Pumpkin's rant of the day: I Can't Win (or When Experience Counted, I Didn't Have Any)

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Today, I was supposed to go and register with a job agency. I didn't in the end but the reasons are irrelevant. I hadn't decided whether I was going to go or not. What put me off was this: I applied for a job in one place, had a call from someone (who didn't tell me the company for whom they were calling) who said that the job was based elsewhere; I had an email (which I only saw out of co-incidence) which gave the address of the agency (neither in the place where the job was advertised nor the place where I was told it was). Just the address, no name of the company (although it did say in the email address but, as the company is called New Recruits, it was not obvious that this was the company name, especially as the website from which I had applied was something else; it was not evident when I applied that the job was through an agency. Anyway, I was thinking about going because I am really fed up of doing what I'm doing (I think I may have talked about that before and I'm not going into detail now) so I was thinking about doing something different. I had been discussing it and I had decided that 'better the devil you know'. It seems that whatever choice I make will be the wrong one. I've now decided to stick with what I know while I continue studying. That's fine except that I'll still not be able to progress in my current career, nor in a different one, once I've got a degree. That's because I have no real experience in anything other than childcare/early years and the like, and I can't get onto an appropriate course to enhance my chances of getting further in my current career. It's silly. Years ago, when I was looking for a job - any job doing anything - I couldn't get anything because I had no experience (that's why I ended up doing what I do - I started off as a volunteer and, 10 years later, I had 12 paid hours a week). Now, everyone wants you to have qualifications. Nothing wrong with that but it is frustrating when you keep hitting dead ends every time you try to get the right qualification or, as has happened to me more than once, you get a qualification and then everyone wants a different one. It's compounded by the fact that you end up working with people who were in nappies when you started the job. They're already working in a permanent job, able to do the training, and have a better chance of a (better) job because 2 years' experience plus a particular piece of paper equates to something better than 16+ years' experience plus several bits of paper with a different number. I've also just looked up another course I wanted to do. Again, it seems a catch-22 where I can't get onto the course because I have to have experience except there will be very few employers willing to take on someone without the qualification. It just seems that I feel I'm going to be stuck forever. The manager at one of the places at which I sometimes cover has said that she'll see what she can do (with me having the problem of not being able to do the next level without a permanent placement) but I won't hold my breath. I don't know what I want to do but I do know what I don't want to do. Well, I do know what I want to do. I want to earn money from writing (which I can't do because I don't have the time to write enough and the only time I could do that is if I don't work elsewhere and that's not an option). There are a few other things I've considered, a few things I'd like to do. Again, I don't have the (right) experience or qualifications nor do I have the capital to set up a business. I realise that it's too much to ask for a job that fits around my children, working around them and being able to put them first. So, if I can't have a job I enjoy AND fits around my family, at least having a job I don't feel like I'm wasting my time doing and feeling bad for neglecting my boys for the sake of minimum wage boredom, that'd be nice.