Like many millenials, I went to college immediately after high school, majored in Sociology and Anthropology, and then got stuck. With a Bachelor’s Degree in a soft science, my options were pretty limited to begin with. I was accepted into a MS/PhD program, but I dropped out a year in. At that point I knew that academia wasn’t for me – but now what?
Next, again like many millenials, I spent the next few years working various service or retail jobs. I eventually settled into the veterinary field and I did well enough. I was great at my job, but I grew to hate it. The constant stress, the emotional impact, the toxic workplaces, the abuse from clients all got to be too much for me when the pandemic hit. I had already decided that it was time to move on from that field and was already about halfway through this post-bacc program, so I quit my veterinary receptionist job. After recovering for a couple of months, I took yet another retail job to make ends meet.
As I prepare to leave this program and move on to my new career in computer science, I’ve spent a lot of time evaluating my skills. Many of us in this program are making a major career change now and it can feel like a weird position to be in. We are competing for entry level software engineering jobs with 22-year-olds and most of us are definitely not 22 anymore. We’ve been working for years or decades, so starting at an entry level position can feel like a setback in some ways. Many of us are probably leaving fields where we have built a lot of experience, so feeling like a beginner is really uncomfortable.
In order to be competitive in our job searches, I think it is important for people in our position to make it clear how our experience in other fields helped us build our soft skills in ways that people without any work experience don’t have. For example, my time in the veterinary field has helped me strengthen the following skills:
- Attention to detail: Being detail-oriented and accurate is essential in veterinary medicine. Even small mistakes can have big consequences – in some cases, like when administering medication, it could mean the difference between a healthy, happy pet and a pet owner’s worst nightmare.
- Effective communication: In this field, you need to be able to communicate effectively with technicians, doctors, other clinics, and clients of all types – from the nervous new puppy parent who emails with every question that comes to mind to the elderly person who rarely uses emails at all. I’m able to talk to people who have no experience at all on a subject as well as people who know much more than I do. Furthermore, I can keep my cool in stressful situations, even when dealing with highly emotional clients.
- Critical thinking: I’ve dealt with many emergencies during my time in the veterinary field. Providing phone triage is one of the most important aspects of a vet receptionist’s job and you need to be able to quickly assess a situation and determine the best course of action. Being able to quickly recognize red flags and ask follow up questions, then making a decision based off of that information is something that comes with practice (and I’ve had plenty of practice).
Being able to draw attention to these skills will help set us apart from others with less experience, so it’s a good idea to spend some time evaluating how your past experiences can translate to your potential new job.
