This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Mandy Liu, who is in her early 30s, from China and based in London. The following has been edited for length and clarity. Before I went to college, I didn't know what consulting was. I studied economics at the University of Virginia and graduated in 2016. Through the campus hiring process, I got a full-time job at EY in New York City. I worked at EY for two years in total. I was unsure about the direction to take my career, so I thought