TAKING ON THE HOT SEAT: PUTTING YOUR BEST FOOT FORWARD IN PUPILLAGE INTERVIEWS

A few weeks ago, you hit the “Submit” button on pupillage applications that you spent many weeks carefully and diligently drafting. For that, you should be very proud of yourself! The next challenge for those who successfully pass the paper sift stage is the all-important pupillage interview.

Interviews are exhilarating, demanding, fun, and stressful all at the same time. They are also difficult to judge: was it really as much of a car crash as you thought, or did you sail through to a second round? In this article of our Pupillage Application Series, we offer our advice on what works well (and what doesn’t) when preparing for interviews.

Before the interview

  1. Prepare for the expected

    I was slightly surprised in a first-round interview when the panel’s opening question was “So, why the Bar?”, particularly when a question on their written form was “Why do you want to be a barrister?”

    The lesson here is: don’t forget the basics. Whether they have asked the “boilerplate” questions in the written application form or not, there’s nothing stopping a panel from testing your commitment to the profession at the interview. In fairness, everyone will give similar answers on paper. It’s only when you hear a candidate’s answer viva voce that it really ‘comes alive’ (or doesn’t).

    So, make sure you have your answers to the standard questions at your fingertips. There really shouldn’t be any hesitation, repetition, or deviation when answering the ‘why barrister / why chambers / why practice area’ type questions. Plan your answers ahead of time and memorise a few key points to make.

    A word of caution. If the panel asks you a question that is substantively similar to what was asked on the written form, don’t simply regurgitate your written answer. They will likely have read it already. You need to elaborate. Select one or two points from your written answer and provide more depth, background, context, or examples of what you meant. If there’s been an update since you submitted the written application, then perhaps now is your chance to offer it. Remember, it’s essential to provide evidence for your points. Just like courtroom advocacy, it doesn’t tell the audience much to make bare assertions. Relate it to your experiences and what it was about them that helped you make your decision.

    2. Brush up on the law

      Traditionally, first-round interviews were a slightly more informal ‘getting to know you’ chat, whilst the heavy-hitting legal exchanges were reserved for second-round interviews. We think that distinction is starting to break down. All of our first-round interviews involved a legal analysis or advocacy exercise. As such, you should revise the law relevant to your practice area before the interview. The panel aren’t expecting you to be experts at this stage, but you should know first principles. For example, if you’re applying for civil law, what are the ingredients of a negligence claim? What are the common defences? What is the limitation period? If you’re applying for crime, what’s the broad structure of a good bail application? How do the sentencing guidelines work? And so forth.

      In addition to knowing the ‘black letter law’, you also need to stay abreast of recent legal updates, such as new case law, bills, changes to procedural rules, developing news stories, etc. How can you keep on top of it all when law changes so much so quickly? This is tricky, but the best advice is to read as deeply and as widely as you can sources relevant to your practice area. Keep a record of what you’ve read. What is the story? What are the key legal issues? What are the arguments on either side? And crucially, what is your opinion? You should have answers to these questions prepared and ready to go before your interview, as it is very difficult to simply think of something insightful to say on the spot. At the end of this article, we’ve listed a few resources you may wish to use for legal awareness.

      Naturally, there is always the anxiety that the panel will ask you about something of which you have never heard. Whilst that is a possibility, in our experience, it is rare. Panels are unlikely to ask you about a very obscure piece of esoteric law. Unless they want to show off (and some panels might), they aren’t testing whether you have as much raw knowledge as they do. They are testing your ability to think critically and argue. So, focus more on the quality of your analysis, reasoning, and argument than on the substantive topic.

      That said, what do you do if you really don’t know the answer to a question? We address that below.

      3. Practise

        Interviewing is a skill. Like any skill, it is learnt and improved. As such, consider doing a few mock interviews with your university careers team, Bar Course provider, Inn of Court, or barristers on LinkedIn who kindly offer their time.

        In particular, we think it’s a good idea to practise debate-style questions and competency questions. With respect to competency-questions, remember to use the STAR technique, which we discussed in our previous article.

        With respect to debate-style questions, the key is to get your brain used to thinking quickly about an issue. You need to assess the strengths and weaknesses of both sides, settle on a position, and deliver your argument with a clear structure. We would advise that you clearly pick a side of the debate and argue for it, rather than sitting on the fence. That said, it is impressive if you can include an element of nuance. In other words, acknowledge that the issue isn’t ‘black and white’ and that there is some value in the other side’s argument, but your position is stronger with reasons.

        The best answers to debate-style questions are those that engage deeply with the substantive arguments. However, if you struggle with debate-style questions and need a fallback approach, here are two:

        • Scrutinise the terms of the question. For example, take the following proposition:

        “Children’s access to harmful social media content should be more tightly controlled. Discuss”.

        Think about what each keyword here means. What does “children” mean? Is it all children? Should we treat 16-17 year olds differently than 6-7 year olds? If so, how? Why? What is “harmful” social media content? Who defines it, and how? What is “more tightly controlled”? By whom? How is it enforced? Should it be?

        Asking yourself these questions is a way ‘in’ to the issues. It should help you to identify the arguments and spark ideas.

        • Apply general ‘heads’ of argument to the proposition. For example, these might be a Political argument, a Social argument, and an Economic argument. You can apply these themes to almost any proposition.

        Interview day

        1. Hold your nerve

        You will feel nervous on the day. That’s not a problem. Nerves are good. As a friend once told me, they keep you on your toes. A bit of nerves adds adrenaline, purpose, and a sense of urgency to the occasion. All of that is to your advantage. Reframe your thinking around nerves as an asset rather than a liability. If you let nerves take over, you will fumble, stall, and second-guess yourself. You need to avoid that; you’ve worked too hard for nerves to determine the outcome. So, find a way to control nerves. Whatever works for you. Power poses. Loud music (with headphones on please!). A morning workout. A call to a friend or a loved one.

        2. Be polite, to everyone

        First and foremost, be polite to chambers staff. This is a profession where reputation is king. It is built over years and destroyed in a second. Don’t start off on the wrong foot. The pupillage process is simply impossible to administer without chambers staff. They are the unsung heroes. They may also be your colleagues in a few years’ time. Whether they have sway over the panel’s decision or not is irrelevant. Be nice because it’s right.

        Secondly, don’t play waiting room politics. Just don’t. If others wish to do so, so be it. They won’t go far. Again, people will remember – and not for good reason – THAT person who wouldn’t stop talking about having “too many” interviews to prepare for, whose father is “friends with a member of the panel”, or who condescendingly exchanges interview stories. Be polite, be friendly, be well-mannered. Don’t be rude.

        A quick side note: you will come across a variety of personalities in candidates during interviews. Some will be more gregarious than others. If people want to chat, that’s great. If they don’t, leave them to it. This is a big day for them too. If they need a quiet moment to themselves to prepare and collect their thoughts, allow them that space.

        3. Show your personality

        Perhaps the most difficult aspect of your performance in the interview is deciding how you want to come across to the panel. You want to be confident but not arrogant. You want to demonstrate your abilities but not appear supercilious. You want to be charismatic but not attention-seeking. How can you be all things to all people? The truth is, you can’t. Nor should you. The eagerness to prove yourself to be a ‘silk-in-waiting’ is unnecessary and unhelpful. It will put too much pressure on you, and it isn’t what chambers are looking for. Instead, as clichéd as it may be and as hard as it can be to do, just be yourself. Nothing less, nothing more. Chambers will either warm to you or they won’t. And if they don’t, is that really somewhere you want to spend the next 30 years of your career?

        4. Get the basics right

        I recall overhearing that another candidate had forgotten to bring some documents that chambers had instructed candidates to bring with them to the interview. It really does not reflect well on you if you don’t even read your invitation email properly. So, read and re-read your invitation email, look presentable, and turn your phone off in the interview.

        Answering the questions

        If you’re asked a question and you’re confident in your answer, there’s no issue. Give your answer in a succinct and professional way. What do you do, though, if you don’t know the answer? Here’s our approach.

        1. Be comfortable in the silence

        If you don’t know, it is okay – indeed, encouraged – to just go quiet and think. Candidates mistakenly believe they need to answer immediately. You don’t. On the contrary, you will look more controlled, thoughtful, and considered if you take your time, think, develop your answer in your mind, and then deliver it. This always comes across better than a candidate who rushes to answer and then flounders mid-sentence. A brief silence might feel like hours in an interview, but only to you.

        2. Structure is key

        As with your written answers, your oral answers should have a clear structure. If in doubt, go with the traditional: “I have three points in answer to your question. They are A, B, and C”. You don’t always have to adopt a rigid approach. Some candidates deliver an answer that has an implied structure within it. You can tell when they are moving on from one idea to the next. This is often because they have clearly demarcated the issues in their own mind before speaking. Whatever approach you take, you must avoid a stream of consciousness answer. You will only appear confused, unknowledgeable, and timid.

        3. It’s okay to ask

        If all else fails and you are truly stumped, ask for clarification. There is no shame in it. After all, in pupillage, you often will not know the answer and will need to ask for help. To do so in a pupillage interview can show a certain self-assuredness in recognising your own limitations. Hopefully, the panel will provide some further context, and you will be able to answer.

        However, this comes with a strong health warning. Whilst it is fine to ask for clarification on one or two (more difficult or obscure) questions, you certainly should not do it more than that. Otherwise, you will simply appear unprepared and unconvincing. Furthermore, not all panels will be obliging. You should expect resistance from some panels, particularly if you are asking for clarification on a question to which you really should know the answer.

        4. Difficult interviews are good

        It sounds strange, we know, but an interview where you are robustly challenged can actually be a good sign that the panel thinks you’re up to the challenge. My first experience of this was in my Inn of Court scholarship interview, where I was totally unprepared for the panel to disagree with me and get into a debate with me. I thought they didn’t like me as a candidate and thought my answers were wrong! In fact, they just wanted to see if I could withstand further probing and justify my position.

        After the interview

        1. Write down what happened

        We found it helpful to note down the questions asked and our responses soon after the interview finished. This is helpful for two reasons. Firstly, it allows you to self-reflect. What went well? What didn’t? What can you improve upon for the next one? We appreciate that some interviews won’t go as well as you hoped and it may be uncomfortable for you to relive the memory. But if you rip the bandage off and just do it quickly, you’ll find you prepare better for the next interview. Secondly, it is possible that some questions (particularly the ‘current awareness’ questions) will be asked in similar terms at other sets. If you note them down, you can supplement your research later.

        2. RELAX!

        It’s over. Whether you said the right thing, the wrong thing, the clever thing, the stupid thing, or the downright laughable thing. You can’t change it now. You did your best and you can’t do anything more. Hindsight is a wonderful thing. We all wish we could go back in time and change one of ours answers but, the truth is, it probably won’t have made that much difference. So, instead, be proud of yourself. Treat yourself. And prepare for the next one.

        Tamsin Sandiford (Employment and Personal Injury Barrister at St Philips Chambers) & Kyran Kanda (Pupil Barrister at St Philips Chambers)

        BSG Barrister Reps

        The views expressed in this article are the personal opinions and experiences of the authors. This article does not express the views of any barristers’ chambers or other legal organisation.

        LEGAL AWARENESS RESOURCES

        The views expressed in this article are the personal opinions and experiences of the authors. This article does not express the views of any barristers’ chambers or other legal organisation.