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

As someone “annoyingly practical and analytical” Natalie Pettitt reckoned science was a natural fit. Her desire to understand the ‘why’ behind sour dough and cheese led her to study microbiology and food science at AUT. Now a senior technician at Ministry of Primary Industries, Natalie talks about her science career journey over the past couple of years.

Going up to strangers can feel a bit scary but the employers at the Science Career Expo are there because they want to talk to you about their work and the science careers they can offer. Here are some tips from two of the employers attending.

Hansani Senadeera landed a great part time job after attending a workshop for job interview practice at the Employability Lab at AUT. She encourages other students to take advantage of these workshops - see what she learned that helped her get a job.

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.

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.

Gaming attracted Liam O’Reilly-Gevert into a design degree that quickly opened up “a million and one other possibilities” and the realisation that your job title doesn’t have to reflect the name of your degree

“The career expo was a really easy way to make contact with a lot of employers,” says AUT Master in Supply Chain Management student Dewi Muliyati. She was one of over 600 students that took advantage of the large gathering of 50plus employers at the business and law career expo. Employers hardly had time to draw a breath throughout the two hours of the expo as they encouraged students to register expressions of interest for 2024 internships or graduate programmes or discussed career opportunities within their sector. Read more about how students approached the event.

“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.

“When I went to my Air NZ interview I found I could confidently answer every question they asked me because of the interview practice I did at the Employability Lab,” says Bachelor of International Tourism Management graduate Justin Singh. Now working as an Air NZ contact centre consultant, he encourages all students to make the most of AUT Employability and Career services.

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.