A baccaulaureate in management is a difficult degree to sell to major firms. (Much like the baccalaureate in “business.”) The reason you’re having difficulty is because firms are looking for either A. candidates with extensive work experience. B. candidates that have specialized in particular disciplines that can market analytical and interpretive skills that translate well to company needs.

I chose to study Economics and Political Science which were flexible degrees that put me into a firm immediately but provided enough range to apply for both academic and professional graduate programs.

That said, given your situation…

Have you considered what industry you are interested in? Does your alma mater have an alumni network that provides a database of jobs that are primarily restricted for alumni? Did you do any internship work while in college? They will often rehire recruits that showed exemplary performance potential. Some people find employment avenues through temp work that have turned into full-time jobs and careers. How polished is your resume? Do you know how to sell yourself effectively? Have you expressed interest in the companies you’ve been working at for different responsibilities? Have you looked into your personal social network to see if friends/family can put you in the door?

I don’t mean to be offensive, but get someone to help you with your resume. If your resume looks like your question, then that might be part of the problem.

The younger people looking for jobs in today’s job market tend to type the same way for business as they do for chat rooms. The older person you are trying to impress enough to hire you, might never have been in a chat room and have no idea what all the short cuts and added punctuation means.

I don’t mean to be critical, because I can tell this is driving you to distraction.

Another bit of advice. A college educated friend once told me, most people that have college educations don’t work in their field of training. I am not suggesting you blow off all these years of work, but don’t let your degree stop you from trying other things. You might be the best management person your local Cap’n D’s ever had and work your way up to being an area or district manager. I had a friend that went that route. They paid for her clothing and furnished a company car and paid a very competitive salary. Not too shabby.

Good luck

Also, pay attention to how you’re portraying the jobs you’ve already held in your resume. If you’re describing your tasks using admin keywords (i.e. “answered phone calls”), then that’s what the search bots are going to pick up, and that’s what you’re going to get responses for. If you talk about the meetings you helped arrange in event managment terms, you’ll attract a different kind of attention.

So what do you do if there’s really no way to spin the types of assignments you’re getting beyond filing and making coffee? You ask your boss. Not because your degree entitles you to anything better–these days, it’s more of a minimum qualification–but because you want more of a challenge or increased responsibility. If that doesn’t work…well, you’ve got a great answer for why you’re seeking new employment when you’re asked in interviews.

Your best bet is to find an employer who promotes from within, and promotes people from admin jobs into other things. Then you’re going to need to get an admin job with them, do really well, stay more than a year, and get promoted. Often, these sorts of jobs, and promotions, are with larger companies or with fast-moving start ups – not in “mom and pop shops”.

Lots of companies do this. My company does. You just need to find the right companies. With three years in, plus a degree, you’d do well to contact a recruiter/headhunter in this field. Talk to them about finding employers who tend to promote admins to other jobs, and focus on them. Also, talk to them about the other sorts of jobs that are natural transitions from admin work, such as, with some companies, customer service, or sales operations, or human resources, etc. See what possibilities they suggest.

But I must be honest with you. Any employer hiring for a job that isn’t admin, who knows you don’t want admin, is going to look at your resume and not be happy. And it’s not necessarily that you’ve had admin jobs. It’s that you’ve had three admin jobs (I assume for different employers) in three years. In your next job, you really need to stick it out for more than a year, and get an advancement in that time. Because you’re swiftly starting to look like someone who can’t hold a job, and who can’t be promoted, and that’s not good.

Get some experience!