King’s Counsel Application Timeline
It’s Easter time, and the King’s Counsel Appointments Panel have just released the updated application form for this competition.
Considering what to do?
Deciding to Decide
My first, and obvious, piece of advice is download the form!! You need to know what you are dealing with before entertaining whether or not to go ahead with it.
Knowledge is Power
Second, read everything – and I mean EVERYTHING – available to you by way of information on the KCA website: https://kcappointments.org/
Flying Solo or Specialist Support?
And there you will start to see a divergence of opinion. In the Application Process Overview, you will see a section on “Professional assistance with application and interview” with advice that “expensive, intensive coaching can be counter-productive”. Agreed, over-rehearsed, stylised answers with scripted delivery scream inauthentic from a mile. Then on the other hand, you might also have heard the horror stories of would-be candidates paying handsomely for a Consultant only to be torn down so many more pegs than two that they eventually decide not to apply at all, and continue to lick their wounds for many more years to come, taking years to recover and seriously doubting whether they should ever apply at all.
And yet, ask any current silk whether, in order to make a successful application, they would advise the use of a coach or consultant, many if not all would give an unequivocal yes. Indeed, those advocating for the use of coaching at the Inns of Court Women’s Alliance Silk Panel Event actually credited that intervention with their positive outcome.
You Decide
Clearly, it’s down to personal choice, when personalities and approach come into play, indeed becoming the deciding factor for whether or not you, as the candidate, choose to work with a particular individual.
Silk Road Coaching
If you are looking for fierce or brutal, I’m not your woman.
If, on the other hand, you seek a coach experienced in working with senior lawyers on topics such as high performance under pressure, confidence, mindset and resilience, honest whilst kind, with a proven track record of success with Silk Candidates, together with an ongoing client portfolio, you’ve come to the right place with my Silk Road Coaching.
This is more than cheerleading.
What I offer is collaborative support. Encouragement, insight, together with an in-depth working knowledge of the form and competencies framework; how to perform well under pressure in interview; and importantly, a strong grasp of the STAR model, reputed to trip up even the most experienced counsel.
“Nikki’s strengths lie in building people up, helping them to identify their skills and how best to use them”
CB, Senior barrister and DDJ.
Phase 1 Application Form
We’ll have an initial discussion to identify where you’re currently at, discuss useful resources to support your ambitions for silk, after which you submit your first draft of the form, focusing on the competencies and advocacy, both oral and written, for review and feedback in our subsequent session together.
There, we’ll brainstorm the form, including assessors and competencies, to decide whether it’s good to go. In particular, we’ll look at your last 3 years in practice to help identify your best cases, pairing them down from 20, to 15, then 12 – those upon which you will ultimately rely. To assist, you’ll be provided with an evidence grid to complete to identify the important aspects of your cases showcasing your excellence and highlighting evidence of competencies applying the STAR model (learning all about Situation 10%; Task 10%; Action 70%; Result 10%). We’ll also discuss the reliability or otherwise of certain assessors, providing a strategic approach to the cases to be relied upon on the form.
A final review is then offered, prior to form submission.
Phase 2 Interview
Candidates are likely to be considering this stage of the process late summer (getting more familiar with the competencies framework whilst, again, treating oral and written advocacy separately) and preparing competency-based answers to the questions provided, ready to undergo an early autumn mock interview scenario, (recorded on request). By then, there’ll be an expectation that you can construct STAR answers for a handful of cases across the full set of competencies, to deliver in 2-3 mins, and demonstrate your expertise and excellence, without resorting to a script. Your performance will then be reviewed and feedback delivered.
On October interview day, your interview de-brief will identify questions that came up, things that surprised you, and the things that went well (and not so well).
Next steps on the road to taking Silk
Book a Chemistry call via [email protected] for a preliminary, no-obligation, discussion to chart the next steps on your silk road, and complete this questionnaire to clarify your coaching objectives and identify precisely the support you seek: https://bit.ly/silkcoachingchemistrycall