In the past, the civil service was one of the major options for school-leavers. The idea of sons and daughters gaining "permanent and pensionable" jobs set parents' minds at rest. Now, you rarely hear the civil service mentioned as a career option, although recruitment is ongoing.

Niamh O'Donoghue of the Office of the Civil Service and Local Appointment Commissioners suspects that this may be a function of two different things.

The first is the public perception that jobs are no longer available in the civil service and this may be due to the series of embargoes on recruitment in the Eighties. "Twenty years ago the culture for people leaving schools was to look at a career or college," he says. "Now most people think going of college first. If they are considering administrative or office work, they want to equip themselves with with skills and qualifications first."

There was also an age restriction on recruitment to clerical grades in the past. The ceiling has been raised to 50 years of age and that has opened up a a whole new section of the labour market. Twenty years ago, recruitment campaigns would have been specifically aimed at school-leavers.

Although this is no longer the case, O'Donoghue says that there are still opportunities for school-leavers. Many people are not aware of the possibility of combining a career with continuing education, she adds.

"There is enormous support within the civil service for people who want to study full time. Fees may be refunded and study leave provided . . . participation in third-level education is actively encouraged."

Are civil servants grey, boring and humourless? She laughs: "In any large scale corporation there can be this perception of faceless bureaucracy. In reality, the opportunities for different types of careers in different environments is enormous."

Unlike a single sector career, people could potentially work in education, healthcare, agriculture, labour, social welfare . . . there are endless possibilities. Social life is also catered for with a variety of clubs and societies, she says.

When people first join the civil service, they do not choose the area they will work in but are, instead, assigned to a department. O'Donoghue says that they try to match people's skills and needs with the needs of the various departments.

As to the decentralisation of many departments, she says "most people would look at this as increasing the variety of options. In the past, working in the civil service inevitably meant a move to Dublin. Now that we have decentralised to so many town and cities there are regional opportunities.