The recent explosion in marketing, business and commerce courses which include a language continues this year with the advent of a new international commerce degree with Swedish in UCD. Catherine KilBride, education director with the Irish Marketing Institute, quotes the old saw about marketing people being in demand during a boom and accountants being in demand during a recession. To be fair to accountants, they are much in demand at present also.

This is definitely a boom time for the economy. For students who wish to take advantage of it by specialising in marketing, KilBride says that a third-level qualification is a must. A glance at the fact file (bleow) shows that there is no shortage of courses on offer from certificates to diplomas to degrees.

The points needed to secure places on the various degrees ranged through the mid-300s up to mid-500s. At certificate/ diploma level, 110 points would have secured a place on Sligo RTC's marketing-and-Spanish course, while 125 points was needed to get a place on their marketing and German option.

Students who are not sure whether marketing is right for them, should eschew the direct-entry programmes and opt for a general business or commerce programme which will allow them to specialise later. These programmes allow students to specialise in marketing and languages to various extents.

Many students will also specialise at postgraduate level. It's important to read through the various subjects and options offered in each year of the undergraduate programme so you know exactly what you are opting for.

For instance, students opting for the University of Limerick's four-year degree can specialise in a variety of areas - those who take marketing will typically team it with a language, or entrepreneurship or law, says Mary Sweeney, co-operative education manager at UL.

"The job scene has been very good for them," says Sweeney. "Of the 1996 graduates, about 90 majored in marketing. When we surveyed them in April this year about 88 per cent of these were employed, 10 per cent were doing further study and two per cent were seeking employment." Of those who were employed, that 76 per cent found work in Ireland and 12 per cent were employed overseas.

"The kinds of jobs are very, very varied," she says. Some of the graduates are in customer support operations, working with companies such as IBM or Oracle. There is an interest in taking on graduates with a language because of the new European call centres, says Sweeney. Some graduates go in to banking or the financial services area while others will end up in export marketing with major food companies, such as Dairygold. The jobs' list also includes marketing research, public relations, sales and advertising executives, retail management, purchasing and merchandising planning.

DCU offers four direct entry international marketing and language degrees. Students take two European languages or Japanese and all students spend one year abroad.

Careers officer Muireann Ni Dhuigneain says that graduates of this degree continue to do exceptionally well. Of the 1996 graduates, 85 per cent went directly into employment. The rest went on to further study. The type of work ranged from marketing assistant to management consultant to project manager and sales co-ordinator. Of those who were employed, more than half were working at home with the remainder employed overseas. Some of these latter graduates were working on behalf of Irish companies abroad.

The international business and the European business programmes are broader programmes which also include some marketing.