Relevance of Commercial Experience in a Pupillage application

Hey!

I think that commercial experience is valuable for any type of application. For a barrister career, it really helps that you have a degree from Oxford as most chambers in London look for Oxbridge graduates. In terms of the applications, I would recommend going for mini-puppilages at first so that you get experience in shadowing a barrister. I know some friends who have graduated from uni from a RG university and managed to secure mini-puppilages so I think you could also do that. Your commercial experience could be valuable in explaining why you wanted to switch to law. If you want more tips on writing applications, I could recommend Commercial Law Academy's "writing successful applications", which helps with talking about your experiences and skills you have developed.

I'm a software engineer working at a fintech start up, and have been for the last 10 years in various roles. In the last 5 years I've been in a team lead / associate director role.
I'm now considering a switch over to law, specifically I would like to become a barrister. My academics are moderate: 2.1 from Oxford in a humanities subject, AAA at A level (though this was all well over a decade ago). I've got my places to study GDL - but before I drop that hefty sum, leave my job and take the plunge I am keen to know that I'm not DOA based on decisions that I made over 10 years ago.
How much weight does professional experience carry in a pupillage application?
My research tells me that my academics might not put me in contention for the legal 500 tier commercial/IP sets, but what about other sets, mixed practice sets?
What I would be keen to get an opinion on is whether having a decade of quality professional experience in a competitive field, and my track record there help me with a pupillage application?
Would it at least get me into the door for an interview?

Your experience would probably make you a competitive candidate for pupillage. People who have had a non-legal career before training as barristers often do well at the Bar. For example, I know of four people in the magic circle chambers where I used to practise who had varied careers for ten years or so before requalifying, and they are all successful barristers.
Good luck!