IF you're interested in a business type qualification you have an enormous range of options, from commerce to business studies to marketing, accounting, and financial and actuarial studies. Many courses offer the added enticement of a language. And these courses are available at all levels, from cert to diploma to degree.
If you're not sure which area you would like to specialise in, you can opt for a general business studies course which allows you to specialise later. For instance, the University of Limerick offers a business studies degree where students do not begin to specialise until their third year. In third year, they can choose between accounting and finance, economics and finance, marketing, personnel management, risk management and insurance.
The employment scene is the most buoyant the college has ever experienced, according to Ms Mary Sweeney, UL's co operative education manager. "What we don't want to produce are specialists who don't understand the business context. About one third will take business and language; the combination is very, very good."
Mr Patrick McCabe, co ordinator of the business studies and language courses at TCD, is also in favour of going from the general to the specific. He explains that the college's approach is to provide a wide based foundation.
If you opt for Business, Economic and Social Studies (BESS) at TCD, you will do a common first year which includes economics, management, political science, sociology, statistics, computing and maths or law. There is also the option to study French or German. "We deliberately position our degree in that way. It's a very broadly based education. We believe in that approach," says Mr McCabe.
A similar outlook informs many of the B.Comm and business studies courses.
You will not find this out simply by reading the one line course description in the CAO hand book. You must research the courses thoroughly before you list them on your CAO form. At the very minimum, read the college prospect uses which will detail the subjects offered in each year of the programme. The phone numbers of the various colleges are inside the front cover of the CAO handbook. It's not too late to phone around. Your guidance counsellor will also have the college prospectuses and will be able to advise you as to the various business specialisations available.
What happens next?
The job scene has changed dramatically in the past few years and now, the likelihood is that if you do a business/administration degree, you will get a job directly after college.
The world of work was the first destination for 67 per cent of those who graduated in business studies and commerce in 1995. Half of the graduates found work in Ireland and the remainder went abroad. Of those who found work in Ireland, almost a third entered the insurance, financial, business and commercial computer services sector.
About a fifth of graduates were earning less than £7,000 per annum, reflecting the fact that many were working as trainee accountants.
Mr Peter Keane, careers officer with UCG, says most commerce graduates specialise after finishing their degree. The most popular areas are accounting, marketing and retail management, according to Mr Keane. UK merchant banks recruit people directly from primary degree level. There are also excellent opportunities in financial services, but he says many of these jobs are confined to Dublin.
Mr Colm Tobin, UCD careers officer, says commerce graduates are doing extremely well in the jobs market. But many decide to increase their employment chances and, more importantly, their chances of earning a higher salary, by doing a Postgraduate qualification.
Securing a place
Points levels change annually but the number of first preference applicants competing for each place gives a rough idea of a course's popularity.
Last year, there were 10 488 CAO applicants who listed business/administration degree courses as their first preference. They were competing for 3,330 places, which means there were about three first preference applicants for each available degree level place. But the diversity of courses on offer means that last year's points ranged from the low 300s to the high 400s.
At cert/diploma level, there were twice as many places available in business/administration but there were also twice as many first preference applicants. So, 20,505 students listed business/ administration courses as their first choice but there were only 6,651 places for them. Again, a ratio of three applicants for each available place prevailed. But points where considerably lower. For instance, 165 points was sufficient to secure a place on Carlow RTC's certificate in business studies.
Business with languages
A very popular option is to combine business/marketing/administration studies with a language. And this is not just confined to the traditional continental languages you may have studied at school. For instance, TCD offers a choice of business studies with French, German or Russian. The third year, including a short work placement, is spent abroad in a French, German or Russian speaking country.
In UL and DCU students can opt for business studies with French, German, Spanish or Japanese. Ms Muireann Ni Dhuigneain, DCU careers officer, says there are very strong employment prospects for students who opt for Japanese. These should increase with the opening up of the Asia/Pacific market place. DCU also offers degrees in European business with French or German. Students spend two years in DCU and two years abroad.
Languages are also available at cert and diploma level although the options are usually confined to the continental (European) languages.
Accountancy
There is now a very strong demand for accountants, both here and in Britain, according to the professional accountancy bodies. Increasingly, the trend for schoolleavers is to do a third level qualification and then to study for the accountancy exams. The accountancy bodies recognise the relevance of these third level qualifications by giving graduates exemptions from some of their exams.
If you're interested in pursuing the accountancy avenue you should check which exemptions are available from your particular course. The advantage of doing a general degree first is that it broadens your career options.
But if you're sure of what you want, you should look at the direct entry options. RTC Athlone is the only third level college in the State which offers full time accountancy studies up to and including the final examinations of the major professional accountancy bodies, according to Mr John Cusack, head of the school of business, management and general studies.
The college's three year national diploma in professional accounting allows substantial subject exemptions from the professional accountancy exams. Graduates of this course can choose to study for the college's BA in accounting and finance or to prepare full time for the final accountancy examinations of the Chartered Association of Certified Accountants, the Chartered Institute of Management Account ants and the Institute of Certified Public Accountants in Ireland.
The cert and diploma route
The RTCs and the DIT offer a very good range of business and marketing courses. For instance among other courses, DIT Mountjoy Square offers certs in business studies with specialisations in management, retail marketing, proprietorship, security and meat management.
While certs and diplomas are valid qualifications in their own right, students who perform well enough in their exams have the option of progressing to a degree. A good illustration of this is Athlone's national cert in business studies, which leads in to the national diplomas in business studies in management finance, business studies in information technology and business studies in marketing and languages. Diploma graduates can then apply for the one year follow on Bachelor of Business Studies.
Add on degrees
Athlone RTC has a Bachelor of Business Studies and a BA in accounting and finance, while Carlow RTC offers a BBS in services marketing. Dundalk, Galway and Letterkenny RTCs have a Bachelor of Business Studies. In Sligo RTC, a BBS (marketing and accounting options) is offered and Tallaght RTC has a BBS in marketing with options in German, French, Spanish and Japanese. Tallaght also offers two other business studies degrees, with options in management and accounting.
As Gaeilge
DCU's Airgeadas, Riomhaireacht, Fiontraiocht degree offers students an innovative programme combining business, computers and enterprise - all taught through Irish. And no you don't need to have perfect Irish. Prof Finbarr Bradley says a positive attitude is more important. Of the 49 students on the course at the moment, eight come from English medium schools. The first graduates emerge in 1998.
UCD's new Bachelor of International Commerce with modern Irish degree should also prove very popular with students. The course is effectively a combination of a BA in Irish and a B.Comm. None of the commerce subjects is taught through Irish.
NCIR helpline
The National College of Industrial Relations in Ranelagh, Dublin, will operate a telephone helpline for Leaving Cert and mature students who are considering NCIR courses among their CAO preferences. The helpline (01) 406 0595 - will be available on Saturday, January 25th, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Occupational Therapy
Some good news for aspiring occupational therapists: Ms Jinny Hanrahan, chairperson of the Association of Occupational Therapists, contacted Countdown to College to report a current shortage of occupational therapists in Ireland. TCD's 1997 prospectus is slightly out of date and hence less optimistic, citing limited job opportunities here and good opportunities abroad. So, if you're considering occupational therapy, this may be a time of opportunity.
And back to the LCVP people
The CAO has been in touch again. If you are a Leaving Cert Vocational candidate and you are completing ONLY box four on the CAO form, you do not need to make copies of pages three and four of the application form for each college. The original for the CAO is all that is needed The Department of Education will supply the link modules results to the CAO by computer tape.
And for LCVP students who have already sent in their CAO application without pages three and four, DO NOT WORRY. The CAO will automatically call up your results.
Additional research by Emmet Oliver.