Award categories and criteria

The SARAs are open to Australian and New Zealand-based recruitment agencies and RPOs. View the categories and criteria to determine the awards you'll enter and the information you need to showcase.

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Awards categories

Recruitment Agency of the Year (Small, Medium and Large)

The winner of this award will be able to demonstrate their dedication and pursuit of excellence across culture, innovation, growth, candidate engagement and contribution to the success of the recruitment industry.

Innovation in Recruitment

The winner of this award will be a progressive recruitment agency that is harnessing insights and new ideas to solve business or clients’ challenges to fuel innovation within the industry.

Excellence in Candidate Experience

The winner of this award will be able to demonstrate their commitment to providing an exceptional experience for candidates throughout their job search journey.

Outstanding Progress in Diversity, Equity and Inclusion

The winner of this award will treat diversity, equity and inclusion as integral to their organisation and within their clients’ workplace. They will demonstrate their commitment through meaningful initiatives and strategies that benefit diverse talent pools and the business.

Recruitment Leader of the Year

The winner of this award will be a recruitment professional who inspires and motivates their team, performs to business objectives, and makes a positive impact within their agency and the overall recruitment industry.

Recruitment Consultant of the Year

The winner of this award will be a recruitment professional who has excelled in the area of client and candidate engagement, and has contributed positively to the recruitment industry as a whole.

What the judges are looking for

Our panel of industry experts assess entries using the following guiding criteria. This criteria has been designed to recognise outstanding professional service and client support across the recruitment industry, and shine a light on the positive impact recruiters make on people’s lives. Here's an overview of what the judges will look for:

Client and candidate centricity

How are you putting the candidate and your clients at the centre of your strategy or initiative/s?

Innovation

How are you doing things differently and challenging the status quo? What sets you or your agency apart?

Growth

What are your targets and how do you know you are meeting them?

Industry impact

How does this achievement improve your team, your agency, or the broader recruitment industry?

Judges

Experts in their field, our exceptional judges have been appointed to select the winners of the 2025 SEEK Annual Recruitment Awards.
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Take a look at our confirmed 2025 SEEK SARAs judges below.

Rebecca Clarke

MRCSA Recruitment, Consulting & Staffing in Aotearoa New Zealand and Australia

Rebecca joined the recruitment & staffing industry in 2001 and has been passionate about it ever since. In her current role as NZ manager for the RCSA (Recruitment Consulting & Staffing Association of Aotearoa and Australia), Rebecca is a conduit and champion for RCSA member voices across Aotearoa. She works closely with the wider RCSA team of...

Maddock Price

Recruitment Manager, Kiwi Bank

Maddock currently resides in west Auckland with his wife and two boys. Maddock has worked in the Recruitment industry for the last 13 years, starting out of university at Hays in Auckland, then moved to London where he worked for an IT agency Square One. Upon returning home Maddock worked at Auckland Council and is now leading the Kiwibank Recru...

Andrea Swan

Manager Talent Advisory, Ministry for Primary Industries

Andrea Swan is a seasoned recruitment professional currently working as the Manager of Talent Advisory at the Ministry for Primary Industries. With a strong background in talent acquisition, Andrea brings a wealth of experience in identifying and developing top-tier talent to drive organisational success. In her current role, she plays a critica...

Sarah Artz

Talent Services Lead, AIA

With 15 years of experience in recruitment, Sarah began her career supporting the contract banking desk at a London agency. In 2016, she relocated to New Zealand and shifted her focus to professional services and procurement before AIA New Zealand provided the opportunity to transition to internal recruitment, gaining expertise in talent acquis...

Mereula Nacewa

Corporate Talent Acquisition Manager, Fletcher Building

Mereula’s recruitment career started in agency recruitment, but after a couple of years she transitioned across to in-house, where her passion for people, recruitment and business partnering really took off. A career in Air New Zealand’s Recruitment team saw her recruit across various portfolio’s such as Cabin Crew, Finance, Environmental Health...

Kym Farnham

Talent & Recruitment Lead

Having started my journey in recruitment back in South Africa in 2013, I’ve had the opportunity to partner across a spectrum of sectors, including manufacturing, pharmaceuticals, construction, FMCG and retail, during my agency days. It was during this time that I found my stride, being recognised as the National Consultant for the year and earn...

Emily Rubin

Head of Talent, Diversity & Inclusion, Foodstuffs Northland Island

Emily currently heads up the talent and diversity & inclusion strategies as Head of Talent & Diversity for Foodstuffs North Island.  With over 15 years in people related roles across HR, internal and agency recruitment, Emily brings a wealth of knowledge in imbedding initiatives and programmes that attract and connect people to meaningful work a...

Kim Nicholas

HR Area Lead -Talent Acquisition and Systems, The Warehouse Group

Kim is currently the HR Area Lead – Talent Acquisition and Systems at The Warehouse Group where she has been for 8 years. While studying at the University of Auckland gaining a Bachelor of Science and a Post Graduate Diploma in Psychology and Forensic Science she also worked in retail at the local The Warehouse store. Kim then relocated to the U...

Melissa Karl

Melissa has over 19 years’ experience working in recruitment. Currently a Recruitment Manager at The University of Auckland she leads multiple recruitment teams, developing and implementing global & domestic recruitment campaigns, leads career transition & redeployment and has strategic involvement in initiatives around Māori and Pacific staff a...

Donna Mendjan

Head of Talent Resourcing & Acquisition ANZ, Downer

I’m currently the Head of Talent & Sourcing Acquisition for Downer Transport & Infrastructure across New Zealand and Australia, where I lead recruitment strategy and talent development initiatives across a broad and diverse operation. Over the past 15+ years, I’ve worked across public and private sectors—including roles with the Department of Co...

Rebecca O'Hagan

Talent Attraction & Recruitment Manager, Mercury NZ Limited

Rebecca O’Hagan brings more than 20 years of experience in recruitment and talent acquisition to the judging panel. For the past six years, Rebecca has led the recruitment function at Mercury NZ Limited as Talent Acquisition and Recruitment Manager, overseeing hiring across a wide range of roles and playing a key role in shaping the company's ta...

Tonia Gaze

Senior Manager - Talent Acquisition, Early Careers & Global Mobility, PwC

Tonia is the Senior Manager for Talent, Early Careers, and Global Mobility at PwC, where she has been part of the firm for two years. She leads a small team of six, dedicated to enhancing the development and mobility of emerging talent within PwC. Tonia's focus remains on creating a seamless experience for both local and international talent, en...

Noel Hassapladakis

Recruitment Experience Lead – Technology, TCO and Digital, Westpac

Noel brings over 30 years of commercial experience spanning key account management, strategic business development, commercial and relationship management, and leadership. 17 years were spent specialising in the Technology and Digital sectors within agency recruitment in New Zealand, which resulted in business growth without exception for both ...

Zubair Mohammed

Recruitment Manager, Farmers Trading Company

Zubair Mohammed is a dynamic and experienced recruitment leader with a strong background in talent acquisition, employer branding, and employee experience. Currently serving as the Recruitment Manager at Farmers Trading Company Ltd, one of New Zealand’s most iconic retail brands, Zubair leads a team dedicated to attracting top talent across both...

Matt Bartlett

Head of Talent Acquisition, ASB

Approaching 20 years in recruitment, most of which has been spent internally in New Zealand organisations leading national and international Talent Acquisition functions, Matt is passionate about the value that Talent Acquisition can bring to an organisation, as well as the impact on peoples' lives. Matt by nature is a fan of innovation and crea...

Kristy Teece

Talent Acquisition Lead, AA New Zealand

With over 15 years of experience in talent acquisition and recruitment strategy, Kristy brings a strategic approach to hiring, blending people-first leadership with deep expertise in high-volume and specialist recruitment. Currently Talent Acquisition Lead at AA New Zealand, Kristy has held senior recruitment roles across diverse industries, inc...

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