Now we are not trying to generalize about all disciplines here, but simply zooming in on the audio industry with it's sudden glut of audio schools. Every man and his dog wants to run a school of some sort. And they all want to be accredited and hand out bits of paper called Diplomas, Certificates and Degrees. And, they all seem to fight like cat and dog amongst themselves.

Fact is, audio schools suffer the same fate that arts courses do in Universities. Most of the young people attending are there because they think it's cool to say they are in the A/V industry, plus they cannot think of anything else constructive to do (and probably didn't get good enough grades to do anything else). They generally come from reasonably well-to-do families and it's a lot less embarrassing at the dinner party for the parents to say "Oh, our son/daughter is doing an Audio Visual course" than to say "Oh, the little prick has dropped out and spends all day playing guitar into his/her computer".

Our advice for any young aspiring wannabe's. If you insist on formal qualifications, try a standard Tafe college course at the likes of RMIT of similar because they are reasonably good and cost a lot less or better still, get off your lazy arse and go and see the boss of what ever company you feel is where you would like to work and tell them you will clean the dunnies and make coffee in exchange for an education in the industry. You have the opportunity to learn something from the people who are really working in the field while getting paid for it. A much better proposal. Believe us, if you have the correct approach and are sincere about doing serious work, most respectable companies will give you a fair hearing. But beware, established engineers are well equipped to spot wankers, show offs and lazy buggers so if you are already approaching companies and getting a lot of knock backs, it's time to have a good look directly at yourself (rather than sucking blood from your parents in order to pump your ego). If you are lucky enough to become involved with a reputable company, they may in-turn put you through a few courses but they will be relevant ones and they will be paid for by the company.