WACO/Grasscarp
I can't help but think you're being just a tad cynical about Ops related jobs and career progression. Ops is a excellent place to start a 'career' in aviation and many senior managers and directors of airlines I know started as ops officers. It is, as in all things, what you make of it. If you continue your aviation and/or management studies, garner as much knowledge as you can while in the job, it can give you a very marketable set of skills to move up from.
There is just one other thing I would add however; and that is you need to be prepared to move to where the work is.