I know exactly how you feel; I graduated with a bachelor's degree 2.5 years ago myself, and spent half my time in dead-end jobs and the other half being unemployed; now I'm in an awful job and feel trapped because of my lack of experience. It's remotely related to my writing degree (I do a little marketing but am mostly an assistant), but full-time jobs in my field rarely exist.

I've been considering going back to school for a master's too, but I already have too much debt from the first time, so I've been considering just taking the occasional night class or online course in similar fields to expand my experience. I'm also embracing my contractor status with my current "employer" and trying to find some freelance work; my long-term goal is to get enough other freelance work to start cutting back my hours at this job until I'm to the point where I have enough well-paying, steady work that I can afford to quit entirely.

I'm obviously no expert either, since I'm in the same situation, but here are a few things I've learned along the way:

1. Always be learning.
Maybe it's the writer part of me that sees the value, but reading as much as humanly possible about your field is a great step. Try making a goal of reading 1 career-related book a month, which can break down to maybe a chapter a night, depending on the book. And don't forget any trade magazines and newsletters! Even taking a class here and there proves that you're still motivated and focused on getting into your dream career. And if there are any other certifications you can get, see about getting them!

2. Network like crazy.
This has been my saving grace; I'd be homeless and living on the street right now if it wasn't for my network, and I don't even have a great one! If you're not on LinkedIn, set up a profile, upload your resume and make sure it's as complete as possible; then, start finding groups focused on your career, and join in on the conversations. Accept every connection invitation, and be sure to find everyone you can think of from college, high school, grammar school, current jobs, including teachers, coworkers and bosses from your part-time jobs, even if it has nothing to do with what you want to do; you'd be surprised who people know and don't even realize it. Get people to write recommendations about you too; your main goals here are to see how you connect to your dream job and prove yourself as an expert in your field. (Once you've done these things, search for jobs on LinkedIn and follow the companies that interest you the most; look at their company page and see how you're connected to their employees, and see if there's any way to get an introduction or otherwise get your foot in the door there.

3. Be open-minded about opportunities.
I'm guilty of this one most of all; we all have to pay our dues. I think our generation was told that we could graduate and immediately get a full-time, well-paying dream job, and that's less true than ever. Companies are terrified to take any chances on us entry-levelers, because we haven't proven ourselves yet, and they don't want to waste money on hiring the wrong person. In fact, more companies are focusing on hiring internally first because they've already been successful at their own company and it's less of a risk.

Along the same lines, companies are also outsourcing everything they can; that's why it's tough for me to find a full-time job in my field. All the jobs in my field have gone the way of freelance because it's simpler, cheaper and less of a risk for the company, and that's all they care about right now: that bottom line. Consider starting your own business, whether it's full-time or on the side. If you need to get a little more experience, see if there's any way to volunteer your services in your free time. This would be a double whammy; volunteer experience always looks good, plus it shows you're taking initiative. A long-term plan could be to start your own business on the side and build it up to a full-time gig, just like I am. At least it would give you something to look forward to every day when you're at your full-time job, and constantly encourage you to give it all you have so you can quit as soon as possible.

The biggest point I'm trying to make here it to be creative; what you need to prove is that you're already an expert in your field, and that you'll do whatever you have to do to get to that dream job. Publishing articles about business and finance would be a great way to show your skills; you could also do a blog offering the information, and you can market it on LinkedIn, Facebook, or wherever. If you're not a good writer, or if you don't like to write, you could hire someone to blog for you or ghostwrite for you.

There are lots of options out there, but the trick seems to be thinking outside the box in this economy.