Pupillage Application Watch: 2024-2025

Question on the employment section of the Pupillage Gateway:
Suppose you have taken on longer internships spanning months at a solicitor firm and international law firms abroad, within Chambers’ practice area. Would it be wise to employ a lengthier write-up so you can fully set out the depth of what you learnt (averaging a higher word counts of 250/300), rather than the brevity typical of the write-up for a mini-pupillage that usually don’t cross 150/300 words?

This is an important question, I feel, as being concise is key. But being concise does not always mean having 2 bullet points at the maximum, if you are being concise about various key things you learnt out of the depth of a longer and more enriching experience a longer stint spanning months provides over a 3-day mini-pupillage.

Thoughts?

I once received advice from a head of pupillage who stated that the more important experiences SHOULD have longer, more detailed write-ups. In fact, they mentioned that write-ups should not have a standard length, and it is a skill in itself to understand how much to write and where.

Do with that what you will

Question on publications: if you’ve published 3 articles and want to talk about them, where are they best put? I’m struggling to find an answer because none seem like the right place:
1. If placed under employment history under the header ‘author for various publishers’, and then state the 3 articles published & where, and what they’re about, that’s not a job in anyway so it might annoy the sifter
2. If placed under the education section it might equally generate annoyance as they are not ‘grades’
3. If placed under hobbies, it runs the risk of coming across as a nerd! And it kills space, where only 200 words are available
Thoughts?

Hi all - doubt about references. For a couple of commercial sets that I've tried sifting through the pages for, I haven't found any space at all for references or guidance for them. What do I make of this? (I know some sets will only ask for references after a particular stage, but this is the case even for those sets which asked for references as part of the gateway last year).

I saw a Bar Council email earlier in the week saying the reference process has changed. In essence, you’re no longer asked to provide them in the standard form and sets will contact you directly to submit info, if/ when the need arises later in the process. More info on page 29 in this link:
https://www.pupillagegateway.com/static/97c57c4c-76d7-4edb-b7e4fdb7f508f92f/188d0233-8215-4a1e-93f8641cbcc18d2f/Applicant-User-Guide.pdf?utm_campaign=2860935_Pupillage%20Gateway%20applications%20opens%20tomorrow&utm_medium=email&utm_source=DotDigital&dm_i=4CGD,1PBIF,8DBUSA,7ZF1H,1

Question on publications: if you’ve published 3 articles and want to talk about them, where are they best put? I’m struggling to find an answer because none seem like the right place:

1. If placed under employment history under the header ‘author for various publishers’, and then state the 3 articles published & where, and what they’re about, that’s not a job in anyway so it might annoy the sifter

2. If placed under the education section it might equally generate annoyance as they are not ‘grades’

3. If placed under hobbies, it runs the risk of coming across as a nerd! And it kills space, where only 200 words are available

Thoughts?

What are sets looking for in questions such as "If there is anything else you would like us to know about you, please tell us here." ?

You underestimate the resilience of sifters if you think we'd get annoyed by any of that. Employment History would include both self employed and pro bono work, so it seems like the most natural fit to me.

For questions formatted as "Is it wrong for X to X?" Would it be better to give a yes or no response, or would it be better to give a reasoned response as to why it is wrong but also why it's not wrong, which demonstrates critical thinking?

How would you best answer why did you apply to this chambers?

Do your research. Read about work done by chambers, did the chambers win awards? How do they rank with the Legal 500? Do they promote anything you care about like 'green' initiative's?

How would you best answer why did you apply to this chambers?

Work is key but why do awards matter

it makes them know you pay attention to their quality of advocacy

Because I don't want to write out advice that's been given previously, I'll just link you to that advice.
https://pupillageandhowtogetit.com/application-form/why-this-chambers/
https://x.com/JJenkinsSJB/status/1621197800938655745