21st Annual NORAs Launch
The 21st annual National Online Recruitment Awards
I am delighted to again be launching the nominations for the annual National Online Recruitment Awards. This is our 21st year, and there has never been a time when the recruitment sector has been so profoundly embedded in the daily lives of so many people. After a dramatic 18 months of change and even turmoil, we are acutely aware that what we called normal up until February 2020, has changed completely, and is unlikely to return in the same form.
As an awards event established to be the voice of jobseekers, we know that no two members of the working population have experienced the same thing. Everyone’s experience is shaped by their own personal circumstances, including the integral part that work plays in their lives. The NORAs has always sought to represent the views of jobseekers, and identify the key players in the employment market who are truly excelling in delivering outstanding candidate experiences. While the landscape may have changed, this fundamental principle remains.
We now invite all jobseekers, from all industries, and from entry level up to CEO’s, to tell us which organisations are truly delivering on the promise of fast, efficient, fair and inclusive, open and honest recruitment for themselves and for the markets they operate in.
The purpose of the NORAs is to shine a light on the very best, so that we all know what good looks like, and to encourage all organisations to raise their own standards to that level. We seek to identify and praise those who defy convention, and find better ways to connect candidates with jobs and careers which enable them to live better lives.
Whilst our award categories remain the same this year, we are continually evolving our understanding of what makes an outstanding contender for the NORAs, and refining the criteria our judges rely on to assess them. As ever, our amazing judges will do so from the perspective of the jobseeker, and also take into consideration the times in which we live, and how each nominated site is responding to them.
Rather than create a new award category, we have decided to consider all generalist job search platforms, such as Talent.com, Indeed, Adzuna, and ZipRecruiter and others alongside traditional job boards for our Best Generalist Job Board category. In terms of functionality, both sides of this coin have been moving towards each other, and now overlap to a considerable extent.
Our best Consumer Publication award will consider all online and offline news outlets who provide job search functionality via their websites. The same principle will apply to the best Trade Publication award.
Lastly, our Best Innovation award will consider all innovations in the recruitment sector which benefit jobseekers – even if the innovation or technology is not always visible to the general public.
Whilst we always seek nominations from the public, as an open and inclusive event, we invite organisations to also register themselves for considerations. In doing so, you will ensure your site will be considered by our judges in the appropriate category. There is no cost to register, and you can even grab a unique code to post a graphic on your website to encourage your jobseekers to further nominate you with feedback on what makes you so great.
IMPORTANT DATES:
Nominations will open on Tuesday 3rd August at 9:00AM and closed on Monday 6th September at 5:00PM.
All registered and nominated sites will be considered carefully by our Shortlisting Judging Panel, to arrive at the list of this year’s Finalists.
The Finalists for the National Online Recruitment Awards 2021 will be announced here on Tuesday 5th October.
Our Winners will be revealed at our in-person online awards event, held on Wednesday 10th November.
Stephen O’Donnell
Chair of the NORAs