A booming property market means more money for estate agents and auctioneers who are usually paid commission on top of their basic salary. It also means more job opportunities for graduates of the various full time courses on offer around the State.

Julie Creedon, education officer with the IAVI, says there is no formal educational requirement to set up as an auctioneer. You must be over 18 and not have a criminal record. The reality is that most people entering estate agency have done a full-time course, either at Post Leaving Cert or third level.

She says the career is suited to those with "an outgoing personality. You must be able to talk to people. A fairly good level of English and maths would be an advantage." Transition Year is a time when students can get some work experience and find out what the job is all about, she advises, "if you can't do work experience, then go and talk to a local agent."

Martin Hanratty, assistant head of DIT's department of surveying and building technology, agrees that personality is important. "Auctioneering is about buying and selling and doing deals. A lot of course work is done is terms of presentations with students standing up in front of the class." The course tends to attract a lively group of personalities, who have a good time in college, he adds.

DIT offers a three-year full-time diploma in auctioneering, valuation and estate agency and a four-year full-time degree in property economics. Of last year's diploma graduates, the majority went on to top up their qualification to degree. More than 20 students went to Oxford Brooks, in England, with three going to Northumbria. They entered the third year of a three-year degree. A further four stayed in DIT to enter the third year of the four-year degree.

Of those who graduated from the property economics degree in 1998, 70 per cent were employed in Ireland with 10 per cent employed abroad, 10 per cent doing further research or study, and 10 per cent unavailable for work or study or unemployed. Employers ranged from local auctioneers to banks to consultancy firms.

Limerick IT and the University of Ulster offer four-year degrees which comprise two years' full-time study, followed by a sandwich year of work experience and a final year's full-time study. The fourth year includes the submission of a major dissertation. In LIT, the students are "expected to gain a thorough knowledge of the construction and maintenance of buildings, the planning processes involved which regulate their development and use and the professional skills required to value, assess and manage such buildings".

Galway-Mayo's three-year diploma provides a "detailed study of the valuation and agency of property set within the context of the appropriate legal, economics, financial, managerial and environmental framework". Graduates of the above-mentioned courses are eligible for full membership of the IAVI.

The other professional body, IPAV, has two certificate courses at Post Leaving Cert level. The minimum entry requirement is two Ds on higher-level papers at Leaving Cert. Students who successfully complete the certificate may, subject to interview, progress to a one-year diploma of higher education in property management and valuation at Cork College of Commerce. Successful diploma graduates may proceed to a BSc in property management and valuation in the University of Glamorgan. This takes one further year.