First Beyond AUT graduate pulls out all stops

Can you imagine choosing to fit in 85 hours of volunteering, 30 hours of leadership and 15 workshops around study, work and raising a family?

Well that is exactly what Selena Volodzskis did as the first AUT graduate to successfully gain both the AUT Edge Award and the inaugural postgraduate Beyond AUT Award.

Beyond AUT Award is a second employability award that was introduced in September (2019). Designed specifically for AUT postgraduate students, this new award takes a deeper look at leadership and provides opportunities to expand employability skills, including a final reflection interview.

Selena set herself the challenge of gaining both awards to increase her knowledge of the Kiwi workplace and improve her career opportunities.

“I wanted to gather as many perspectives of the working environment in New Zealand as possible so I could learn what is expected here,” says Selena. Originally from the United States, where she founded her own company, Selena is currently studying a Masters in Business Administration at AUT.

She found out about the AUT Edge Award while attending employability workshops at the Employability Lab and realised getting involved in activities through the award was a great way to add value to her CV.

“I realised it is not just about your marks.”

When the new postgraduate co-curricular Beyond AUT Award was announced in September, Selena decided to take up the challenge of completing both by December 2019. To add to the challenge Selena was already taking extra papers to try to complete her MBA by the end of 2019. While she didn’t quite succeed in that quest, she did successfully complete the awards.

Power of LinkedIn

A very private person, Selena had no social media presence before doing the awards.

“The idea of having information publicly online about myself made me feel vulnerable. But workshop facilitators kept reiterating the importance of LinkedIn to Kiwi companies so I realised I had to be more open. Like all things, you have to adapt or you die out!”

Selena is now a big advocate of LinkedIn.

“I’ve made really good connections through LinkedIn and have already gained a lot of opportunities. I don’t hesitate to reach out to people I don’t know through LinkedIn to explore an idea or opportunity and I’m still amazed at how most people in New Zealand are happy to make connections and help.”

New perspective on volunteering

Selena also had her eyes open to the value of volunteering. As well as being surprised that New Zealand employers actively looked out for volunteering experience on CVs, she also found that giving time was very valuable to organisations.

“I came to realise that time is often as valuable, if not more so, than throwing money at a problem or situation.”

By volunteering for social enterprise Eat My Lunch Selena also observed social enterprise principles in action at close quarters.

“I’m really taken by how you can make a difference in your own backyard, rather than some far off exotic sounding place. I now believe in the responsibility we have to our own communities here at home and I try to role model to my children about community and giving.”

Reflecting on gains

The other big challenge was the reflections – a written reflection for the Edge Award and an interview for Beyond AUT.

The changes that occur personally and professionally through the awards can be quite subtle, explains Selena. But on reflection she realised there had been important changes, many of which she’d incorporated into her everyday life.

“One of the strengths of the award is that the changes you make should become part of what you’re doing on a regular basis but that means the changes don’t immediately jump out at you.”

Selena found the Beyond AUT final interview particularly useful.

“I walked out of the interview with interesting insights on how to present what I can offer to a recruiter or employer and how the recruitment process is a bit different to other countries I have lived in. The final interview is an invaluable component of Beyond AUT.”

Selena now feels confident that she will enter the New Zealand workplace well prepared as a result of the AUT Edge Award and Beyond AUT.

“I have been working at the company I founded for a decent chunk of my career but I have diverse experience in other sectors as well. Now I am looking to shift back into a more typical commercial role, I need to demonstrate to employers that I can utilise my cumulative experience to add value as a staff member too.”

Selena was one of three students to complete the Beyond AUT award in one semester.  The other two graduates of Beyond AUT were Anisha Khatoon and  Shivam Nangia. The Employablity and Careers team congratulate all three graduates for their efforts last semester.

Email the following links to find out more about

Beyond AUT Award

AUT Edge Award