The CAO is a great sorting house. It's a grand central station for catching the next train to your career destination. However, it's worth remembering there are other starting points to choose from when you're heading for a particular career destination. CAO isn't the only portal to a career. There are other "central stations" to choose from.

Not everyone wants to go the traditional university route. Not everyone wants to go the academic route. Some choose a career in the Garda S∅ochβna. Some go into the Army or the Naval Service or the Air Corps. Some become chefs, some become commercial pilots, some go into the construction industry while others choose a life at sea, training with An Bord Iascaigh Mhara before they become employable, or training to work in the agricultural sector, provided by Teagasc and the Farm Apprenticeship Board.

There's more than one way to skin a cat, as they say. And there's more than one path to a career. The non-CAO option is a route that young people should at least consider.

CERT, the State training authority in tourism and hospitality skills, offers a four-year trainee manager development programme.

There are currently 96 hotels approved for this programme. CERT accepts 60 applicants each year. The minimum entry requirements for entry to the programme are five D3s in ordinary-level Leaving Cert subjects, which must include English and maths.

For those who are interested in this career, accounting or business organisation and a foreign language are also helpful. Trainees can leave after three years with a CERT qualification and go on to a fourth year for a National Council for Education Awards diploma in hotel and catering management.

F┴S offers training in a range of careers, such as hairdressing, plumbing, building, landscape gardening and childcare. The list is varied and linked in to employment needs.

There are places for up to 21,000 apprentices within the F┴S network of training schemes. The first-year intake of apprentices has increased from 4,200 in 1996 to 8,000 in 2000.

One such training scheme is, for example, the F┴S Seanchas Research Training Programme, under Dr Eamon Lankfords, which is based in Cork. Organised in conjunction with the Cork Placenames Survey, this involves up to 10 trainees who regularly work on the project that aims to produce an archive. The archive will preserve the names of places and publish them in book form, county by county. Currently there are some 274 schools in Co Cork and 70 in Co Kerry involved in the project.

A recruitment campaign for the Garda S∅ochβna late last year attracted up to 6,000 applications from around the State. A total of 500 places were filled and the new recruits were sent to the Garda Training College in Templemore, Co Tipperary.

Training lasts for a total of three years, including study and supervised practical work at selected Garda stations.

The force looks for applicants who are between the ages of 18 and 26. There are more than 11,000 gardai, from the commissioner down through the various ranks to superintendent, inspector, sergeant and garda.

The Garda headquarters is in the Phoenix Park and there are 702 stations throughout the State.

The student probation training programme at Templemore is an integrated third-level diploma course under the National Council for Education Awards.

The college also has a BA in police management for superintendent rank and upwards. This is expected to develop to degree level further down the road. The number in the force is expected to reach 12,000 by the end of 2002.

The PLC sector is equally effective route for young people who want to train to work. The Post-Leaving Cert sector is a way of bridging the gap between employment and school by preparing students directly for employment in their chosen area.

It has been estimated that about 64 per cent of PLC graduates go directly into employment, while a further 36 per cent go on to further education or training.

Approximately 20,000-plus young people will register as first-year entrants on PLC courses in the coming year. Applicants are expected to be of Leaving Cert standard, with many colleges interviewing applicants.

For art design and portfolio preparation courses, work is assessed also. The PLC sector is also used as a stepping stone by young people who want a year to prepare to go on to third-level.

For students who want to go further afield, the British system is another route that has been traditionally popular for undergraduates.

The lure of living far away from home, studying a course that is not available in this State and making a whole new set of friends is often enough to coax young Irish people to a college in Liverpool, Glasgow, Edinburgh, Manchester, London or Durham.

Figures from Britain's central applications body, UCAS, shows that more than 2,000 students from the Republic of Ireland accepted places in British colleges as first-year entrants.

So, young school-leaver: the world is your oyster. It's only a matter of matching your interests and your strengths, mapping your course, setting your compass and beginning the journey. The choice is yours.