WITH colleges reporting more people than ever signing up for evening classes, day courses professional qualifications, it would seem that "qualification fever" has become big business for the universities and private colleges.

The over supply of labour has forced people to try to differentiate themselves from the pack and one of the most tangible ways of doing so is by improving one's qualifications.

But do more qualifications necessarily mean a passport to a brighter and better career?

"Well, I always start by looking at experience," says Jim McCrohan, managing partner of the executive search company, Amrop International in Dublin.

"Qualifications are the second thing I look at and I tend to look for good primary qualifications with other qualifications slotted in once the person has begun working full time. For example, in my book someone who does an MBA straight from college will not rank as highly as someone who has gained work experience and on the basis of this has decided to do an MBA or pursue some other relevant course of study.

"Wearing the hat of an employer as well as a recruitment professional, I would also look very cautiously at someone who was seemingly over qualified for a position. For example, I would be wary of someone with a PhD applying for a job that was not technical or research oriented. Something like a PhD is really only relevant in certain quite limited circumstances, so this is an instance where a qualification could be seen as a negative," McCrohan says.

"For me the person and their experience are the starting points and professional qualifications arc a bonus after that," says Michael Cummins, managing director of Personal Development Consultants also in Dublin.

"If, however, someone is working in a technical field then the demands on them in terms of qualifications may be different. But otherwise I would tend to look at the fit between the person's experience and the job as my starting point. That said, this of course is the Catch 22 for a lot of people who can't get onto that vital first rung to start building up their experience in the first place".

"But, assuming that they have made it into employment I'd say from my experience that qualifications don't do any harm. But I would urge people to be careful about what courses they decide to do. Courses should be relevant to the needs of potential employers. Or if you intend building your career within your existing organisation then seek the advice of someone like the human resources manager who will tell you what sort of qualifications will meet with the best response within your organisation.

"Studying on top of a day's work is hard going and it demands a lot of commitment and energy so my advice is to take advice before embarking on something that will eat into your time for perhaps a couple of years to come," Michael Cummins says.

LINDA SUTHCLIFFE is a marketing executive with Frank Keane holdings which distributes BMW and Mitsubishi cars in Ireland. Now in the final year of a BA in marketing, she spends three nights a week and every second Saturday at College.

"Frank Keane is very good about encouraging his employees into further education and he supports them all the way," she says.

"When I decided to do the BA I did a lot of research into what courses were available because I didn't want to waste my time. I wanted a worthwhile course that would be relevant to my work and helpful for my career and I opted for the three year night degree programme at Portobello College and I have been very happy with it."

A single parent with a two year old son, Linda says "it has been difficult at times to keep up with the study demands, but the course is structured in such a way that you have to keep working all year round because there are ongoing assignments and the assessment method is by project and exam combined so it's not possible to cram at the last minute".

Linda joined the company at secretarial level and moved into marketing following a two year PR course with the Institute of Public Relations. Just recently her area of responsibility has been widened to include PR and she says "I'm very pleased with this development and I'm looking forward to the challenge".