New and Updated NORA Awards

Honouring Innovation and Excellence in Online Recruitment

As the National Online Recruitment Awards (NORAs) celebrates its 25th year, the ever-changing world of digital hiring calls for a refreshed approach to recognising excellence. This milestone edition introduces several new and updated awards, reflecting advances in recruitment technology and candidate experience. Here’s a closer look at five new award categories for this year.

Best European Job Board

This award is dedicated to outstanding online job advertising platforms focusing on European vacancies. Importantly, these sites operate independently, without links to recruitment agencies or print publications, ensuring unbiased listings. Judging focuses on features that enhance the candidate experience—such as user-friendly interfaces, multilingual support, and resources for jobseekers across borders. These platforms have become essential for connecting talent and opportunity throughout Europe’s diverse employment landscape. This award replaces the Best Regional Job Board category, which has become a relatively redundant term in recent years.

Best Candidate-Centric Platform

Previously known as the Best Employment Advice Website, this category has been expanded for 2025. The Best Candidate-Centric Platform award now recognises digital products and technologies which put jobseekers at the heart of the hiring process. Whether helping candidates research employers, providing expert career advice, simplifying applications, optimising CVs, or personalising job alerts and communications, these solutions empower users to navigate the job market with greater confidence and efficiency. The evolution of this award highlights the growing expectation for tailored, supportive technology at every stage of the recruitment journey.

Best ATS / CRM

Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS) and Candidate Relationship Management (CRM) platforms are the backbone of modern recruitment. This award honours platforms used by employers and staffing agencies to manage the entire attraction & application process: tracking candidates from their initial application to their final interview. Judges will look for platforms that streamline workflows, automate repetitive tasks, integrate with other recruitment tools, and provide powerful analytics – all while ensuring a smooth experience for both jobseekers and recruiters. By recognising these systems, the NORAs highlight their crucial role in making recruitment more organised, equitable, and effective.

Best Job Distribution Platform

With the vast number of digital channels available today, recruitment marketing has grown far more sophisticated. The Best Job Distribution Platform award recognises tools that distribute job ads across multiple websites, allowing employers to maximise their reach and attract quality candidates. Most of these platforms use programmatic technology to optimise both the number and calibre of applications, as well as to manage advertising costs efficiently. This category celebrates innovations that help employers cut through the noise and ensure their opportunities get noticed by the right people.

Best AI Sourcing & Messaging Technology

A brand-new category for our 25th anniversary, the Best AI Sourcing & Messaging Technology award spotlights platforms that use artificial intelligence to proactively find and engage with candidates. These tools are specifically designed to match employer requirements, discover passive talent, and personalise outreach—often at scale. From analysing skills to predicting candidate fit, and automating human-like communications, AI-driven platforms are rapidly reshaping recruitment practice. As this category is new, the definition may evolve in future years to keep pace with innovation in the field.

Conclusion

The updated and new awards at the NORAs’ silver jubilee not only celebrate technological progress but also reinforce the industry’s commitment to supporting both employers and candidates. By highlighting advancements in job boards, candidate-centric solutions, ATS/CRM platforms, job distribution, and AI-powered sourcing, the 25th Annual National Online Recruitment Awards continues to set the standard for digital hiring excellence. As recruitment evolves, these categories ensure that the most impactful innovations receive the recognition they deserve.

NOMINATIONS ARE NOW OPEN, and will close on Friday 5th September at 5:00PM

Recruitment websites and technology companies can also REGISTER HERE.

This year’s 25th annual NORAs are again being held in partnership with SmartRecruiters.