Robyne Brooke

A Little Bit Of Background

I was really lucky to grow up in a farming family just out of Havelock North in Hawke’s Bay. Along with being actively involved in the sheep and beef farm, my parents had a small hay contracting business where I became experienced in tractor and truck driving. Through this and my years involved with horses it’s fair to say I have strong relationships within the farming sector. After leaving school and travelling for six years polo grooming in Australia, UK and America I finally came home and found work within the agribusiness sector. My early career was doing administration roles within the meat processing sector and in 2006 Brent and Gretchen offered me a position at Rural Directions and let’s just say the rest is history!

What’s Important To Me

In my role as the on-farm specialist recruiter at Rural Directions I deal with both employers and job seekers, many of them are repeat clients who I have worked with several times. It is great to be able to place the right job seekers with the right employers and receive such positive feedback. I believe in the basic philosophy that you need to treat people how you would want to be treated; it doesn’t matter who you are or where you come from.

What Happens Out Of Work

My husband Steve and I have been farming in partnership for over 12 years, we are currently leasing two sheep and beef farms.  In my spare time I enjoy horse riding, hunting is my sport of choice, it offers good challenges and the opportunity of great friendships.  When I am not working, I enjoy getting out and helping Steve on the farm, I also enjoy cooking and catching up with friends.

Some Of My Learnings

We have a great team here at Rural Directions. It has been a thrill to meet and place some exciting young farmers in roles that help with their career development.  I’ve learnt that matching employer demands, and job seeker requirements is a complex process, but year-on-year I love the challenge!