Jim Conlon had no interest in going to college when he finished his Leaving Certificate in 1975. Instead, he became a mechanical fitter and spent his evenings watching television at home in Carrick-on-Shannon.

"I sat away half my life in front of that television," says Jim(48).

Jim was in his 40s before he got the chance to go on to third-level education.

The opportunity came from an unusual source -- the wood engineering factory he worked for. After his employer, Masonite, began offering courses at its Co Leitrim plant, Jim decided to undertake a national certificate in mechatronics, a combination of mechanical and electronic engineering. "I wanted a bit of an education," Jim says. "As a mature student, studying has reawakened my brain."

Jim has been studying for four-and-a-half years. After completing the certificate, Jim went on to do a degree and is due to graduate in June.

"Jim was a guy with good mechanical understanding. One of the benefits of the course is understanding the theory of what he is working on," says Niall McEvoy, Masonite's human resources manager.

As part of the certificate course, Jim designed a cooling system that was later installed at Masonite's plant, generating cost savings for the company, McEvoy says. The project received backing from Masonite's capital improvement programme.

Jim's late foray into third-level education has also created promotional opportunities. He was recently interviewed for a position as an engineer at Masonite, after the company opened up an internal competition for the post to workers on its degree courses.

"The course has improved my self-confidence and has allowed me to be more decisive in both work and personal aspects of my life," he says.