What kinds of jobs should I look for other than admin/office stuff?

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This may sound like cliched or outdated advice, but almost every single non-admin job I've had (with the exception of one) was a result of a promotion out of an admin position. (For the record, I am in my mid-thirties; I was last promoted out of an admin position a year-and-a-half ago and I've had an additional promotion since then.) This has been more true in smaller companies, where every resource is utilized and I was given a chance to prove myself. So try looking for companies that have an appealing product/mission/what have you and get your foot in the door. And don't underestimate good admin skills. Everyone and their brother may be applying for these jobs, but it doesn't mean they are at all qualified to compete with someone who has experience.

In healthcare research, they hire people to administrate studies. For clinical research, this often has to be a nurse, but for public health research you don't need clinical training. They involve typical administrative skills but are often more interesting than straight administration. I coordinated a study for a year: I booked interviews, mailed information packages, tracked participants, designed a database, supervised (and did) data-entry. I also did literature searches and edited our papers and reports. If you have any statistics training, you may be able to do some analysis as well. If you're interested, I would look for jobs at hospitals and universities with the keywords "research". Working as an admin in healthcare research is also a great way to learn about healthcare in case you want to go on. I learned a lot about occupational therapy when I was fetching articles on it.

Even large organizations promote quickly from admin work. I'm an executive support right now at a very large non-profit and am applying for my next step in the company now after 4 months.

Guys, I realize that administrative assistant jobs sometimes evolve into other things and that sometimes it's possible to climb the ranks. That's great and something I take into consideration, but what I'm looking for here is ideas about other (entry-level-ish) jobs (including and especially offbeat things I might not have thought of.)

What about entry-level marketing? Non profits, religious organizations, etc, need people to put together programs and newsletters and things (no writing required!). The healthcare research advice made me think of medical administration and medical billing. Those are fields that hire people at entry level and tend to have a reasonable career path.

If you're interested in health care, you might look for unit clerk-type positions in a hospital. This will give you a front-row view of what various health professions do and the reality of their day-to-day work. These jobs go by lots of different titles - unit secretary, "health unit coordinator" at my current employer. This is the person who mans the desk at the nursing station in a hospital and answers phones, processes orders, and does other paperwork/admin tasks. In a completely different direction - computer-savvy and likes helping people might mean help desk. This can be a stressful job, but on the upside it can also lead to better roles in IT. I have also found that the best help desk people where I have worked were strong in the google-fu. Coding ability is almost never a requirement for these jobs; troubleshooting skills are.

Look at places like Robert Half for data entry, accounts receivable and payables. Some entry level accounting jobs involved looking up invoices to make sure they have been paid, issuing debits and credits, obtaining proof of delivery so invoices can be paid, resolving issues due to computer error (i.e., purchase order not matching price charged so it kicks out the invoice), matching paid invoices to unpaid things on the books, and lots of dead tree filing due to halving to keep records for auditors. If I can do it with so-so Excel skills but excellent admin skills, so can you. Other options may included intake receptionist at a doctor's office, billing at same, and also the insurance industry.

Have you thought about using your biology degree. I have a bachelors in biology and sometimes I feel that I gained little hands on experience. Just learned a bunch of general stuff but nothing that transferred into a job. That being said I still think there is a lot of value in the science degree still. I have worked in a lab for the past few years shortly after college. But after graduating college I did not have experience. I also am working in a chemistry lab even though I did not too well in chemistry class. So you always start somewhere. Many companies do not expect a bachelor grad with no experience to be a rocket scientist and many jobs are looking for people with a inclination towards science combined with admin work. The need scientific minded people in desk jobs. The economy makes it tough to look for jobs, but I would definitely put yourself out there. If you like healthcare maybe look at pharmaceutical companies. They need quality assurance people or complaints people who will take in complaints and file it accordingly. Maybe your admin work combined with your science background will fit. Many companies go through temp companies for their entry level jobs. So put yourself out there and if you are open to contract work/temp to hire then try out science temp agencies. Biotech companies can be great so it might be a good fit for you! Definitely look for QA/QC in Biotech or if you like lab work try for a lab. they will train you in the entry level jobs! It will be tough but a good option to expand your search into.