable you to shine its in their interests for everyone to be on best form, right? All will have (or will shortly have) at least a Very Competent mark on the BPTC. Unstructured answers are apt to confuse, or to suggest confused thinking. Check the news for law angles. Perhaps role-play something similar with your friends. Buff up your strong points. What exactly did you learn? As part of your pupillage interview, you could be asked the following: Being a barrister often requires you to think on your feet and under pressure without support. Dont be. Part of the Dukes Education family Together we're extraordinary. Receiving an invitation to an interview creates the initial . Chambers also look for evidence of certain personal values such as integrity and self-assurance. There are even UK nationals who secure jobs abroad during the time in-between the BTC and pupillage who are now at a disadvantage. You will need to demonstrate that you can answer without using jargon to ensure that you are fully understood. Just do your best. Tip 4: Bearing in mind that a pupillage interview is a daunting experience, remind yourself that the panel are people who want you to succeed. Tagged: pupillage, pupillageapplications, pupillagegateway, pupillageinterview, bptc, btc, aspiringbarristers, aspiringbarrister, silk, junior, establishedpractitioners, theBar. When you spend countless hours writing and reviewing applications, preparing for interviews, and then waiting anxiously to hear back from chambers, I feel that providing feedback to candidates that are unsuccessful at interview (particularly a second-round interview), should be a minimum requirement. This cookie can only be read from the domain they are set on and will not track any data while browsing through other sites. . Read and reread your application form. Can you deal with difficult questions from the panel? Arguably the biggest issue to affect UK law in recent years, Brexit is a huge topic. However, there are certain qualities that chambers tend to look for in prospective pupils. Practise on demonstrating those in interview. Legal Cheek has reviews and ratings of many sets (some specifically from a pupillage perspective). Its a pressured situation. I then practised, aced the interview and got silk. This way, you can give feedback that is specific, relevant, and concise. How To Prepare For A Pupillage Interview | Insights | BPP This cookie is to identify the source of a visit and store user action information about it in a cookies. Good advice. Again, an interview staple.
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