Event organising is not a glamorous job - it's very hard work. You must be able to offer the amount of time required to make a success of it and you must be able to think on your feet.

You must thrive on managing things that go wrong, because no matter how hard you work at organising an event there are always dozens of things that don't go according to plan.

You need to enjoy working as part of a team. It's a good idea to volunteer or work as an intern on an event management team before deciding to do this job fulltime.

Qualifications needed: Sales and marketing or sport management qualifications would be a help.

Where to train: Universities, universities of technology and private institutions.

Expected earnings: Earnings vary enormously and depend on the specific projects you are working on, but the starting salary is about R10 000 a month.

Contact: Tania Carolus on 021 685 3333; Damelin on 086 222 2345 or www.damelin.co.za; University of the Western Cape on 021 959 2911; UCT on 021 650 9111; Stellenbosch University on 021 808 9111; Cape Peninsula University of Technology on 021 680 1545; Varsity College on 021 424 4462; Sports Science Institute on 021 659 5600; Boston City Campus on 021 426 1175 or 021 418 5512; Exercise Trainers Academy (eta) on 021 671 1060.