It's a profession where diversity is desireable

There are no formal qualifications for a career in journalism but, in practice, most new entrants have done a Post-Leaving Cert or third-level course. Six colleges are approved by the National Union of Journalists (NUJ) - DCU, DIT, Griffith College, Dublin, NUI Galway, Ballyfermot Senior College and Colaiste Dhulaigh, Dublin. These offer courses ranging from PLC to postgraduate level.

The advantage of opting for a postgraduate course is that you will have some specialist knowledge to offer from your undergraduate studies, as well as a fall-back position should all else fail.

Bernadette O'Sullivan, course director for NUI Galway's advanced diploma in applied communications, notes that second-level students and their guidance counsellors may be under the impression that students need a degree in English and history. This is a misconception, she says - postgraduate courses welcome students from a diversity of backgrounds including law, the sciences and business as well as English, history and politics.

Most journalism courses include work experience which can provide a vital link with commissioning editors. Most young journalists begin their careers freelancing, where they are commissioned to write articles and are usually paid by the word. Budding news reporters and sub-editors are usually employed on a shift basis where they are paid a daily rate.

Essentially, freelance journalists are self-employed. Work may also be offered on a contract basis while the staff job has become something of a rarity.

There are over 3,000 NUJ members in the Republic and about 800 of these are freelance, with most based in Dublin. The employment scene for journalists seems to be reasonably buoyant at present. The advent of Teilifis na Gaeilge, TV3, Ireland on Sunday, and ventures in electronic publishing, such as The Irish Times on the net, have all generated work. The schools of journalism are reporting unprecedented demand for their graduates.

DCU's careers and appointments officer, Muireann Ni Dhuigneain, says 90 per cent of DCU's journalism graduates - both undergraduate and postgraduate - went directly into relevant employment. The survey of 1997 graduates, carried out in April 1998, showed 18 of the BA graduates found work while one student went on to research and another was "between jobs". Four of the 24 graduates did not respond to the survey. Jobs varied from sub-editing to reporting to research to administration. At MA level, the graduates also did very well, reports Ni Dhuigneain, with 12 of the 14 respondents working. The majority were freelancing rather than in staff jobs.

O'Sullivan says that 15 of the 16 graduates of NUI Galway's post graduate diploma are in full-time employment with seven of these in staff positions. Employers include the Limerick Leader, the Echo, the Examiner, the Clonmel Nationalist, the Waterford News and Star and Ireland on Sunday. DIT's new four-degree course will come to fruition this summer when its first graduates leave the college. The degree replaces the old two-year certificate course. Nora French, head of DIT's school of communications, says the employment scene would appear to be good, if the amount of part-time work being done of the students is used as a gauge. DIT also offers a postgraduate diploma in journalism which is in the process of being upgraded to an MA.