Attention all would-be further education students. If you want to gain near-native fluency in a continental language and you would like to acquire information technology and communication skills, there is still time to apply for courses beginning THIS autumn.

An astonishing 570 places are available on these two-year international teleservices courses. Offered at Post Leaving Cert level, these courses are aimed at school-leavers, those preparing to return to work or returned emigrants. Places are not awarded on the basis of Leaving Cert points but you must have a minimum of a grade B in both ordinary-level English and one continental language at Leaving Cert or equivalent. On successful completion of the course students receive an NCVA level 3 qualification.

The courses were designed in response to skills shortages in the teleservices area. The colleges were equipped with state-of-the-art language labs. Last year 700 first-year places were made available. This year 1,100 first-year places are on offer but only 530 of these have been filled to date. Unfortunately, some courses may have to be cancelled due to lack of demand.

There are no tuition fees for PLC courses. Students are eligible to apply for maintenance grants and an additional non-means-tested grant of up to £2,000 is available to help with the costs of a 17week overseas placement.

The teleservices sector is expanding rapidly and jobs are virtually guaranteed for students who complete the course successfully. Starting annual salaries are in the region of £11,000 to £14,000.

The job involves using a phone and PC to help customers buy goods and services or to make reservations or to locate faults in computers.

So what's the catch? Why are the places still vacant? There is a variety of possible reasons - the language requirement may be too high, students and guidance counsellors may not be aware of the courses (the promotional video was distributed late to schools) and, of course, there are lots of other jobs and courses open to school-leavers.

Initially, the industry recruited third-level graduates who found the job repetitive and who did not stay in the industry. This may have led to a poor perception of the job.

If you would like to find out what working in the teleservices industry actually entails the Teleservices Forum of Ireland will arrange a visit to a call centre - contact Louise Barnwell at (01) 269 87169.

If you are interested in applying for the international teleservice course, contact your local VEC and ask for the international teleservice co-ordinator or telephone Siobhan Magee or Alison Farrell of the Teleservices Support Service at (01) 453 5487 or Eileen McBride at the Department of Education (01) 809 5014.

Do it now as courses are beginning immediately.