Employability and Careers Blog: Info and Advice for AUT Students and Graduates

I would be a wealthy person if I got $10 every time a student told me they didn’t have employability skills to offer employers.No employability skills? Really? Anyone who has lived on this planet for the past 18 years or more will have skills they can offer.

Elab Online? NZ Unitalent? Employability Lab? Who does what and how do they link up? Here’s my attempt to explain what they are and what they offer – and while I may be biased, I want to say they are brilliant services that offer plenty of career and employability help.

You have a great passion, but not the talent to make it big. Well, not everyone can be the star of the show, but there are plenty of opportunities to make the most of the skills you do have and follow your passion into that world another way. It’s simple!

Why do an employability award when you are already busy with study, sport, family, socialising etc?  Rosemary Heather wondered that too. But when she did check it out, she quickly saw the benefits. Now happily employed as a food science analyst, Rosemary encourages other students to make the most of the award opportunities.

What has detective work got to do with getting a job? Well, just like a detective builds up a case by collecting clues and leads, so should you build up information and collect leads when trying to figure out where you’d love to work. By researching, talking to people, and checking out events and organisations, you start to zone in on great job opportunities.

Employers love to see you have developed good life skills and professional skills as well as academic knowledge. They also want to hear you talk positively about those skills. Sound tricky? It need not be. There are plenty of ways you can identify and/or develop the right soft skills.  Part time work, volunteering and academic projects all build a picture of someone with a great range of transferable life skills.

Five AUT graduates talk about how their paths changed as they progressed through their tertiary study. They have found productive and stimulating careers that are quite different from their initial dreams and expectations.

You are very unlikely to go into your dream job immediately after you graduate. No, don’t sigh and bin this blog. All I’m saying is that often the best entry level graduate roles do not sound like dream jobs, but they will lead to them if you’re good at what you do.

Doing something for nothing? Why would you? Actually there are compelling career reasons for volunteering, as well as giving back to your community! And it isn't just me banging on about it! Big players like SEEK agree.

Clubs are vital - and I’m not talking of nightclubs or the clubs used by Neanderthals to clobber dinosaurs for food. I'm talking about the exceptional range of clubs set up at AUT offering opportunities for you to hang out with other students and do stuff,