AUT Employability and Careers Info and Advice Blog

Getting involved in supporting other students was something Tanvi Narayan would never have had the confidence to do when she first started at AUT, but the AUT Edge Award opened up possibilities and led to Tanvi becoming a student ambassador, RUOK adviser and peer mentor.

“I truly believe it makes a huge difference being able to wake up, go to work and really enjoy what you do. I love being out in the community and helping people - for me money isn’t a motivator but leaving a positive impression in people’s lives," says Shayal Mala PGF Services health promoter and AUT health promotion and public health graduate.

What does design and psychology have in common – quite a lot as Rajvi Rangrej realised when she discovered UX Design after pursuing a psychology and criminology degree.  An interest in how people act and think led Rajvi into studying psychology and criminology. Then her creative interests kicked in. She did an internship in design while finishing her degree and has found a new career goal in UX Design.

Imagine a job in an environment you love and fiercely want to protect, where you know you’re making a difference every single day? This is the daily reality for AUT environmental science graduate Sydney Curtis-Wilson – who got her foot in the door through volunteering.

What on earth do you do as a 3D Animator in game design? It sounds exciting, being a 3D animator for a game design company – and it is, says Māori creative Reuben Shortland (Ngāti Hine) who works for Metia Interactive. It is also a world we you keep learning and learning.

Clambering out of boats and crossing muddy water to bring supplies and support to the Rohingya people in Myanmar camps is just one part of the job for Su Myat Kyaw, medical activity manager for Médecins Sans Frontières (Doctors Without Borders). It’s exciting, worthwhile and humbling, says Su who undertook the AUT Edge Award and Beyond AUT Award as well as studying disaster and risk management at AUT.

When Mallik Gadipudi completed his MBA in Human Resources at AUT and took on a 2degrees customer care specialist role, his Dad back in India was perplexed and angry. Why was he going to work in a call centre after doing a postgraduate qualification?Mallik didn’t see it that way. For him it was a strategic step needed to overcome a lack of experience in the New Zealand workplace. And it worked. Mallik is now national sales manager for KPL Distribution and has founded a music production company.

Construction engineering graduate April Faitua was delighted to get into the Kāinga Ora 18-month graduate programme working on construction that brought about social change. April has now taken up the role of consultant information manager for Auercon in their digital engineering team. She talks about her Kāinga Ora graduate programme experience.

Writing about events shaping the political landscape like the Yemen War and ISIS is a dream job, despite its complexities, says Briony Sowden, Al Jazeera producer/journalist.