Advice for Starting IT Career

It is also the case that you need to spend your whole career studying. When you finish college you are at a very low level. Most of what you need to know will be learned over many years on the job. It suits some people but certainly isn't for everyone.

In my opinion, if you are really good at something the money will naturally follow. But you can not be really good at something if you don't love it. You might do an adequate job without having a real passion for it, but you will not reach the higher end salaries without it (I don't mean fairly modest salaries like 60k here).

Get over yourself OP, that is if you are actually serious. It is a very hard time for all (particularly the sub 30 cohort), and most people cannot afford to buy in Dublin at the moment, especially (almost certainly) if single. Life your life and see where it takes you - you are 30ish! Work until you find something that actually interests you, then progress if you can if have an aptitude for it; if that does not work out, then find something else to do. In reality, most people hate what they do anyway; it is a means to an end. You would be in a better position than most if you actually found something you like to do on a daily basis. You should experience as many things as possible in life now whilst you can as life won't be so flexible in the future: you will much more regret missing out on various life experiences later on than you will regret not owning a shite apartment now (next thing is a better property, and so forth - never ending; siblings will move to bigger houses, and you will always be trying to catch up for some reason). You cannot base your happiness on owning a property - that is ridiculous - and I really don't believe you are being earnest. My story is that I rented in D7 until I was 44 (now 49). Decent wage, not a huge deal more than average. I much preferred the flexibility of renting at the time but - honestly - rent just became too expensive (x2 the mortgage), and I was in the position to buy my rental property (thanks to other half). Owning a property is expensive - never-ending costs, and stressful - way easier to have a landlord to fix stuff if rent is what it should be. If long term rent in Dublin was a viable option, the that would still be my preferred option.