I got laid off from my tech job and returned to my old part-time job: I felt 'ashamed at first'—'now I just feel proud'

Last fall, after I got laid off from my job as a data analyst, I knew exactly what I had to do. Within a few weeks, I was back working part-time as a registered veterinary technician (RVT). 

I was more than ready for the chaos of a busy vet clinic. After all, I had done it for a decade before I switched careers. Though there was a lot about the work I enjoyed, I braced myself for the well-meaning yet still hurtful words I knew would be coming my way. 

Comments like, "I knew you'd be back" and "See? I told you this job was more stable," made me feel ashamed at first. It took a little time, but now I just feel proud of myself. 

Thanks to this experience, I understand now how resilient and adaptable I am. Here are the biggest lessons I've learned from taking on a temporary gig in the wake of a career setback. 

At first, I was embarrassed about getting laid off. I would scroll through LinkedIn and feel envious, watching my peers post about their shiny new jobs and forward momentum. Meanwhile, I was cleaning up after sick animals, and I felt like I had ended up where I started. 

When I was mentally at my lowest, I had to remind myself that I was just pivoting and there was nothing weak about that. 

To become a data analyst, I spent nights and weekends studying. I earned a certification while working full-time. I landed a great job in a brand new field. There was a learning curve, and I thrived, even if it ended badly. I had started over before, and I could do it again.

In the meantime, I felt gratitude for what I did have: a home I loved, food on the table, and a community to support me. 

I didn't get much severance after the layoff, and I couldn't afford to wait it out while my savings and dignity were bled dry. 

Going back to veterinary work part-time was a no-brainer. I still had my license, and I had a good relationship with my former employer. I could walk in, earn consistent money, and contribute immediately. 

As a data analyst, I made about $75,000 a year. As a registered vet tech, I make about $30 an hour. Some of my responsibilities include collecting medical histories, making financial estimates for procedures, organizing records, cleaning kennels, prepping surgery rooms, doing post-op recovery, and some basic patient care. 

It turned out that my data analytics skills came in handy at the vet hospital, too. I figured out how to automate a calculation for how to administer pain meds, based on weight, to the patients during surgical procedures. The system was quickly adopted by the whole staff.

The gift of taking on temporary gigs is that you pick up transferable skills without even realizing it. 

In my work at the hospital, I have gotten good at making operations and workflows more efficient, like with that calculation. 

I have also learned how to communicate with so many different types of people. For example, the way I explain what I am doing to a doctor is going to be completely different from how I talk to an administrator or a patient's owner.

Attention to detail, empathy, adaptability, inventory management, customer service and speed under pressure are universally useful skills, no matter what kind of work you do. 

When I returned to the hospital, the "I told you so" comments stung. But I realized that the people who were trying to undermine me were also the ones who hadn't supported my career change in the first place.

Their certainty that I would fail said more about their fearful, limited perspective than it did about my capability. One of the most valuable things I have learned from this experience is that your worth has absolutely nothing to do with the title you have, or what other people think about you. 

I can be proud of everything I did to get to this point, even if right now, life doesn't look the way I thought it would. I know my next great opportunity is coming. 

Michelle Le is a data analyst with experience in Python, SQL, and data visualization. A former registered veterinary technician turned data professional, she brings a combination of frontline clinical experience and technical depth to every problem she solves.

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