Finding employment in films is not simply a matter of picking the right third-level course. Working your way up is an equally valid route, so it's difficult to advise on the most appropriate route. Film is a diverse employer with jobs ranging from actors to camera people to production assistants to marketing people.

The industry fits into the audiovisual industry which encompasses film, television, multi-media, corporate video and information programming, explains Tony Treacey, education officer with the Film Institute of Ireland. Film costs much more than video, he says - it's also much more labour intensive and there is far less room for error.

"That's probably why the traditional way in was via an apprenticeship-type route with people beginning, for instance, as trainee clapper-loaders and working their way up." For the uninitiatied, a clapper loader takes film out and puts it in, he explains. A trainee clapper-loader helps the clapperloader.

"When I first became interested in film I was in the US," says Treacey. "I got a job on a set as a runner. From there, I moved to product placement. On small budget films, this means getting as many free props as possible; on larger films companies will pay to have their products showcased. I finally ended up working on distribution for Miramax, distributing films to film festivals. I then did the MA in film studies in UCD and ended up as education officer with the FII."

Treacey talks of "a non-traditional career path. You don't know where you'll be in five years. There's no guarantee that you'll have a job and you won't work regular hours. An average film shoot lasts four to six weeks and you may be working 15 hours a day."

Pay? At the lower end, you may be getting little or nothing, he says. At the top end, technicians may earn £800 to £1,500 a week but they may do that only for 12 weeks in the year.

A range of third-level options are open to students, from certifiate to diploma to degree. There are also PLC courses, notably in Ballyfermot Senior College and Colaiste Dhulaigh, both in Dublin. These courses fill early so start finding out about them now.

Muireann Ni Dhuigneain, DCU careers officer, says that the rationale behind the college's three-year communications degree is to offer a broad range of subjects, perhaps more so than any other BA, and, also, to develop technical skills.

"The first year after graduation is like the fourth year of a programme for other people," she says. "We don't have work experience to the same extent." She sees the jobs prognosis as good, although graduates may start with short-term contracts.

The 55 students who graduated in 1996 found work in a wide variety of areas - research in TV, public relations, telesales supervising, computer graphics, marketing, video production and banking.

Nora French, head of DIT's department of communications, says that Aungier Street's four-year communications degree is divided between study and production work in broadcasting and film. "After the four years," she says, "we would hope that students would be able to produce work of an acceptable standard." Work experience is built into the summer after the final exams and students must report on this experience before they graduate. Most of the graduates find work in the private production area, in a variety of careers from the skills end, such as camera operator, to producers, directors and film writers. Students beginning the course in 1998 will be awarded a DIT degree at the end of four years.

Dun Laoghaire RTC offers a range of courses in film and television, from a two-year certificate in TV production to a three-year film and video diploma to courses in model-making and make-up. Michael McNally, who co-ordinates the TV production certificate and the film and video diploma, says that the cross-linking dynamism in the college is very important with the courses influencing each other.

Graduates of the various courses have generally done very well. "There are loads of opportunities for people with a bit of get up and go," says McNally - but people should think in terms of work not jobs.

The college also offers a one-year add-on degree programme and, usually, each year, five or six graduates of the diploma in film and video will continue their studies to degree.