Why do an Employability Award?

Rosemary Heather (below right) started off being pretty sceptical about the value of using any of the employability and career services or doing an award. Why bother, she thought.

But as she struggled to get responses to her job applications, she decided to give it a shot.
“And it was great. I gained lots of employment skills through the lab. I learned how to create a good CV, how to present myself and I practised my interview skills. It all really helped my confidence when I went looking for work.”

As part of that Rosemary was also encouraged to join the AUT Edge Award. That was a real bonus for her.
“I volunteered as a Blue Coat (on site ambassador) at Greenlane Hospital. That really helped my communication skills and interpersonal skills. I also participated in fundraising for the Daffodil Day to support the Cancer Society. This pushed me beyond my comfort zone and really helped boost my confidence.”

The AUT Biomedical Science graduate is now happily working at AsureQuality as a food science analyst. Her message to other students is to stay open minded about what you’re doing.
“Don’t just think about one pathway. Instead, be open to all opportunities and find enjoyment in anything you do. And take advantage of opportunities on offer, like the AUT Edge Award. It really makes a difference.”

What are the employability awards?

There are two awards - the AUT Edge Award for undergraduate students and the Beyond AUT Award for postgraduate. The awards are designed to help students improve their communication skills and confidence, build connections to their community and develop other skills, including leadership, resilience and social responsibility. A bonus is that the completed award appears on you academic transcript.

Director of student employability and recreation Anna Williams says many students sign up as a box ticking exercise but quickly end up on an absolute journey of learning, knowledge, reflection that makes them stand out from the crowd after leaving AUT.
'They develop graduate ready CVs and relevant LinkedIn profiles. They know what to expect at a job interview and can network their way around a room, deliver a unique elevator pitch and - most importantly - know what their passion is."

Since the awards were set up eight years ago, students have delivered over 55,000 volunteering hours and 38,000 leadership hours to organisations as diverse as Red Cross, SPCA, Greenpeace, Girl Guiding, Conservation Volunteer NZ, Recreate, City Mission, Sunday Blessing, NZ Olympic Committee, TEDx Auckland.

They’ve also participated in student ambassador and RUOK programmes, AUTSA clubs and events and other aspects of AUT’s academic and social calendar.

Employability awards specialist Horowai Broederlow (left)  is keen to meet students who want to find out more about the awards.
“I did the award when I was studying and I think it is such a great way to build up skills, so please come and check it out. Book into an introduction session through Elab Online or pop into the Employability Lab for a chat,” she suggests.

Award in brief

• The AUT Edge Award involves a minimum of 50 hours of volunteering, 18 hours of leadership, 14 employability workshops and a personal reflection.
• The Beyond AUT Award involves 35 hours of volunteering, 12 hours of leadership, seven employability activities and a personal reflection.
• Once completed the certificate appears on students’ academic transcript.

Find out more

Read more about the awards here
Visit the Employability Lab WA202
Email Horowai: autedge@aut.ac.nz (for undergraduate students) or beyondaut@aut.ac.nz (postgraduate students)