pupillage interview feedback pupillage interview feedback

This cookie can only be read from the domain they are set on and will not track any data while browsing through other sites. If you are unsuccessful at interview, always ask for feedback so that you . (Life at the Bar is much the same.) Mock interviews | Pupillage and how to get it Thu 30 May 2013 04.00 EDT. So if you have prepared, you will be able to give good answers, and the panel will be willing you on the whole time. The interview procedures adopted by chambers can be very varied. Make sure you are up to date with current affairs. 30 pupillage interview questions (plus example answers) When you're done with your law degree and want to become a barrister or advocate, the next stage is often a pupillage. This cookie is set by Facebook to display advertisements when either on Facebook or on a digital platform powered by Facebook advertising, after visiting the website. My brilliant colleague in Chambers, Adam Constable QC, says that as a barrister you should be on average 30% nervous all the time. According to student feedback, the most common exercise is an advocacy test of some description, or a presentation. Even if its something as simple as, Roughly how long does it take for your junior tenants to start appearing regularly in the Crown Court? If you really cant think of a good question, dont ask a bad one. Remember, one of our skills it to detect a liar from miles away and to hone in and kill. 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. Pupillage - Twenty Essex They know what they do. The cookies is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Necessary". Smile. Points are awarded for accuracy, not speed. Can you remain impartial and stick to the facts of a case and use those to present a logical reason for disagreeing with the outcome of a case. Find out more! While you are speaking you may be interrupted and challenged on one or more points in your argument. Read and reread your application form. 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. We will suss you out if you are giving out an example you cannot justify. P - Passion When you are in an interview and you meet someone who is genuinely interested and engaged, it makes such a big difference. So when you are asked questions, to probe your answer, it is really important not to think that this is not some underhand attempt to trap you to give a wrong answer and it is equally important not to think that changing your mind in response to a question or suggestion is always a bad thing or means that you are revealing some failing. Many will have Masters degrees. This is feedback that you cannot get in any other way. Chambers are only able to interview a small minority of applicants. LOLZ! You will deserve everything you get. But because that is the case, expecting people to be in the same country, let alone close vicinity, that far in . Tip 3: Be nimble. That will just make you self-conscious. I would have not gotten it if I had done the interview the day before. It can reveal a lot about your character and the characteristics you potentially view as making someone a good barrister. Barristers in chambers often work as a collective to solve problems. The cookies store information anonymously and assign a randomly generated number to identify unique visitors. They want you to give the right answer and to respond well to their questions. How to ace your pupillage interview: tips from qualified barristers Questions around current affairs are asked to assess how well you keep up with issues that have a bearing on the legal profession. 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. Read the newspapers. 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. Make sure to ask for feedback. All will have (or will shortly have) at least a Very Competent mark on the BPTC. Give yourself a pat on the back because it means you are doing something right. With a twitter and LinkedIn profile, you can see what people are doing in their professional and personal life. They want to know you are interested in their work. Looking at the profiles of other junior tenants on the chambers website can be a sobering experience. Its boring but it works. Im a commercial chancery barrister who has done first round pupillage interviews in the past, and while I agree with much of this, I have a different perspective on a few points. I received no response to this email and therefore, sent a further email on 20 May, once again asking for feedback from the panel, and checking they had received my previous correspondence. This is the most important case you are going to argue and it cant have a more important subject: you and your future. This question is deliberately asked to assess your commitment to the Bar. This information is used to compile report and improve site. It sounds obvious, but nerves in interview upend the most poised performers in your advocacy classes. You will be expected to know it off by heart and you must be prepared to answer questions about anything you have included. All of the skills above are what you should be thinking about in your daily life that you can apply to them. I advise you not to close yourself off from experiencing different areas of law, even those you think you might not like. Even if the topic is your Mastermind subject, you win no points for speed. Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. Now, just to give you some background about how this particular article came about - last month, I collaborated with six juniors at the Bar. Its also not enough to derail you. Research the chambers . 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. When watching the case, do not look at what the senior members of chambers are doing alone, look at what the juniors are doing. This is a period of learning and training for prospective barristers or advocates and typically lasts a year. This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. Everyone has bad days. This cookie is set when an AdsWizz website visitor have opted out the collection of information by AdsWizz service or opted to disable the targeted ads by AdsWizz. Theres a mystique about the forensic skills and startling intelligence of barristers. We also received over 50 requests for an article on tips for pupillage interviews. Make sure to structure these answers and give a clear outline of your arguments. Legal Twitter (start with @davidallengreen and @BarristerSecret and go on from there) is constantly discussing law-related current affairs and might help you form a view and see what the counter-arguments are. But opting out of some of these cookies may have an effect on your browsing experience. An idiot's guide to navigating pupillage interviews They ought to be making reasonable adjustments for you. O - Open minded Some people might feel like they have no idea what type of law they want to get into, so they might opt for a general common law type pupillage (which is much more normal outside of London). 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. Unlike previous years however, I did manage to secure a second-round interview at a chambers I liked, and I thought that both interviews went well. Tip 1: Pause for thought. The cookie is used to store information of how visitors use a website and helps in creating an analytics report of how the website is doing. You will then forget everything you went through before. This cookie is set by linkedIn. Developing a mantra. So if you really have a question, then this is your opportunity to ask, but do not feel like you have to just for the sake of it. . This is not intended to be a trial by ordeal where they are being mean to advocates to see what ability they have to withstand difficult situations. This is usually shown through your academic achievements and publications. 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). Now you need to prepare. Pupillage Interview | The Lawyer Portal Very few people get pupillage on their first application. 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'. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. 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. 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. 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. Here are ten examples of interview feedback that you can use in interviews in different situations: When the candidate in . 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). Tip 2: Play the game and give the Sets you are interviewing at what they want. Be honest, but ensure that you give clear explanations why you have considered other careers and why you ultimately chose to pursue a career as a barrister. The question is asked to assess how clearly and concisely you can provide an explanation for something that requires logical thinking in the moment. I was a disaster. If you narrow down your options too much, you might be missing opportunities for yourself. Deep breaths, slow and considered responses and substituting a brief pause for umm or err or, heaven forfend, like, are mandatory habits. 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. 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. Your response to some questions will be deliberately challenged by the interview panel. This cookie, set by Cloudflare, is used to support Cloudflare Bot Management. Its very likely that youll be asked some questions about information you have included in your application. When people make an effort to understand what the Sets they are interviewing at actually specialise in, they are the ones that really stand out. Barristers love lists. Impact: the way in which you express and handle yourself during interview. In some chambers, the whole Pupillage Recruitment Committee (PRC) will be in your second-round interview! They show that you are human, intriguing and the kind of person that the interviewer actively wants to find out more about. 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. Law-related interview questions are asked to get an understanding of your view on current laws and the challenges facing the legal profession. When it makes a good story. 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. If you are applying to criminal sets, the Secret Barristers books are essential background reading. Copyright 2023 Legal Cheek Ltd. All Rights Reserved. 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. Oh, and under no circumstances ask, Did I get the job?! Tip 5: At the end of an interview, we tend to ask if you have any questions for us. This way, you can give feedback that is specific, relevant, and concise. I feel strongly that the profession needs to change the way it operates and recruits because of the young talent it ultimately passes by, and I feel that making personalised feedback mandatory for candidates who have secured an interview, would be one very small way of changing it for the better. 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. They know what is on their website. You must join an inn before you qualify as a barrister. This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Read publications and websites such as. The right answer to this question (at least if I am interviewing) is to show you understand what work junior tenants at the chambers do (probably not something you can find out from the website go to chambers events/law fairs etc and ask) and explain convincingly why this kind of work interests you. Be ready to offer a balanced view with respect to both sides of the argument, particularly on political stories. You will be nervous before your interviews, and nervous before every court hearing you ever do, for the rest of your career. Where one argument is going nowhere, pivot to a better one. They are usually unpleasant experiences (I hated them!) 'The bar must do better at giving pupillage applicants feedback' This is important because time you go into court, one of you is going to fail because you wont win the case (just take a pause and let the ripple of that realisation drip through). Pupillage at Mountford Chambers - Mountford Chambers - London And that is the very best impression you can leave. So incredible, that I had to divide the article into two parts: the first article (this one) focuses on tips from silks (essentially a view from the top); and the second article, which will be released in the near future (so keep a look out! Where are the weak points? Having relevant questions for pupillage interview panels demonstrates that you have a genuine interest in their chambers. If you are a student with a Disability Support Agreement do not be afraid to request extra time for advocacy preparation or exercises. Instead, you will be expected to present a logical, well-presented and well-structured argument to address a hotly debated topic relating to law. Some sets will hold only one interview for pupillage candidates, but most will hold two. 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. A few nerves are good for your performance. Upcoming pupillage interview? | Inner Temple Your CV and experiences will form the basis of pupillage interview questions you are asked. Advocacy and presentation skills: the ability to present clear, concise and logical arguments in a lucid and self-assured way. You are always better of taking a moment and giving a well-structured, persuasive answer, than answering hastily. Linkedin - Used to track visitors on multiple websites, in order to present relevant advertisement based on the visitor's preferences. You don't always have to ask because most chambers have a wealth of information of their website. Line up a few of these during your interview prep. So you cant really give a wrong answer; you just need to be able to argue in support of it. BTC graduate and aspiring barrister Kieran Alker recounts his frustrating experience and suggests a way to improve the process. Some sets will hold only one interview for pupillage candidates, but most will hold two. P - Preparation When you think about interviews from the point of view of the interviewer, they will have heard most answers before. 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. There are a million variables that may influence your chances in any given interview. Draw up a list of likely topics and think about your arguments in advance. Are you reactive, defensive or dismissive? For example, the recent 2022 Johnny Depp and Amber Heard libel case could be a good one to cover. 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. You would need to answer this question honestly and remain true to your convictions. Unstructured answers are apt to confuse, or to suggest confused thinking. Work out what your star selling point is, make it adaptable so you can run it over a number of types of questions. If you have a passion for something in the law, then demonstrate that. 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. No feedback was provided in this email fine, so as most would expect I immediately replied, thanking the set for letting me know and asking the panel for some feedback. We will provide feedback to second-round candidates who are not offered pupillage on . Mock interviews are essential. Make sure you know which areas of law they specialise in, which may be more specialised than just commercial or public law. Others might feel like they know what they want to do and may opt for very niche areas. 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. If youve done a mini-pupillage at that chambers, that will help formulate a complimentary response. Do not be overly formal. But there will almost always be a tangential diversion into matters of non-law, often preceded by a vicious, Tell us more about yourself. I was so bad because I thought I had the answers in my head, but I had not practised getting them out. Aspiring barrister uses GDPR regs to secure pupillage interview feedback 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. This cookies is installed by Google Universal Analytics to throttle the request rate to limit the colllection of data on high traffic sites. Where it says, in those now notoriously large and famously friendly letters, Dont Panic.. 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. Competency is not all about how you perform as a barrister, its also about how you react in the face of adversity. When it comes to feedback, it's always good to have a few examples of interview feedback ready to go. 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. We ask any questions? at the end, but most people say no and personally Im not impressed by question-askers. This is also not taking into account the fact that the vast majority of applicants will have spent many hours applying for, and then working in jobs which they feel will make their pupillage applications stronger, i.e. Pupillage Interviews: Top Tips - 5 Pump Court There are even UK nationals who secure jobs abroad during the time in-between the BTC and pupillage who are now at a disadvantage. Arguably the biggest issue to affect UK law in recent years, Brexit is a huge topic. How to Get a Pupillage | A Step-by-Step Guide | The Lawyer Portal PDF Kalisher Trust Preparation for pupillage interviews Tuesday 23 February Have you identified the key points in the problem? These cookies ensure basic functionalities and security features of the website, anonymously. 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 . This is a question that genuinely seeks to discover how a chambers can best help you develop if there is an aspect of pupillage you could find difficult. And at the criminal Bar, whatever brickbats we throw at the system and the punitive lifestyle the Bar engenders, life is never, ever dull. These attributes are essential to practice at the Bar, and you need to show the panel that you possess them. In case you have not read the About section of my website, I initially embarked on a career at the Bar. Tip 5: Treat applying to the Bar as if it is a case. 4. This is to see how you cope under pressure. If you're about to complete your law degree and want to apply . You are the client, what are you advocating for? The blunt fact is that everybody being interviewed will have a good 2:1 or 1st class degree. Tip 2:Research what barristers say about the set/their practice area. Your odds are slim, and unless you are particularly brilliant (and most of us arent), you are competing against hundreds of people of comparable ability, intellect and experience. I think the answer is to bear in mind that what the panel is interested in is not what you think but how you think. The standard CV drill, so know your CV well and describe your experiences. Used by Microsoft as a unique identifier. This cookie is set by Youtube. Pupillage interview season is looming. I interviewed at Zaid Ibrahim & Co (Kuala Lumpur) in Feb 2023. And since pupillage interviews have a good deal in common with appearances in court they are a form of oral advocacy the (apparently) relaxed interviewee will make a better impression than the obviously nervous or unhappy one. The cookie is set by GDPR cookie consent to record the user consent for the cookies in the category "Functional". You do not have to pretend you are a barrister giving advice to clients". Tip 2: Structure your answers. Just be a human being. However, as long as you prepare properly for a pupillage interview, there's always a chance that you're the lucky applicant. For example: You have accepted pupillage with one set of chambers. This is your opportunity to ask questions about how they cover the specific areas of law youre interested in as part of your pupillage, and to ask about the culture and the wider opportunities available to you. Give yourself a pat on the back because it means you are doing something right. Pupillage interview preparation. Others will have friends or family in chambers, or relatives in the judiciary. However, in most cases the selection process will include a practical exercise and an interview (usually two). Task Then specify the task meaning the outcome you were trying to achieve. In addition to typical pupillage interview questions, you could be asked ethical or legal questions covering a wide range of current affairs. If there are things you want to ask about or things that matter to you, do not be afraid to raise them. 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. Chambers will be looking for evidence of these qualities throughout the interview both in what you say and the way you say it. As a barrister, you have got to be a problem solver. Similarly a candidate with a 2(ii) may score highly in the other category and be shortlisted for interview. 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. Follow SBs advice. If youre unsure how to answer a question, dont panic. Typically, sets will have first and second round interviews.