Back once again....

That's right, I'm back! Or at least, I'm going to try to be.

Where does the time go?

So, sine my last post, a fair few things have happened. I passed the BVC with a VC...somehow, and will soon get to call myself "barrister". Woo!

I failed to get pupillage (despite a valiant effort, or something along those lines) and am left with the same despondency as last year. In fact, I got less interviews which suggests a huge failure on my part somewhere on the form; something I intend to try and correct for next year which I think may be my last. I fear I may not be up to the required standard, and with the ever passing time am unlikely to improve my advocacy. I did once again reach second round, though fell at that hurdle.

So, with that in mind, I ploughed on with the summer and into the ever rough sees of the job market. I secured myself some short term work at a solicitors though it has now dried up. Good for the bank account, good for the CV. Win win!

I've also bagged myself an internship at a reputable place, which I hope will bolster my applications for the future. I'm considering becoming an appropriate adult, though it a term that has probably never yet been applied to me. Adult...sometimes. Appropriate...almost certainly not.

It's going to be a hard few months from a financial perspective. I've managed to line up a little part-time work locally which should just about see me through. Does anyone know of ways to secure internship funding? Most bursaries that I found required me to submit applications long before I had even interviewed for the position. God know's how I will even pay for Call night attire.

So, that's the quick catch up. Lets see if I can stick at this a little better second time around.

I hope I still have a few kind readers left to notice my return into the blawgging fray.

Oddy.

Ladies and Gentlemen....

Roll up, roll up!

The circus is about to begin!

See this year's contenders bear their souls for the ultimate prize!

Watch as the yearly royal rumble begins. Who will survive? Who has done enough? Who will be victorious, and who will lay exhausted and broken in the gutter of despair?

Only time will tell! Place your bets at the door!

How you'll laugh, how you'll cry, how you'll whoop with excitement!

Ladies and Gentlemen, it's that time of year again. Once a year, every year!

Pupillage applications have arrived.





Popcorn, anyone?

Pupillage Portal; reflections of an applicant scorned

The Hellgate Season has drawn to a close. I am left without pupillage, along with many of the great and the good who deserve one more than myself. Given my own blundering steps through the event horizon to the World Beyond, I thought I would post my own musings on the subject, so that others may laugh, cry, or perhaps find something useful from my own foray into the labyrinthine process. I have posted here a few choice words on my experiences, and what I have learnt from the whole debacle. I shall split this post into several pieces, as I fear it will once again become longer than your patience.

Part 1: The Battle of Application Hill

1) Choosing the Chambers of Dreams

Do not, as I did, underestimate the horrors of the Hellgate application. Unaware of the gargantuan effort involved, I decided to set aside a few days of my Easter vacation to tackle the beasts that came through the Gate.

How naïve I was.

The battle drained my entire vacation before I was even close to satisfied with my applications, leaving my university work out in the cold. 12 chambers need to be distilled from a gargantuan list. This alone took me some considerable time. I resorted to making myself a list of key things which I looked for so that I might more quickly sort the wheat from the chaff (in terms of personal choice). On top of that was to whittle the list down to reflect my own level of ability, compared to current tenants. In short, kind readers, this process took much longer than I had ever anticipated.

As an MA student with much on my plate, I am sure you will appreciate the consternation this caused. Therefore, if any budding 3rd years or pre-BVC students read these words before attempting their first foray into battle, be warned; it takes a bloody long time even to get this far. Research thoroughly. Extremely so. Check chambers and partners. Search for them in the news. Examine the whole website with excruciating detail. Do not, on any account, scrimp on this portion. Even having spent many hours on this, I still subsequently made a few choice mistakes that I only discovered later. One I must admit was in my favour, and did me no harm for I made it to interview. The others however were less forgiving. You must demonstrate you knowledge in your Hellgate applications; and not necessarily overtly. Tailor your application to the qualities that are looked for, when Chambers are kind enough to post them.

2) Scribing you applications

Do not, as I did, underestimate the herculean effort this requires. Whilst a few key questions will remain largely untouched from chambers to chambers, a great many will not. This means that you must create unique answers, tailored to each Chamber of Dreams.

To illustrate; a peer of mine, with good academic qualities and similar extra-curricular activities hurried her applications having underestimated the time involved. Knocking out the bulk in just a day, she sent of her applications. She did not receive any interview invites.

I often felt like Sisyphus, toiling away to no avail day after day. I was however rewarded for my efforts in at least getting to interview... even if unsuccessfully. Here to illustrate, is a cat.

There are plenty of places offering sage advice on this topic. Check out the wise words over at Simon Myerson’s excellent blog. Read the TargetLaw information. Pick up a copy of The Path to Pupillage. Speak to your careers advisors. Do not underestimate the help that can be gleaned from these sources; they probably are the reason I even got a foot in the interview door. You need not go it alone; many will be available to help you, and I urge you not to neglect them. My applications were saved from the instant trip to the shredder by just having them checked for errors after I had stopped being able to read them properly myself.

3) Fighting the Hydra of Submissions

I urge any readers who have yet to face their first battle to learn for the war worn; start early. Very early. Start now. Go on, stop reading this and go and do something useful for once! Hellgate WILL break. It will leave you wounded, stranded, and screaming with frustration. On occasion it would have been faster to etch my applications in my own blood and send it by carrier snail. So my advice, kind readers, is to begin as early as you can. Do not think you can be submitting up to the deadline, for you cannot. The goalposts will not only move, they will get up and run the fuck away, before entrenching themselves in a bunker and grabbing the M60. Suddenly your plastic sword of last minute preparation will look at lot less useful. I learnt the hard way. Do not make the same mistakes that I did.

Next time: The Massacre at Interview Ridge