pupillage interview feedback
Check the news for law angles. Gather intelligence and get an idea of the work they really do. Do not be overly formal. The question is asked to assess how clearly and concisely you can provide an explanation for something that requires logical thinking in the moment. Luck is the clincher. What do you do, why and what approach do you take? For all the latest commercial awareness info, and advance notification of Legal Cheek's careers events: Follows letter from wannabe barrister first reported by Legal Cheek, Aspiring barrister Noah Gifford describes common practice among chambers as insulting in open letter. Some questions you could be asked include: This question is asked to assess your advocacy skills and your ability to present a reasoned, logical, compelling and well-structured argument. Failing that, tickling the ego of your interviewers with a non-grovelly acknowledgment that the chambers is a leading set (all sets like to consider themselves leading) in the particular area of practice is a reasonably safe line. So you cant really give a wrong answer; you just need to be able to argue in support of it. Some sets will hold only one interview for pupillage candidates, but most will hold two. Interview. 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. Advertisement cookies are used to provide visitors with relevant ads and marketing campaigns. Have something interesting to say when . Be conscious of any mistakes, umms or ahs. There are three reasons, in my view. Temperament/personality: the ability to remain calm, objective and confident while working under pressure with complex or unfamiliar material. With a twitter and LinkedIn profile, you can see what people are doing in their professional and personal life. Linked to the foregoing, make sure you have prepared to talk about something anything that is not law. I have copied in extracts from the talk for your ease of reference, but I would really recommend making the time to watch the full talk. It is also about being able to balance intellectual competence with common sense and pragmatism. Before the interview. Not optional. (I appreciate just how difficult this advice may be to put into practice!). If there is a case coming up, go and see if you can sit in it. This, Im afraid, is the reality. 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. That is unavoidable. Should minors be charged as adults for heinous crimes? See our top tips on commercial pupillage . Good advice. This is another deliberate question asked by pupillage interview panels to gauge what you think makes a good barrister. However, dont ask questions you should know the answer to; chambers will often provide a great deal of information about pupillage on their website. This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. "It is the same for pupillage." Meanwhile, in 2017, Legal Cheek reported that an aspiring barrister had been left "astonished" after chambers asked her to pay a 10 administration fee to obtain feedback. If youre unsure how to answer a question, dont panic. This cookie is set by doubleclick.net. We a legal jobs marketplace exclusively for paralegals, law support staff and law firms only. Receiving an invitation to an interview creates the initial . You will be giving a variant of an answer the panel has heard a thousand times before. Its boring but it works. This cookie is set by LinkedIn and used for routing. Chambers usually know this a week before your interview. Secondly, consider seeking feedback from sets which reject you, especially if you were . Your response to some questions will be deliberately challenged by the interview panel. Read this key advice on how to prepare for the final stage of pupillage selection. When is human trafficking not human trafficking? Motivation: a high level of drive, determination and commitment towards the Bar, the chambers and the circuit (if outside London). No legal questions or knowledge required. For example, the recent 2022 Johnny Depp and Amber Heard libel case could be a good one to cover. 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. First, do your research about the chambers you have an interview with so you know what their practice areas are very well. BTC graduate and aspiring barrister Kieran Alker recounts his frustrating experience and suggests a way to improve the process. *Please bear in mind this was five years ago, a lot has changed since then and there are plenty of resources and organisations you can reach out to for assistance these are detailed in the article below. If not, scour the chambers website for self-congratulatory guff about ethos and values and try to pass those off as your own. The ability to think on your feet and cope under pressure. The cookie is a session cookies and is deleted when all the browser windows are closed. As a result, chambers can be highly individualistic. 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. We intend to offer up to three pupillages to start in October 2024, each with an award of 40,000. TargetJobs Laws YouTube channel has many years of videos of the talks given at their National Pupillage Fair by barristers across all the practice areas this is information straight from the horses mouth. These cookies ensure basic functionalities and security features of the website, anonymously. So elaborate, do not fabricate. Aspects of this include how articulate, confident and perceptive you are. The best barristers take criticism in their stride and seek to improve in those areas where they have faced criticism. Other uncategorized cookies are those that are being analyzed and have not been classified into a category as yet. 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. We ask any questions? at the end, but most people say no and personally Im not impressed by question-askers. The disdain from the panel was palpable. Be yourself. Hopefully there arent many chambers asking this sort of thing anymore. 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. So you can take comfort from the fact that youresupposedto feel fairly pressured. Used by Microsoft Advertising as a unique ID for visitors. These are all necessary but insufficient. Tip 2: Play the game and give the Sets you are interviewing at what they want. Tip 2: Try to be up to date with the main news stories, in case you are asked about them, and in particular any recent news with a legal connection. Nor does it matter a jot when youre in front of a judge or jury pleading the unwinnable case (or worse, the eminently winnable). This is intended to assess how you perform under pressure. Interested in a future career as a lawyer? When you want to apply for pupillage you need to factor in where you are in your studies and what Tip 5: You will be nervous (if you are human), but try to relax and be normal, without being matey or inappropriately informal. Your CV and experiences will form the basis of pupillage interview questions you are asked. 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. Two stages for the interview process: 1) Written test - Choose one question from three legal questions and answer it in essay format - Answer must be sent via email within 30 minutes of receiving it 2) Virtual interview - Two interviewers who are partners at the firm . 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. 4. Then some basic questions like "Where do you see yourself in 5 years". For more detailed information about the cookies we use, see our. If you are applying to criminal sets, the Secret Barristers books are essential background reading. Do not wait until that stage until you practise. I also shared snippets of my successful Clifford Chance application to show how differently I had phrased my answers. Legal Cheek has reviews and ratings of many sets (some specifically from a pupillage perspective). They know what they do. The best barristers demonstrate a high-level of competency. Quite a lot of what is being tested in these interviews is how agile are you in your thinking, how responsive you are to new thoughts and ideas, how adaptable you are to changing circumstances and how unflappable you are in circumstances where a new idea is being introduced. Used by Microsoft as a unique identifier. This question is deliberately asked to assess your commitment to the Bar. The fact that a chambers (as in this case), can congratulate you for securing a second-round interview, and identify how incredibly competitive the process was, in the same email as refusing to provide feedback, to me is confusing and demonstrates a reluctance to help future colleagues in contradiction to the posts I see on social media platforms all the time from members of the profession. The UK justice system is constantly under scrutiny, so its important that you give an answer that reflects where you think the Bar is currently and demonstrates that you have an understanding of the challenges that the legal profession faces and how they can be overcome. What exactly did you learn? 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. The pupillage application process continues as hundreds of aspiring barristers prepare for interviews this month online and in person. Tip 2: It can be a daunting experience to be presented in front of a panel of barristers asking questions. 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 cannot control what they interviewers say and what they think. 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. The cookies store information anonymously and assign a randomly generated number to identify unique visitors. Be prepared, particularly during the second round, for a panel of four . Articulate and perfect them. Buff up your strong points. Now you need to prepare. There are a million variables that may influence your chances in any given interview. Look at their website, but not just their website. Points are awarded for accuracy, not speed. You do not have to pretend you are a barrister giving advice to clients". Its a pressured situation. 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. It does not store any personal data. But there will almost always be a tangential diversion into matters of non-law, often preceded by a vicious, Tell us more about yourself. Competition for pupillage is tough, as everyone who passes the application stage knows (seeApplying yourself to pupillagefor more), so being invited to an interview is an achievement in itself. Make sure you are not going to be making a misstep by suggesting that they do work that they do not do. Out of these cookies, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. Answers are more impressive when supported by experience of the Bar and the law. For me, this is the only second-round interview I have secured to date and therefore, the feedback I was expecting to receive would have been by far the most useful and as such was the most highly anticipated. The . But what are they and which one to choose? 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. Theres a mystique about the forensic skills and startling intelligence of barristers. Arguably the biggest issue to affect UK law in recent years, Brexit is a huge topic. You could be asked questions like: This question is asked to assess where you get your knowledge of current affairs topics from and how you process that information in relation to the law. Every answer you give should come with examples of things that you have done at university, during work experience, in your spare time and in general life. If there are things you want to ask about or things that matter to you, do not be afraid to raise them. Copyright 2022- Material published on this website is protected by copyright. This way, you can give feedback that is specific, relevant, and concise. If youre seduced by the idea of parading about in a wig, bands and a gown, grow up. Looking back, I was fortunate not to have a chair thrown at me. An interactive law experience. He completed the bar course with BPP University last year and aspires to become a barrister. Your interview is a chance for you to demonstrate advocacy under pressure. Practise with a friend. The point of a mock interview is to get an objective assessment of how you come across. The cookie is used to store and identify a users' unique session ID for the purpose of managing user session on the website. 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. Lots of chambers provide extensive information on their own websites, including articles and videos. China tea-pot, warm smiles, civil conversation. The Pupillage Gateway has closed. Facebook sets this cookie to show relevant advertisements to users by tracking user behaviour across the web, on sites that have Facebook pixel or Facebook social plugin. Be careful with what you put out there. But try not to be fazed. Just engage with the questions you are being asked. You really need to be familiar with why you want to be there and why they should want you and this is all about preparation. The feedback will help you identify any gaps in an application. These exercises are meant to simulate what might happen in court or at a tribunal. But because that is the case, expecting people to be in the same country, let alone close vicinity, that far in . The blunt fact is that everybody being interviewed will have a good 2:1 or 1st class degree. I do not mean you shouldn't prepare for the interview and give it your best, but the outcome is out of your control. Where it says, in those now notoriously large and famously friendly letters, Dont Panic.. Your performance at interview plus any presentation or advocacy exercise will be used to assess this. But opting out of some of these cookies may have an effect on your browsing experience. Advocacy and presentation skills: the ability to present clear, concise and logical arguments in a lucid and self-assured way. Essential! Thu 30 May 2013 04.00 EDT. These attributes are essential to practice at the Bar, and you need to show the panel that you possess them. Chambers also look for commitment to the sector in which they practise (eg, clear evidence of an interest in criminal law). They are usually unpleasant experiences (I hated them!) Point 8 simply reminds me of The Hitch-Hikers Guide to the Galaxy when it says: The nearest approach the Guide makes to this matter is on page seven-thousand-and-twenty-three, which includes the words expect the unexpected. This advice has annoyed many Hitch-Hikers in that it is A glib, and B a contradiction in terms. There may also be limited notice or preparation time (eg, you may be sent the task 20 minutes to an hour before the interview itself). 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". Quick Q&A: The Supreme Court decision on John Worboys victims and police failings, pupillage statistics speak for themselves, Heres whats wrong with Labours attack ads on crime. . If you narrow down your options too much, you might be missing opportunities for yourself. The data collected including the number visitors, the source where they have come from, and the pages visted in an anonymous form. You are the client, what are you advocating for? Find an area of law or a case within the last year which is problematic and . It sounds obvious, but nerves in interview upend the most poised performers in your advocacy classes. You have got to be curious. If I were transported back and asked once again why I want to be a barrister, my answer would be simple: because I want to do something exciting with my life. When answering this question, you must make it personal to you and immediately refer to your experiences to back up your reasons for wanting to be a barrister. Some pupillage interview feedback. Work out what your star selling point is, make it adaptable so you can run it over a number of types of questions. Its important to know your CV inside-out and to be prepared to demonstrate hard evidence of how your skills can add value to the chambers you are interviewing with. Its all bollocks of course. All it takes to break a losing streak is just one lucky win. 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. 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. Barristers in chambers often work as a collective to solve problems. Because most barristers are self-employed, chambers act more as a collection of individuals than a corporate entity. Tip 3: Do not try to impress the people you are interviewing. Discover what a first-round pupillage interview really looks like. Impromptu presentations on random subjects; a Dragons Den pitch on something I had two minutes to invent; idiotic Oxbridge-interview questions (If you were a banana, what car would you drive? etc); deliberately confusing written exercises and needlessly aggressive interview styles were, and probably still are, all common features. Here you can showcase your advocacy skills and other skills that you have which a good barrister would use. 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. You will need to demonstrate that you can answer without using jargon to ensure that you are fully understood. 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. You have the advantage of the panel when it comes to your interviews. If you have a passion for something in the law, then demonstrate that. And dont give up on your passion, no matter what happens. There will be a lot of law chat. 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.