Twinkle, twinkle, align the stars: a storybook guide to pupillage applications

At the beginning of 2024, I became a father. The past year has therefore given me much cause for thinking about all I want to teach my daughter as she takes the first tentative steps of her own adventure. It leads me also to contemplate, no doubt unoriginally, that the lessons we absorb in our younger and more vulnerable years are often timeless. In the course of my efforts to instil my baby girl with lifelong wisdom, I have slowly been investing in a little home library. As I peruse the bookshelves, may I suggest aspiring barristers take inspiration from their favourite storybook characters as the new pupillage recruitment round approaches. With that in mind, consider the following.

1. Know how to sell yourself

“I am sure there is Magic in everything, only we have not sense enough to get hold of it and make it do things for us.” – Frances Hodgson Burnett, The Secret Garden

You want to be a barrister? You want to advocate on behalf of others? Start by arguing your case. You are the client. You are the lawyer. Work out your strongest arguments and do not be defensive. Structure the best means of presenting them.

Ever wonder why three points works well? Recollect Goldilocks’ usurped Ursidae, the Big Bad Wolf’s porcine prey or Dorothy’s yellow-brick brothers-in-arms. It is written in the stars (or at least the pages of countless fairytales) that we are primed easily to remember in terms of the power of three.

Alternatively, you might use the aptly named STAR criteria (situation, task, action, result). Ask a child, whether your own, a relative’s or a friend’s, what they did today, and hopefully they will take you through where they were and why, what they did, and what happened. So, twinkle, twinkle, be a star. Harness your inner magic.

2. Be intellectually curious

“The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you’ll go.” – Dr. Seuss, I Can Read With My Eyes Shut!

When we are very young, everything is new and exciting. We absorb it all just because. That should not stop as you ponder the next steps of your career. Yes, you might very well have identified, for example, that you want to practise in this area at the Bar or focus on courtroom advocacy over written advisory work or vice-versa, but that is no reason to close off your mind to other curiosities.

I often tell people to maintain a healthy hinterland. Have outside interests and keep learning for learning’s sake. You never know when it might come in useful. For example, it might just help enhance the way you present in an application or before a pupillage panel if you have a frame of reference which makes your examples more relatable.

In any event, you will not lose anything by keeping your mind refreshed with whatever activity attracts your attention outside work. 98¾ per cent guaranteed.

3. Be motivated

“You can’t stay in your corner of the Forest waiting for others to come to you. You have to go to them sometimes.” – A. A. Milne, Winnie the Pooh.

My daughter is very much at the stage where if a random household object takes her fancy (a remote control, a set of keys, or, at the time of writing, Christmas ornaments), she will not stop until she has figured out a way to get hold of them. Whether crawling, pulling herself up or holding onto a raised surface to shimmy along, she is motivated to achieve her end result. Sometimes she falls (or Mummy and Daddy confiscate the item), but she soon charts a new course to success.

When it comes to the Bar, it is not just about knowing where you want to go, but also how you get there. You need properly to think through what the job entails, what qualifications you need, what skills are required. Then plot your path accordingly and start traversing it yourself. No one is going to do it for you, though there might be help along the way.

Of course, to gain insight and demonstrate motivation, there is no substitute for experience. (Darling, please let go of Daddy’s glasses…)

4. Get experience

“I am not afraid of storms, for I am learning how to sail my ship.” – Louisa May Alcott, Little Women.

Just as sitting up leads to crawling leads to walking leads to running, you can start small.

I meet lots of pandemic-era students who bemoan losing out on valuable work experience opportunities. You have my sympathy, but it is never too late to start. One good thing to have come from those years was the ability to open online opportunities to more people. So, if you are struggling to secure a mini-pupillage, sign up to a virtual panel session or training event and ask questions. Contact barristers on professional social media channels and arrange a coffee call. Keep putting yourself out there and one thing will lead to another.

Once you start to build your experience, go back to point one above and think about how best to sell it. It is not enough just to tell someone you did something. Talk them through what you learned and how you can apply it. And, when things do not seem to be going your way, take on board the moral of the story.

5. Don’t give up

“And so for a time it looked as if all the adventures were coming to an end; but that was not to be.” – C. S. Lewis, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe.

In future, when my daughter faces obstacles and asks me for advice, I will tell her to keep going and that everything will be alright. When she asks how I know this, I could very well point to the years of effort it took before I succeeded in qualifying as a barrister. Countless applications, interviews, and rejections, before finally stepping out into my own Narnia.

So please, do not give up. Make your own luck by selling yourself, remaining curious, staying motivated and getting experience. You’ll figure it out. Don’t believe me? Then allow me to refer you to Bond… Michael Bond:

“Paddington was rather pleased at the progress that had been made. He felt he was beginning to understand how things worked around here.” – Michael Bond, A Bear Called Paddington.