AUT Edge Award
The AUT Edge Award challenges and encourages you to develop skills at AUT through volunteering, leadership and employability activities. Students have found doing the award has provided a powerful incentive to grow and change. Below are stories highlighting the value of the awards to some past recipients.
Setting up Gaming Club: A Big Achievement
Setting up the first community-focused gaming club at AUT was a huge step outside Jason Alessandro’s comfort zone and an achievement he is incredibly proud of. The club - set up as part of the leadership requirements of the AUT Edge Award – has hosted four tournaments since inception.
Employability Awards offer value beyond expectations
How to stand out to employers? The AUT Employability Awards may be the answer if you’re looking for a way to develop strong communication skills, become more confident and find out more about the world beyond AUT campuses? This semester 62 students graduated with the award – here is what some had to say.
Self Belief Grew Through AUT Edge Award
When Khadija Alqassabi initially joined the AUT Edge Award she was looking for a solo extracurricular activity to challenge the social anxiety that had taken over her previously confident life.
Volunteering creates many new experiences
“The AUT Edge Award has given me the opportunity to gain confidence and find new experiences in which to push myself out of my comfort zone,” says Hannah Whyte.
Unexpected Changes through AUT Edge Award
When Jennifer Susanto started AUT she had great ambition but little confidence.
“The AUT Edge Award led me on a rewarding and personally transformative journey, helping me flourish within and outside university,” she says.
Previous AUT Edge Award Recipient Stories
No challenge too hard after AUT Edge Award
“I now know I can approach new challenges, no matter how hard,” says Karan Patel, who received the MYOB Personal Growth Prize at the Employability Awards Graduation Ceremony on Monday 14 November.
The prize is awarded to the student who demonstrated the greatest personal growth or change throughout the AUT Edge Award journey in relation to their level of employability.
Roller-coaster of a journey with AUT Edge Award
A joyful moment is how AUT Edge Award prize winner Khooshi Patel described 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.
Leadership enhanced by AUT Edge 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.
Why do an Employability Award?
Why do an employability award when you are already busy with study, sport, socialising etc? See what our AUT Edge Award and Beyond AUT graduates have to say about what they have gained from doing the awards.
Why Bother to Volunteer?
Want to get out of your bubble a bit, increase your confidence and feel connected more to the world? Two students talk about how much they have grown in confidence and developed valuable skills through volunteering and the Edge Award.
Finding his voice through the Beyond AUT Award
Stepping up to the challenge of taking on leadership roles rather than staying in the background has been a major achievement for Etienne Tapueluelu who received the Cordis Hotel Beyond AUT Overall Award prize at the Employability Awards Graduation Ceremony on Monday 14 November.
Impact of working together on sustainability
When Liubov Sidorova first started the AUT Edge Award she was confused about volunteering in New Zealand and didn’t believe that one person from overseas would make any difference to anything.
Study is just one part of life, says AUT Edge Award Overall Achiever
The tremendous effort that Jefferson Chen put into the AUT Edge Award was noted by the Employability Lab team from early on, as Jefferson went out of his way to participate in everything he could that involved employability, including a whopping 36 employability events.
AUT Edge Award offers great experiences
By going outside his comfort zone and getting involved in a range of activities through the AUT Edge Award, Jefferson Chen says he gained more than he could ever have imagined.
Coming out of his corner because of the AUT Edge Award
Personal growth is a huge part of the AUT Edge Award. The Kingi Personal Growth prize - sponsored by Intercontinental Hotels Group - acknowledges the student that demonstrated the greatest personal change during the award.
Developing Leadership through AUT Edge Award
The desire to engage, inspire and develop the "difference makers of tomorrow" is why Chartered Accountants Australia & New Zealand (CAANZ) sponsor the AUT Edge Award Leadership prize, says CAANZ Careers Engagement Consultant Mia Arts.
World Outlook changed by AUT Edge Award
When Peter Jean-Paul started the AUT Edge Award he had no idea how much it would change his thinking and outlook on the world.
“I’ve learned that it is important as an individual to be willing to make the lives of others better and develop yourself on a deeper level. I have continued volunteering after completing my award hours and am participating more in community activities.”
Leadership skills through AUT Edge Award
“With perseverance and effort we are all so much more capable than we think we are!” states Maya Jaros, the winner of the AUT Edge Award Leadership prize sponsored by the Chartered Accountants Australia & New Zealand.
From shy teen to AUT Edge Award prize winner
When Jonathan Lopeti arrived at AUT from the Kingdom of Tonga in 2014, he was a shy and uncertain teenager. Fast forward four years and the shy teenager has morphed into an aspiring Pacific youth role model and won the Kingi Prize for the AUT Edge Award, having demonstrated significant personal and professional growth and employability.
Michelle Young - AUT Edge Award Overall Achiever
Winning the Overall Achiever Prize for the AUT Edge Award has been the icing on the cake for graduate Michelle Young, now employed at Ogilvy NZ.
Volunteering Supremo
A couple of years ago volunteering was something Kelly D’Mello meant to get around to doing but never quite did. Joining the AUT Edge Award changed all that – part of the requirement is to do 50 hours of volunteering!
Great commitment from 2020 Beyond AUT Award Winners
Despite the challenge of trying to fulfil volunteering and leadership hours under lockdown, Siddharth Thyagaraj, who won the Beyond AUT Award Prize for semester two, managed to volunteer for 101 hours which was nearly triple the hours needed to achieve the Beyond AUT Award. On top of that Siddharth also did 37 leadership hours.
Big Achievement in Covid Year for Edge Award Prize Winners
By learning to push through self doubt, Jude Gair-Ah Siu went from strength to strength during her AUT Edge Award journey.
Employability Awards graduation celebrates huge success in difficult times
Everyone had to grow this year to simply survive, declared Shailan Patel NZ Education Manager for MYOB, speaking at the AUT Edge and Beyond Awards graduation ceremony recently.
Conquering the final reflection
Volunteering - tick! Leadership - tick! Employability workshops - tick! You'll be feeling good. Just the final Edge reflection or Beyond interview to go and you'll have completed the award that you've put so much energy into. Bullseye!
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?
Life changing AUT Edge Award
They contributed to social enterprise Eat My Lunch, worked with Sustainable Coastlines to make our environment cleaner, led clubs, made new students feel welcome during orientation and innovated with social media.
Enriched experience with Employability & Careers
When Giri Gonsai found out about Employability and Careers after picking up a flyer at Orientation, the Postgraduate Computer and Information Science student realised he’d stumbled onto a way to charge up his year and become fully prepared for employment. And he was not wrong.
Develop leadership & employability skills
The AUT Edge Award is open to any enrolled AUT student. It takes at least 79 hours to complete the volunteering, leadership and employability components of the award, and will be acknowledged on your academic transcript when completed.
Employability and Careers Blog
Find ideas on how to get better at job search through your CV or LinkedIn profile, learn from the feedback of employers, and be inspired by stories of AUT students and graduates as they network, go to job interviews and find their feet in their chosen career.