Having scoured the pages of the Chambers in London which I am interested in, I found myself pondering whether or not it is wise to complete an assessed mini-pupillage? There are pros and cons to either answer.
Pros:
- Chambers get to see what your abilities are, not just that you are good at being your supervisor's shadow and being polite and friendly;
- It may help the selection process for pupillage, as they will already know something about your abilities;
- Some chambers will let you skip the first round interview if you perform well;
- It allows chambers to give you some real constructive feedback on your chances rather than "everyone thought you were very nice"!!
Cons:
- Mess up the assessment and you have little or no chance of getting pupillage at that chambers, even if there are further assessments in the pupillage interviews;
- You may end up being so worried and stressed, that you spend all week concentrating on the test, and don't show the members of chambers your friendly side and allow them to make the "very nice" comment;
- You may not actually enjoy the week, so you won't want to apply there anyway.
If anyone has any views on this, especially those that have maybe completed one or have secured pupillage, they will be very welcome.
5 comments:
Hi BoB,
I'd suggest you go for a combination of assessed and non assessed mini's, just to give yourself depth of experience.
If you're worried about the stress of an assessed mini, stop to think of the way you will be scrutinised during pupiilage (9-6 ( sometimes later!) 5 days a week, 4 weeks a month for 12 months....) -somehow the assessed mini wont seem to be quite as bad if put into such perspective!!
I've done a few un-assessed so I am going to apply for the assessed. I think that is a fair point about the stress in comparison to pupillage, not that I was saying it applied to me but was just something that I thought would spark debate.
Thanks for the comment minx.
Since you've already done some unassessed ones it is definitely time to try something a little more challenging. For those who are a little earlier in the process I would advise unassessed mini-pupillages to start with as a way of finding out what a barrister really gets up to. You don't want to seem too naive in the chambers you end up applying to. Some sets won't even interview you if you haven't already done an assessed mini-pupillage, and by the time applications come around it is too late as they won't be able to fit you in (esp some commercial sets). You have to bite the bullet and accept that you will be assessed a lot over the next couple of years. It's good practice.
Good luck
PP
Hey BOB,
As someone who has always been too nervous to do assessed mini-pups but is now grabbing the proverbial bull's horns, I would really recommend that you do some. It is something I am now considering anyway!
LL
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