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. Shearn Delamore Pupillage Interview Questions | Glassdoor No legal questions or knowledge required. This way, you can give feedback that is specific, relevant, and concise. Used to track the information of the embedded YouTube videos on a website. Tip 5: Be engaging. That, I was later told, was the clincher. Make sure you show how you plan to overcome any difficulties because this demonstrates your commitment to learning and shows the panel that you are teachable. Applications for pupillage with Mountford Chambers commencing in 2024. 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. Where it says, in those now notoriously large and famously friendly letters, Dont Panic.. Talking to friends and others who are either applying at the same time or who have just done it. The cookie is used to store and identify a users' unique session ID for the purpose of managing user session on the website. 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. The panel may well challenge you on some of your answers. 10 Examples Of Interview Feedback You Can Use In Your Next Interview Ask for feedback from unsuccessful interviews, and use anything . Essential! Similarly a candidate with a 2(ii) may score highly in the other category and be shortlisted for interview. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Analytics". All will have (or will shortly have) at least a Very Competent mark on the BPTC. . 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. The cookie is set by embedded Microsoft scripts. Task Then specify the task meaning the outcome you were trying to achieve. Chambers also look for evidence of certain personal values such as integrity and self-assurance. The Pupillage Interview/Acceptance/Rejection Thread 2023 Watch Here you can showcase your advocacy skills and other skills that you have which a good barrister would use. Tip 2: Play the game and give the Sets you are interviewing at what they want. If there are things you want to ask about or things that matter to you, do not be afraid to raise them. 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. Impact: the way in which you express and handle yourself during interview. 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. Give yourself a pat on the back because it means you are doing something right. Take a moment to think about the question that you have been asked before answering. To all the contributors, our gratitude is truly infinite. Interested in a future career as a lawyer? But you only need one good interview, so dont beat yourself up too much about the ones that go badly. 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. This cookie is installed by Google Analytics. Meditation or breathing exercises. This cookies are used to collect analytical information about how visitors use the website. You might be able to access the Times online via law library subscriptions or your Inn. The pupillage statistics speak for themselves. Top tips for pupillage interviews from a current pupil The juniors gave very thorough comments on one of my failed pupillage applications. As someone who has been applying for pupillage for over four years, made over 70 applications, and interviewed over nearly 30 times, point #10 is by far the point that resonates with me the most. What was good, what was bad? Here are ten examples of interview feedback that you can use in interviews in different situations: When the candidate in . Constructive feedback makes people feel like their time and effort have been valued and goes a long way to softening the blow of an otherwise harsh rejection email. 30 pupillage interview questions (plus example answers) 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. Don't be too arrogant "when I get pupillage here I will". Recognise your achievement. However, despite this, I found out that I had been unsuccessful at 3pm on 7 May by email, having stared obsessively at my phone all day, waiting to learn of the decision. This is a period of learning and training for prospective barristers or advocates and typically lasts a year. ), focuses on tips from juniors and more established practitioners. 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. The pupillage application process continues as hundreds of aspiring barristers prepare for interviews this month online and in person. Everyone has bad days. Before the interview. "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. Tip 2: It can be a daunting experience to be presented in front of a panel of barristers asking questions. This applies equally whether you are interviewing face to face or online. 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). If you fabricate, we will find you out. Not optional. 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). 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. Copyright 2023 Legal Cheek Ltd. All Rights Reserved. It does not correspond to any user ID in the web application and does not store any personally identifiable information. 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. Be prepared, particularly during the second round, for a panel of four . Specialist Pupillage. However, in most cases the selection process will include a practical exercise and an interview (usually two). The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Performance". Arguably the biggest issue to affect UK law in recent years, Brexit is a huge topic. Look at their website, but not just their website. You will be expected to know it off by heart and you must be prepared to answer questions about anything you have included. According to The Inner Temple, this is a genuine question asked by some chambers interview panels. The cookie is set by the GDPR Cookie Consent plugin and is used to store whether or not user has consented to the use of cookies. When you are thinking of examples, it is almost inevitable that you will gild the lily slightly. 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. None, Im afraid, will stand you out in the memory of the panel. These cookies track visitors across websites and collect information to provide customized ads. Do you mind if I take a second to think about that question? obviously dont make the silence too long but its totally fine to ask this. You will have rejections for pupillage. The pupillage interview process how best to prepare for your pupillage This is used to present users with ads that are relevant to them according to the user profile. Be ready to offer a balanced view with respect to both sides of the argument, particularly on political stories. Buff up your strong points. You have got to be curious. 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. Make sure youve read and watched those for your sets. Its all bollocks of course. Functional cookies help to perform certain functionalities like sharing the content of the website on social media platforms, collect feedbacks, and other third-party features. This cookie is installed by Google Analytics. Do not come up to a Set which you think specialises in Banking Law but actually does more Clinical Negligence. You will be competing against people who are able to articulate exactly why they want to do the particular work available at a given set so in order to be competitive on this question I think you need a well thought through answer, and not just a line from the website (which was probably written by chambers marketing manager five years ago anyway). Use this as another opportunity to show your enthusiasm and to find out about the kind of work you might be involved in. 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). Another thing to keep in mind is that oral advocacy and written advocacy are very different. Can you deal with difficult questions from the panel? Action Next, describe the specific actions that you took as a team and the contribution you made individually. 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. I then practised, aced the interview and got silk. Used by Google DoubleClick and stores information about how the user uses the website and any other advertisement before visiting the website. This is feedback that you cannot get in any other way. Now, just to give you some background about how this particular article came about - last month, I collaborated with six juniors at the Bar. First. A lot of chambers give meaningful feedback which is specific to you. littlelegsldn. Smile. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. PDF PUPILLAGE: HOW TO APPLY - The Kalisher Trust Secondly, consider seeking feedback from sets which reject you, especially if you were . If youre asked this question, you should take one aspect of Brexit that you are familiar with and give a well-structured answer as to how that one aspect has changed UK law. Just do your best. Unstructured answers are apt to confuse, or to suggest confused thinking. You do not have to pretend you are a barrister giving advice to clients". Your interview is a chance for you to demonstrate advocacy under pressure. 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. Research the chambers . 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. It seems that it is equally applicable to pupillage interviews. 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. This is really important because it completely changes the tone of how you present. 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. . If youve done a mini-pupillage at that chambers, that will help formulate a complimentary response. 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. 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. Google them and everyone. This is the most important case you are going to argue and it cant have a more important subject: you and your future. Mock interviews | Pupillage and how to get it They know what they do. SA'AD'S TOP TIPS INCLUDE: Tip 1: If you get through the pupillage application stage and you are now preparing for a pupillage interview, well done. Developing a mantra. Tip 5: At the end of an interview, we tend to ask if you have any questions for us. 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. You will hear competing theories over whether you do in fact need to have a prepared response to the final, dreaded, Do you have anything youd like to ask us? My advice is to have at least three questions in your back pocket (just in case the panel unhelpfully answer one or two of them in the course of the interview). This website is witty, it is erudite, it is hard-hitting, it is focused and it is awesome.. Make sure you are not going to be making a misstep by suggesting that they do work that they do not do. Chambers websites, and the individual barristers pages on those websites, are good, but online directories will give you an idea which areas those chambers really have their reputation in. Instead, try to ask engaging questions that elicit information that is not readily available but which is important to you. It is really important to not just dive into the problem. It is also acceptable to ask for a minute to compose yourself as a rushed answer looks worse than asking for time to think about your answer. 1. Interpersonal skills: the ability to get on with solicitors, lay clients, colleagues and judges. 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. Going out for a walk. In fact its mostly pretty dull and disappointing. Mock interviews are essential. Your performance at interview plus any presentation or advocacy exercise will be used to assess this. We also received over 50 requests for an article on tips for pupillage interviews. Use this guide to discover some of the pupillage interview questions you could face, and how to respond. Thu 30 May 2013 04.00 EDT. just to make sure they could give you detailed information to help you succeed. Hopefully there arent many chambers asking this sort of thing anymore. We ask any questions? at the end, but most people say no and personally Im not impressed by question-askers. 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. Should attempted suicide be criminalised. PDF Kalisher Trust Preparation for pupillage interviews Tuesday 23 February In addition to typical pupillage interview questions, you could be asked ethical or legal questions covering a wide range of current affairs. How to Get a Pupillage | A Step-by-Step Guide | The Lawyer Portal Go with the flow. Theres a mystique about the forensic skills and startling intelligence of barristers. Perhaps role-play something similar with your friends. Used by Microsoft Advertising as a unique ID for visitors. Zaid Ibrahim & Co Pupillage Interview Questions | Glassdoor This can seem equally daunting whether you are facing the interview panel across a desk, or they are all peering out at you from your screen. These are all necessary but insufficient. If you have reached the interview stage, you are already well on your way to securing a pupillage. 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. Second, if you can, find out who is going to be on the panel interviewing you. The second point is that 30% is enough so that you are motivated to do lots of prep work, check everything and pay meticulous attention to detail. 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. All of the above. This domain of this cookie is owned by Vimeo. Ask for feedback from unsuccessful interviews, and use anything constructive, but dont let a run of rejections cause you to lose heart. But the same basic social rules apply in both circumstances make eye contact by looking into your webcam when answering questions and take note of everyones names so that you can speak to them individually throughout the different stages of the interview. Pupillage interview preparation. 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. Some sets will hold only one interview for pupillage candidates, but most will hold two. Have you been able to use what you learned yourself, whether in a moot or discussion with a university committee or something else? Be yourself. There obviously isnt one solution to this kind of question: the real issue is your mind going blank (Im quite sure mine would). However, there are certain qualities that chambers tend to look for in prospective pupils. Legal Cheek has reviews and ratings of many sets (some specifically from a pupillage perspective). See our top tips on commercial pupillage . Although you are being interviewed, you are also interviewing. Do some research on the different types of tasks you might be given at a pupillage interview and practise them too. When it comes to feedback, it's always good to have a few examples of interview feedback ready to go. 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. If you get offered pupillage, you can start making enquiries, I think its a bit pointless otherwise. You will always do your best when you are relaxed and enjoying the challenge with which you are faced. Oh, and under no circumstances ask, Did I get the job?! Interview panels are looking for hard evidence that you can handle yourself under pressure. Aspiring barrister uses GDPR regs to secure pupillage interview feedback I don't think I'd feel this way if most pupillages didn't start a near 1.5 years after the interview. You will need to demonstrate that you can answer without using jargon to ensure that you are fully understood. YouTube sets this cookie to store the video preferences of the user using embedded YouTube video. How to approach pupillage interviews. 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. This cookie can only be read from the domain they are set on and will not track any data while browsing through other sites. Tip 1: Google and thoroughly research your chambers. Reflect on them, learn from them, and move on. Do the prep. Remember, if you are a member of Inner Temple you can contact the Education & Training Department to apply for a mock interview under the Inn's Mock Interview Scheme. Read the newspapers. Please note that you must have already secured a pupillage interview to be eligible for this scheme. These questions arent asked to catch you out, but rather to assess how you would respond on the spot. 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. Barristers in chambers often work as a collective to solve problems. Where one argument is going nowhere, pivot to a better one. When watching the case, do not look at what the senior members of chambers are doing alone, look at what the juniors are doing. An idiot's guide to navigating pupillage interviews 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). Practically everyone answering this question mentions intellectual challenge, advocacy and the advantages of being self-employed. Inns of Court (advice sessions, podcasts, mentorship programmes); and, pupillageandhowtogetit.com. 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. 5. 'The bar must do better at giving pupillage applicants feedback' This cookie is native to PHP applications. If you're about to complete your law degree and want to apply . This is more so the case for those who reach the second (generally the final) round of interviews. Having relevant questions for pupillage interview panels demonstrates that you have a genuine interest in their chambers. 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. Remember, one of our skills it to detect a liar from miles away and to hone in and kill. 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. Law-related interview questions are asked to get an understanding of your view on current laws and the challenges facing the legal profession. 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. Recently, in a series of tweets on the @ExcPupillage account some of my top tips for pupillage interview preparation were shared. As a barrister, you have got to be a problem solver. Now you need to prepare. Linked to the foregoing, make sure you have prepared to talk about something anything that is not law. Do not worry about how you come across. Stuart Withers on Twitter: "Some pupillage interview feedback. 1 6 Must Prepare for Pupillage Interview Questions These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. Tip 1: If you get through the pupillage application stage and you are now preparing for a pupillage interview, well done. Nepotism and inherited privilege shouldnt have their place at the modern Bar, but they linger. Pupillage Interviews (Part 2): Top Tips from Established Practitioners and Juniors at the Bar, The Do's and Don'ts of Pupillage Applications, TRAINING CONTRACT APPLICATIONS AND WHERE TO START, RESOURCES FOR APPLYING TO Clifford Chance, INFORMATION FOR FOREIGN QUALIFIED LAWYERS, Pupillage Interviews (Part 1): Top Tips from Eight Silks. You do not have to hit all the buttons, but having some will be good. Tagged: pupillage, pupillageapplications, pupillagegateway, pupillageinterview, bptc, btc, aspiringbarristers, aspiringbarrister, silk, junior, establishedpractitioners, theBar. Chambers are usually supportive when it comes to this, but you often have to request. Make sure you know which areas of law they specialise in, which may be more specialised than just commercial or public law. I interviewed at Shearn Delamore (Kuala Lumpur) in Mar 2018. Let us now get into what we actually came here to read: top tips for pupillage interviews from EIGHT silks! However, dont ask questions you should know the answer to; chambers will often provide a great deal of information about pupillage on their website. But try not to be fazed. Receiving an invitation to an interview creates the initial . For more detailed information about the cookies we use, see our. You are expressly prohibited from electronically storing any material found here or republishing it by any means.