Last year - Part 1 - Application Form

So, here's the first of three posts about the pupillage application process last year. As bright sparks will have noticed, the topic of this post is the application form. The second and third posts will be "Interviews" and "Results".

So, this time last year, I was completely unprepared for pupillage applications. I could barely spell pupillage. My days were spent temping in various mind numbing jobs, and two evenings a week I would head up to Bloomsbury for my GDL classes at the College of Law. I knew that pupillage applications were a couple of weeks away, and I'd heard all the statistics about how hard it is to get pupillage.

As an aside, when you apply for the BPTC, the first page of the form is petrifying. Effectively the page lists all of the pupillage statistics and finishes with something along the lines of: "You probably won't get pupillage. You will probably waste £16,000 on this course which will provide very little more than an ordinary masters. You are probably deluded in thinking that you're good enough to get a pupillage. You will probably die a resentful, bitter old fool." Okay, that isn't the exact wording, but it's as near as makes no difference. You then have to tick a little box that says you understand that you're an idiot, and you then get on with the form. Well, at least the Bar Council tries.

On that happy note, pupillage applications.

The pupillage form is an untamed beast. The Pupillage Portal - the central application system run by the Bar Council - used to be known as OLPAS ("The OnLine Pupillage Application System"). Many people still call the system OLPAS, and it's hard not to fall into the same habit. Chambers can choose to recruit via the Portal ("OLPAS sets"), or they can run their own application system (predictably "non-OLPAS sets"). Through the Portal you can apply to a maximum of 12 sets - for those who remember it, think of it as a sort of UCAS for legal recruitment. The Portal opens at the end of March every year, and closes at the end of April; there used to be two recruitment round a year, summer and winter, but that has now been abandoned in favour of a single, consolidated, session.

In the four weeks that the Portal is open, some twenty to thirty thousand applications will be submitted. Concurrently, non-OLPAS sets will also be running their own application systems. And here, dear friends, was my first mistake. Last year I did not apply to a single non-OLPAS set. I had no idea what I was doing - I'd heard about these non-OLPAS sets, but had also heard vague mutterings that they were mainly civil sets, so (as a crime geek) I didn't consider them worth investigating. This means I missed out on another 5 criminal sets. Well done me!

When the Portal opened in late March I looked over the questions, things like:

"Please provide details of your interests and any non-work related involvement. If relevant to your proposed area of practice, please explain in what way" (150 words)

"Brilliant!" I thought "I do loads of theatre in my spare time, that's got to count in my favour. Shows I'm not afraid of performance".

So I knocked out 150 words about how much I loved theatre and considered that to be great progress. I then forgot about the form for two weeks.

By the time I remembered that the Portal actually existed I had two weeks left to get everything done. I'd finished the BPTC application form in an hour or so, and so didn't think too much of the task ahead.

When I actually looked at the form properly, I realised just what I'd let myself in for. Two minutes later I'd called my temp agency and told them I wasn't available for work that week.

The OLPAS form, to quote Elvis, is a Devil in Disguise. The work that needs to go into it, even before you write a single word, can be daunting for a first time applicant - it certainly was for me:

Firstly you need to actually choose the chambers you're going to apply to. Yes, you can filter sets by area of practice and location, but in the case of London, that still leaves over 30 sets who say they do at least some crime.

Some crime. Not exclusively crime. Without researching the set properly, you have no idea how much crime they do. For instance, 1 KBW comes up as a crime set on the system despite being mainly a family set (albeit with a fair chunk of crime). Frankly, I'd be wasting my time applying to a set like that because I can't demonstrate any kind of interest in their other areas of practice.

Even looking at exclusively criminal sets, there are still around 20 to choose from - which is when you have to get tactical. Are your academics good enough for a top set, would you be wasting your time? Even if you got a pupillage at a bottom end set, would you be able to make a living? What is the award like at each of the sets? What sort of work do they do within crime? Fraud? Sex? Where do their pupils work in the 2nd six, mags or crown? Or at all?

Lots of questions to ask yourself, and, in the end, a heavy reliance on common sense and gut instinct.

I ended up applying for a mix of criminal sets. One or two top end, one or two at the very bottom, but mainly solid 3rd of 4th tiered criminal sets where I could make a career, if successful.

Next up you need to sort out your referees, find your old exam certificates (if you can't remember all of your grades - was it an A or A* in GCSE music? Or was it a B? God knows!), answer a load of equal opportunities questions, calculate your current level of debt (scary) and calculate your anticipated level of debt at the end of pupillage (spectacularly terrifying).

This is before you write your employment history and any legal work experience (mini-pupillages etc), with an explanation of why this will make you a better barrister, and what you've learned. And then comes the form itself, 5 or 6 questions, with fairly restrictive word limits, in which you have your chance to show off.

Over the next few days I gave it my best shot, and contacted friends for advice. The number one piece of advice I received was that the Portal normally crashes on the last day due to the number of people leaving it to the last minute, so try to get it all sorted out a few days in advance. This is still good advice.

The same friends also agreed to look over the form, having been through it all themselves. I didn't realise it at the time, but these friends were the difference between gaining interviews and suffering complete rejection.

I emailed off copies of my form to my friends and within a day I'm sure many of those friends were reconsidering our acquaintance. Although my form wasn't littered with spelling or grammatical errors, it was littered with bad jokes, idiotic comments and seeming immaturity. Within two days the form was completely rewritten. I couldn't believe the transformation. Gone were superfluous, unwieldy adjectives (still a feature of my style, as you'll see from this blog, sadly); and in their place was a tighter writing style that managed to convey a great deal more information in the limited space available - exactly the skill the form is testing.

A week before the deadline, my applications were ready to go. However, there was one final obstacle. If they choose to do so, sets can add an extra question to the form. Until you actually start the process of applying to any given set, you can't know that the extra question is there. Luckily, most sets don't use this feature; but 3 or 4 of the sets I was I'd chosen had decided to do so. This can actually put you in a tricky situation - do you spend the time writing more gibberish, or do you take the path of least resistance and find a set which does not have an extra question? I decided not to be a complete layabout, and to actually spend the time answering the questions properly - I'd chosen the sets for a reason, and so I should at least make the effort to apply to them properly.

Interestingly, a friend of mine who is on the pupillage committee for a civil set told me that one of their main reasons for adding the question is to actually deter applications from time-wasters.

So, 5 days before the deadline I sent my applications off into the ether, and the anxious wait began.

In the next 5 days I have both my opinion writing exam (4 and a half hours) and my drafting exam (3 and a half hours). I hope to get the next part of this series up soon, but forgive me if there is a delay.

Pupillage Fair - Panel Videos

Have received the link below, people were right, some of the talks are really quite interesting - especially some of the practice area related ones.

http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL9309ED76708706A2

T Minus 14 Days

In two weeks (give or take a couple of minutes) the Pupillage Portal will once again open its jaws of doom and admit its latest flock of lambs to sacrifice on the "Altar of OLPAS". I'm going to copyright that term and write a film one day.

Anyhow, the next two weeks will be the last chance I get to relax and not think about the application system. In two weeks time I'll be thrust into crafting 12 applications: the 12 applications that could determine the course of my entire career. If you've read me for more than a few days you'll know that I'm prone to flowery language and overstatement. On this occasion, I assure you, I'm not being overly dramatic. 

Looking back at my attempts last year I was painfully under-prepared - I had not researched Chambers properly, I thought that the system would be easy, pupillage would be easy to get, the same way that everything else had come to me fairly easily in life. I was a complete dumbarse.

What I got right last year I got right by fluke - speaking to other, more experienced, friends who had been part of the process, or who had actually achieved a pupillage, I realised just how far behind the curve I was.

This year I hope not to make the same mistakes, but we shall see.

In the next two weeks I have three exams: Opinion Writing (4 and a half hours), Drafting (3 and a half hours) and Professional Ethics (2 hours). I'll, of course, let you know how they go, but in the mean time I'll also try to post about what I did last year, what I think I got wrong, and what actually happened to my applications: how I was effectively offered pupillage, and how I then never heard anything from that Set again.

Inner Temple Pupillage Application Advice Evening

Posting the other day about the Pupillage Fair reminded me of the above titled event, held a couple of weeks ago on 15 February.

The evening was split into two - firstly a panel discussion about pupillage applications, what to write, what not to write, and secondly a drinks reception.

The first half was "sort of useful". I imagine that if you are, at all, interested in a career at the Bar, you will have found all sorts of application advice pages online, as well as a couple of books on the process. A good website, for instance, is The Pupillage Pages. It's a great site with lots of information for applicants, including a section called "Have You Heard?" (which was the bane of my life last summer - more on this later), and another, tellingly, called Application Advice.

There was nothing, really, from the panel discussion that you couldn't have found elsewhere. It was, I suppose, a useful tool for those who had never looked into the process before (lucky devils), but not quite so useful for those of us who had already experienced the peaks and troughs of "you're invited to interview" and "the quality of applicants this year was incredibly high... sucks to be you" emails.

The second half, however, was an entirely different beast. Waiting in the next room were 50 or so junior and pupil barristers - each of them with a name badge colour coded by their area of practice. Yellow, that brave colour, was assigned to crime, so off I went in search of custard coloured names.

Whereas the stallholders at the pupillage fair seemed to be going through the motions, the barristers at the reception seemed to want to be there (ignoring the fact that you don't have much money during pupillage, and there was lots of free wine). A couple of Eddie's opponents from the mini-pupillage were in attendance, and so I immediately had some people to talk to.

Amazingly(!), after a couple of glasses of wine, the barristers were much more willing to talk about their sets, their application process, and what sort of person they look for. One person from Tooks chambers said to me: "You seem passionate about a career at the criminal bar, and fairly bright, but you have work for a Tory MP on your CV, so I wouldn't waste your time applying to our set in case your form is reviewed by one of our more communist members". Invaluable advice, of course. Conversely, practitioners from other sets were more encouraging.

The majority of sets recruit their pupils through the central "Pupillage Portal". With over a hundred sets to choose from, and a limit of 12 applications, you have to choose your sets carefully. It's important to choose not only on practice area, but also on other esoteric factors - such as the "personality" of the chambers. Although you can get a lot about the set from its website, nothing actually beats speaking to its members in a relaxed environment.

The pupillage fair was too hectic to achieve anything useful, but the odd drinks reception here and there, alongside mini-pupillages can give you a firm idea of whether or not you'd fit in.

I think I know which 12 sets I'll be applying to when the applications open, but more on that later.

I am told...

...that the panel talks at the pupillage fair were actually quite useful. Sadly, I didn't get a chance to see them, but they were all recorded and will be published online, so when I find the link I will be sure to post it here.

The National Pupillage Fair

Last Saturday, the day after the REDOC exam, I went along to the National Pupillage Fair (apparently sponsored by Target Jobs), at Lincoln's Inn.

Firstly, Lincon's is an absolutely stunning venue. It really feels like an ancient seat of learning, and if you've never been there (lawyer or not) it's definitely worth a visit on the tourist trail.

Secondly, the Pupillage Fair itself. The fair, belying its name, isn't exclusively aimed at those seeking pupillage. Don't get me wrong, dozens of Chambers have stalls at the fair where prospective applicants can go along and chat to the current members; but a significant portion of the fair is actually aimed at those who are considering a law degree, or a career at the Bar. This side of the fair has stalls from several law schools and universities, alongside the BSB, legal volunteering organisations and other important sources of information. It was actually in this capacity that I went along.

A year ago I was studying for my exemption GDL at the College of Law. They had offered me a place on their BPTC, but I had also received offers from BPP and City Law School. As I was already at College, it seemed a simple choice to stay there for the next stage in my training. But, just to be sure I spoke to a number of friends  (both on the BVC as it was then, and baby-barristers), and the overwhelming response was that I should investigate BPP more closely. One of these friends, who in the interests of fairness I shall call "Muppet", was half way through her pupillage at (probably) the number one Family Law set.

She completely sold BPP to me (despite having no reason or incentive to do so other than her own experiences), and largely made my mind up for me. To be honest it's probably one of the best pieces of advice I was ever given.

So, being the complete fruit-loop that I am, I thought I would pass this good turn on to others, and asked the BPP BPTC course directors if they needed a current student to help out on their stand.

There was, of course, an added advantage - those on stalls arrived two hours early to set up, so I had exclusive access to a number of criminal sets ahead of the arrival of the hordes. Which was nice.

The main part of the day, though, was about chatting to potential BPP students and telling them why it was the place to go. Frankly, there's very little to separate the major law schools - they all turn out some top quality lawyers, and they have similar facilities. So, much like all sales jobs, you're selling exactly the same product as everyone else, but you need to make it sound completely different and superior.

The real selling point for me, though, was just how much fun I've had. The student body is bright, interesting and diverse, and the tutors (with very few exceptions) are all experienced practitioners who have decided to turn their talented brains to teaching. Many of the tutors still maintain thriving part time practices, and just teach a couple of days a week. Yes, I'm sure this is the same as every other law school.

It was a tiring day, we had hundreds of visitors to the BPP stall, and I'd like to think that I successfully passed on Muppet's good advice to others who are a few years behind me.

The pupillage side of the fair, though, seemed to have no real purpose. Sets have absolutely no need to advertise. They will have a couple of hundred applications even if they are the nadir of their practice area, and they can afford to cherrypick 2 or 3 top candidates from the thousands in the potential market. So what's their incentive for being there?

Many seemed to resent losing their Saturday, as if they were forced to be there by some new marketing-enthusiast clerk (or practice manager as some sets call them now), and didn't have a great deal to say about their sets.

The visitors to the stalls, all hoping for some titbit of advice on how to succeed in their applications, hope gleaming in their eyes, can only have come away disappointed by the recurring advice of: "Try not to have spelling mistakes on your forms, and tailor each application for the set in question".

Perhaps my experiences of the event were tempered by the fact that I only had a few minutes here and there away from the BPP stall, but overall I'd say that it's by no means the "must-visit" that many law schools paint it to be.

NB: I was not paid in any way, shape, or form for my time on the BPP stall, I was there purely because I believed it to be the right thing to do.

REDOC Exam

So, to the REDOC exam.

BPP uses the ExcCel centre in the Docklands (near Canary Wharf) for many of its exams, so several hundred of us piled on to the DLR bright and early last Friday in anticipation of our first written assessment of the year. I'm a Season Ticket holder at a not-very-good Championship level football club, and my younger days I had a couple of experiences of the (thankfully now cancelled) "football special" train journeys: a service with no seats, that smelt distinctly of urine, beer and vomit, that would take hundreds of football fans directly from their home town to some distant location. Everyone on the train was there for exactly the same purpose, and you were herded like cattle from the station, to the train, to the station, to the ground, under the watchful, caring eye of HM Constabulary.

This is what the DLR felt like.

In December we had exams in Advocacy and Conference (speaking and chatting): 12 minutes each, stick on a suit, go into a room and pretend to be a proper-grown-up-barrister.

This, however, was an entirely different prospect. We had had a grand total of 6 lessons for REDOC, and the general advice seemed to be: read the text book, pass.

The exam itself was 20 multiple choice questions (MCQs - four possible answers per question), followed by three short answer questions (or "SAQs" - ten marks each, broken down into sub-questions, probably take a page and  half each to answer).

Heading into the exam, many people were worried about time-management. I didn't really see the problem. The way the exam is set out, if you want to spend equal time on each of the sections you have 3 minutes per MCQ, and 20 minutes per SAQ.

The Phantom seemed largely unconcerned as well ("20 mins for the MCQs, 15 mins each for the SAQs, out in an hour" - well done him). West Country Bob was slightly more worried ("Don't you even check your work?!"). My view was somewhere in the middle. 3 minutes to read and answer an MCQ seemed like aeons, although 20 minutes for the SAQs seemed about right.

As it turned out, Phantom was pretty close to the mark.

Although I didn't get through the MCQs in the 20 minutes, half an hour was not an unreasonable target. The SAQs were a strange beast. I was expecting the odd question about tactics in negotiation, how you would approach a certain scenario, that sort of thing.

Instead, we had three 'compare and contrast' questions. The first question compared mediation with negotiation, the second mediation with arbitration, and the last was a comparison between arbitration and litigation.

We were actively encouraged to answer with bullet points. Amazing scenes.

I saw the Phantom leave at the promised one hour and five minutes, and I followed him out about fifteen minutes later. We soon found ourselves in the Wetherspoons on High Holborn enjoying their burger deal (£5.49 for a plate of grease and a pint, can't go wrong), wondering if all the other exams would be equally passable.

Let's see, eh?