You don't have to be a school-leaver to start training as a technician - though this is the normal progression. Ask Maurice Purtill of Dell in Limerick.

Over a number of years, he had tried everything from painting to shop work to bar work, none of which he particularly liked, until he opened a newspaper one day and saw an advertisement for work on a computer production line at Dell. "It sounded interesting," he says. He applied for and got the job. That was two years ago. Now he works in electro-mechanical repair (EMR).

"Initially I found putting a particular part into a computer over and over again monotonous, but I moved up the line where the work became more and more interesting."

Maurice has no professional qualification yet, but because of the nature of technician training now available, he is about to start a course that will get him an EMR qualification at the Limerick Institute of Technology. "I'm starting a course in September and after a few years I hope to become a software technician. After that I'll do some more courses and then make the grade as a software engineer.

"Dell encourages you to take some courses. And there's a good incentive in that, if you pass them, then they'll reimburse you the cost of the fees."

His ultimate aim is to become a software engineer, a goal which he hopes to realise after completing the required courses. He agrees that it would be almost impossible to achieve this without study.

Dell is one of the major companies in Ireland actively encouraging people to acquire additional technical qualifications. For example, in January last, when a new national certificate in manufacturing technology was initiated in nine Institutes of Technology, involving six months of placement in industry, Dell was one of the companies providing such placement for students at the Limerick Institute of Technology. Dell also released some employees to attend the course.

In his spare time Purtill plays rugby for Young Munster and enjoys indoor soccer. He points out that Dell have organised some discounts with local gyms. The perks at Dell, which employs about 3,000 people, are very worthwhile, he says.

When he became permanent, the company took over his health insurance payments and offered him the option to buy cheaper shares. Given Dell's current good standing on the world market, Purtill wasn't too slow to take it up on its offer. "The shares are worth a bit."