Pupillage Interviews - Questions and Preparation

1 in 4... 1 in 5... even 1 in 7.... those are some of the figures I heard that relate to the number of BPTC (or BVC) students who will succeed in getting a pupillage in England and Wales within the 5 year post-qualification time limit. But even those odds seem optimistic when you think that most chambers have literally hundreds of applications each year and they only tend to have 1 or 2 spots on offer.

But fear not, if you have got to the interview stage for a pupillage then your odds are significantly better. I have just gone through the first year of applying for pupillage and although I haven't got one yet, I had a number of final round interviews from which I learnt a lot!

Having gone through that year I feel far more confident as the next round approaches. Why do I have this confidence? Well, it's because I feel more prepared for what the pupillage committees will throw at me. If you're reading this then the chances are that you'll be looking for a pupillage in the coming months and you're probably looking for some advice. If that's the case then read on. If however you want some more general information on becoming a barrister in England and Wales, then the hub by London Girl is possibly more useful.

On the specific subject of interviews however, I felt that it might be useful to publish a few of the things that came up last summer. I spent plenty of time trawling websites last year and didn't find many of them that useful (with the notable exception of The Pupillage Pages). The phrase woefully repetitious comes to mind.

So hear goes, the top five things (on the basis of my hindsight) to think about when preparing for a pupillage interview:

1. The Law - it might sound ridiculous but know your law, I interviewed for criminal sets and it really is essential to know the elements of the key offences by the time you get to the last round. In addition to that, keep an arsenal of ideas that relate to potential law reforms. The "What area of England and Wales's law or legal system would you reform and why?" question is an incredibly common one.

2. Professional Ethics - every interview I went to either had an ethical problem question in at least one of the rounds. Know your code of conduct and written standards like the back of your hand. Also you should have a good read of the FAQs on the Bar Standards Board website, it's essentially a bunch of ethical problem scenarios with the answers laid out for you. When you do answer, structure is essential. You might get the ethics correct but remember this is not just about knowledge but presentation of that knowledge. For example, The Code of Conduct say X and the Written Standards states that Y should be a priority therefore I would consider the appropriate course of action to be Z.

3. Current affairs questions - read your newspapers from cover to cover and pay particualr interest to the legal issues at the time. For a quick fix of legal issues I find that the Guardian Law pages are excellent if your looking for a more liberal more and the Times Law section is particularly handy if you want to get a handle of the issues from a more traditionalist perspective. Comparing and contrasting the papers will stand you in good stead. NB the Guardian on-line is free but the Times is behind a pay-wall. If I remember rightly, the print version of the Times Law supplement is published on a Tuesday.

4. The general barrister questions - what makes a good barrister? Why would you make a good barrister etc I won't dwell on these questions because they require a level of self reflection that is personal to each candidate.

5. The off the wall questions - for these its essential to have an opinion on something... anything... well perhaps not anything (keep it clean). I have had questions such as Convince us of something? Or, what would you put into room 101? This is your chance to show that you are interested in issues beyond the realm of the court room but don't forget that you're still in a interview. You might not be answering a legal question but don't think that it means you won't still be marked on your structure.