To everyone applying for pupillage, keep pushing on, you’re almost there!

I’ve been thinking a lot about when I went through the process last year and thought I’d share some tips I learned along the way (little disclaimer- these tips are my personal view only!)

Let’s dive in:

EVIDENCE - barristers deal with evidence daily so it’s no wonder they want to see lots of examples of your skills. Never make unsupported assertions. If you assert that you are good at building rapport, show the reader exactly when you have done that and how you did it.

EVIDENCE (2) - when and how aren’t the same thing. E.g. you may have furthered your advocacy skills when competing in mooting but you may have done that by learning to respond to difficult judicial intervention when under pressure. This leads nicely into structure...

STRUCTURE - it’s less about what you did and more about what you learned. Adopt the structure “by doing X, I furthered Y”. This will help you evidence.

STRUCTURE (2) - colour code your application line by line with one colour for mentioning experiences and another for saying what those experiences taught you. Aim for more of the latter or 50/50 as a minimum.

STRUCTURE (3) - if the question allows, start with an introductory sentence setting out your points e.g. I would make a good barrister because X, Y, Z. Then have a para per point. This tells the reader exactly where you are going and leads into being concise...

BEING CONCISE - if you can say the same thing in fewer words, do it. Think of the word count as more of a test than a target. It’s better to go into depth on fewer points than make lots of points that are barely touched upon. I would aim for 3 points per question max.

RESEARCH - you should have researched the Chambers thoroughly and I mean going through every page of their website as a starting point. Aim to get a ‘feel’ for the set and write your application with that feeling in mind.

WHY US - the dreaded but probably most crucial question: “Why our Chambers?” If you’ve done enough research, this question shouldn’t make you feel like the Anadin woman.

WHY US (2) - be specific. If you can copy a sentence and paste it into another application, the chances are you aren’t being specific enough.

ORIGINALITY - always be thinking “what can I say that other applicants are unlikely to say”. Find your “thing” and use it to set your application apart.

ORIGINALITY (2) - Chambers read so many applications that they probably don’t remember names but would remember your “thing”. I may well have been “boxing girl”.

RELATE - even better if you can relate your thing to the Bar. By teaching difficult techniques, boxing girl may be able to articulate complex points simply.

PROOF READ - an almost patronising point but after all that hard work, you don’t want a single typo to get you into the no pile. Be consistent and pay attention to detail - if you’ve used dashes for dates in one experience, don’t use dots in another.

REFLECT - Physically take yourself to a room with no distractions and simply think about all you’ve done and achieved. Take yourself back to your proudest moments and relive them in your mind. Then write as your proudest (but modest!) self.

REMEMBER - if you’ve gotten this far then you better get back to it (no, really, take breaks and look after yourself!) You’ve conquered everything that you thought you wouldn’t get through. You can and will do this - it’s not a case of if but just when.