Employability Blog

A roller coaster of a ride is how Khooshi Patel describes her AUT Edge Award journey, which culminated with Khooshi receiving the SEEK Volunteer prize for volunteering at the AUT Employability Awards graduation ceremony at AUT on Monday 14 November. The prize is awarded to the student who went over and beyond with volunteering during the award.

“I’ve come to know that challenges aren’t things to fear, but to be embraced and to learn from,” says Sheldon Hall, winner of the EY Leadership prize for the AUT Edge Award. He found the award not only enhanced his soft skills but helped him find his focus and passion.

Currently the youngest female Justice of the Peace in Auckland, Hana Malak is also senior lead engagement officer at the Honorary Consulate of Lebanon in New Zealand. These accomplishments would not have been achievable without the help of AUT Employability and Career services, she says, and Hana encourages others to make the most of the services.

Getting job interview help from AUT Employability services for a job she really wanted made all the difference for Spatial Design graduate Madi Wright who is now working as a junior designer for Outline Design.

Panic is a common default when it comes to the last weeks of study and assignments. We’ve all gone round in circles stressing and wasting energy rather than getting on with the task ahead.  Even the dishes or cleaning the loo can seem more interesting than that pending assignment! Check out these tips from people who know how to study.

A quick CV check was all Anna Erwood wanted when she attended an AUT Employability and Careers CV workshop. However, the array of tips she picked up to further improve her CV really impressed her. She signed up for other workshops that improved her LinkedIn profile and interview skills and increased her understanding of her values and work preferences. It’s well worth doing, she says.

Finding a great graduate role takes time and energy but using AUT talenthub made a big difference to the outcome for AUT graduate Gerard Gomez, who recently landed a graduate software engineering role at Gentrack. Gerard says AUT talenthub helped him stand out from the other graduate software engineers vying for roles.  “Sign up and start applying for roles, even if you’re not sure you’d qualify for some of them because any interviews you do give you experience on how to answer certain questions and help you build confidence.”

Employers are more keen than ever to get in front of students and graduates as global skill shortages continue to bite. So it was no surprise that over 100 employers were on campus attending career fairs over the last four weeks to promote their organisations and meet potential employees (that’s you!). Other employer presentations will continue to run through the semester – so how do you make the most of a chance to have a chat with an employer?

The desire to bring the fresh ideas and energy of interns and graduates into an organisation can sometimes be dulled by the time consuming and fraught experience of recruitment.

However that experience is turning into a very positive one for employers using AUT talenthub, a tailored on-campus recruitment service that offers a free and straightforward way for employers to access AUT students and graduates.