J
JohnKH1971
- Original Poster
- #1
Hello all.
As you will have gathered, I'm new here.
I have a bit of an unusual, non-typical background - I think - but then, what is 'normal', 'orthodox' or 'conventional'?
So far as is material, I spent 16 years in the fire service. Towards the end of those 16 years, I started studying for a law degree. For one reason and another, I ended up in a position where I either had to give up the law degree or resign from the service - so I resigned.
I had aspirations to become a barrister but thought the solicitor route made more sense; the barrister branch being perceived as rather elite and the domain only for public school/Oxbridge types. I succeeded in being offered a training contract to become a solicitor before I had even started my final year of the degree - and that was the beginning of it all going a bit wrong! Bolstered by the offer of a training contract at a top-5 (known as 'the Magic Circle') law firm, I suddenly thought - you know what? The Bar isn't beyond my reach... and so I turned down the training contract and went for the Bar.
I graduated with a first class degree, I completed the Bar Professional Training Course and I was called to the Bar. But I could NOT get pupillage - the final hurdle... I have tried now for 5 years to clear that hurdle and it is simply beyond me: 13 final round interviews (down to the last 3 or the last 5 from approximately 300 applicants for each on of those 13 final rounds) - but nothing.
I spent a year teaching law at undergraduate and postgraduate level and then secured a prestigious position as a judicial assistant in the Court of Appeal. I resigned from my teaching post because (a) working alongside the most senior members of the judiciary on some of the most challenging was too good an opportunity to miss out on, and (b) I hoped it might open the door to pupillage.
The stint as a judicial assistant It was a fantastic 6-months, but it seems to have proved to be the proverbial nail in my professional coffin. Both the judicial assistant position and the teaching post are probably positions above and beyond my paper qualifications. And so I feel as though I find myself in a position where my experience is out of sync with those qualifications. In most cases, I find myself unable to apply for similar positions like my last two, and find myself unable to get interviews for 'lesser' positions because my experience perhaps leaves employers asking why I am looking for a 'lesser' role: if that makes sense?
I found myself unemployed for close on a year.
And with no prospect of anything changing - and with dwindling savings - I have decided to go down the route of self-employment.
I have registered as self-employed offering 'business services' with an emphasis on fire safety - apparently I cannot post urls (need 30 posts) - but, you can find me at:
intellectualsolutions
firesafetysupport
So that, really, is me in an expanded nutshell. I have no idea where this is going to take me - but it has to be better than a fortnightly trip to the job centre!
As you will have gathered, I'm new here.
I have a bit of an unusual, non-typical background - I think - but then, what is 'normal', 'orthodox' or 'conventional'?
So far as is material, I spent 16 years in the fire service. Towards the end of those 16 years, I started studying for a law degree. For one reason and another, I ended up in a position where I either had to give up the law degree or resign from the service - so I resigned.
I had aspirations to become a barrister but thought the solicitor route made more sense; the barrister branch being perceived as rather elite and the domain only for public school/Oxbridge types. I succeeded in being offered a training contract to become a solicitor before I had even started my final year of the degree - and that was the beginning of it all going a bit wrong! Bolstered by the offer of a training contract at a top-5 (known as 'the Magic Circle') law firm, I suddenly thought - you know what? The Bar isn't beyond my reach... and so I turned down the training contract and went for the Bar.
I graduated with a first class degree, I completed the Bar Professional Training Course and I was called to the Bar. But I could NOT get pupillage - the final hurdle... I have tried now for 5 years to clear that hurdle and it is simply beyond me: 13 final round interviews (down to the last 3 or the last 5 from approximately 300 applicants for each on of those 13 final rounds) - but nothing.
I spent a year teaching law at undergraduate and postgraduate level and then secured a prestigious position as a judicial assistant in the Court of Appeal. I resigned from my teaching post because (a) working alongside the most senior members of the judiciary on some of the most challenging was too good an opportunity to miss out on, and (b) I hoped it might open the door to pupillage.
The stint as a judicial assistant It was a fantastic 6-months, but it seems to have proved to be the proverbial nail in my professional coffin. Both the judicial assistant position and the teaching post are probably positions above and beyond my paper qualifications. And so I feel as though I find myself in a position where my experience is out of sync with those qualifications. In most cases, I find myself unable to apply for similar positions like my last two, and find myself unable to get interviews for 'lesser' positions because my experience perhaps leaves employers asking why I am looking for a 'lesser' role: if that makes sense?
I found myself unemployed for close on a year.
And with no prospect of anything changing - and with dwindling savings - I have decided to go down the route of self-employment.
I have registered as self-employed offering 'business services' with an emphasis on fire safety - apparently I cannot post urls (need 30 posts) - but, you can find me at:
intellectualsolutions
firesafetysupport
So that, really, is me in an expanded nutshell. I have no idea where this is going to take me - but it has to be better than a fortnightly trip to the job centre!
