It sounds to us like you’ve been blessed with good fortune, not only in finding a job that gives you responsibility but pays very well for a recent graduate. We imagine you’d have to look pretty far and wide to find a first year graduate in business management who made the kind of money you made last year.
This causes us to wonder then exactly in what way you haven’t “moved ahead in your career setting�? In one year’s time what could you realistically expect you would be doing differently at this dealership, especially since you say you are already running the business? It sounds more to us like the truth lies in the fact that you don’t find this particular work challenging and stimulating, which is an entirely different matter than not moving up some imaginary career path. As many before you have found out, when you aren’t doing what you enjoy, no amount of money will bring satisfaction.
That said it’s important to figure out exactly what “your dream of working on Wall Street� means to you. Unless you know exactly what that means, you won’t know if you should even consider this kind of drastic move. Does it mean prestige? Does it mean crunching numbers all day? Does it mean being boss? Does it mean piles of money? Does it mean meeting interesting people? Does it mean influencing and causing change to occur? Figure out what you want most and if getting an MBA is the only way to reach your goal. Think about your relationship with school — is it possible you just like the school environment and want to get another degree? Be clear about what you want, but base it in reality and not some imagined “dream� of what you think might exist “out there�.
As Lisa stated in her thoughtful response to you, most people don’t bother to find out the realities of “working on Wall Street�. It sounds prestigious and glamorous to many, but we bet if you did some serious research (reading everything you can find on the topic, talking to those who either work there now or have in the past, talking with current and former MBA students), you’d find it isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. If you did make this kind of change, you’d start off as the new kid on the block and it would likely take years to work your way into a position that brings all those benefits associated with “Wall Street�.
We’re not saying you shouldn’t explore other options. Only that you need to do some due diligence in finding out, in more concrete terms, what each option will “bring� and what each option will “cost� you. Look inward first to know what will make your life meaningful and allow you to be the best person you can be. You may find you can enrich your job and life exactly where you are now, or it may be that another path is needed to allow you to reach your dreams.