The NORA Winners – event review

I really cannot remember the buzz of excitement and anticipation being so great as it was at The National Online Recruitment Awards 2012 event this week.  Not only was the guest list a veritable Who’s Who of the online recruitment industry, but the very vocal support given by our Finalists was amazing.

Marking their 10^th anniversary, our awards partner and headline sponsor, Broadbean Technology, filled the venue with so many enormous balloons, there was a distinct possibility of the roof being lifted off.  This, and the raucous crowd, and the excitement (plus a modicum of alcohol) generated an instant party atmosphere.  Many people, including myself, particular love The NORAs event as a fantastic chance to meet so many old friends, and make even more amazing new ones.  Of course much of the audience had earlier attended the UK Recruiter Recruitment Conference upstairs, in the Grand Connaught Rooms, so a party was definitely in order.  You can see what a good time we had in our pictures from the event (photography by Keir O’Donnell).

THE AWARDS

In reverse order, the award winners were as follows:

BEST INNOVATION IN ONLINE RECRUITMENT – LINKEDIN APPLY

The introduction of the LinkedIn Apply button confirms the unique position LinkedIn are in, and their potential to disrupt the established job board market.

BEST NEWCOMER IN ONLINE RECRUITMENT

The launch of GradCornwall truly is about as refreshing as it comes, clearly driven by a committed and enthusiastic team, eager to engage directly with candidates. This very same team were a big feature at the NORAs, and made a lot of noise too!

BEST EMPLOYMENT ADVICE WEBSITE

When looking at services offered by websites, genuinely insightful career advice is unfortunately often the weakest link. Careerplayer are now multiple winners of this award, and use video extensively to help jobseekers through the recruitment process.

BEST TRADE PUBLICATION

Most successful trade publications have now transitioned to an online presence, to offer their industry sectors and their audience a uniquely insightful and targeted service.  Our winner, AccountancyAgeJobs does this in spades.

BEST CONSUMER PUBLICATION

This year, our deserving winner Telegraph Jobs has done so by making great strides in improving its functionality and career advice.

BEST SMALL EMPLOYER

Three of this year’s Finalists were recruitment agencies themselves, who had each built dedicated sites for the recruitment of their own staff.  Led by Dil Bakhar, Advanced Resource Managers are a fantastic example of how a smaller employer can really put themselves in the shop window, and engage candidates in their own very competitive job market.

BEST MAJOR EMPLOYER

Employers have made huge advances in the use of their own websites to connect directly with potential employees, and project their own “employer brand”. Jagex are an immensely successful games studio from Cambridgeshire, and have imbued their recruitment website with their company personality on every page.

BEST SMALL RECRUITMENT AGENCY

Small recruitment companies contribute the bulk of jobs advertised on the big job boards, but also must look to differentiate themselves with uniquely compelling websites themselves.  Marketing recruitment agency, Dylan, winning this award for the second time, actively promote the expertise of their recruiters, which job boards cannot compete with.

BEST NATIONAL RECRUITMENT AGENCY

Whilst up against much larger competition in this category, our winners Senitor Recruitment show that even larger agencies can avoid the “faceless format”, which has been so common in the recruitment industry. Jobseekers and clients alike want to take advantage of the expertise of a professional recruiter, and the Senitor websites reflects this.

BEST REGIONAL JOB BOARD
Throughout the history of The NORAs, this award has been dominated by sites from Scotland.  It is therefore fantastic to see that the huge steps taken in the last year by NIJobfinder to directly serve the needs of jobseekers in Northern Ireland have been recognised.

BEST SPECIALIST JOB BOARD

This year, we have had several outstanding graduate focused Finalists to choose from.  Our Winner, GradCracker really has to be seen, to be believed.  Not only does the website provide an amazing depth of jobs, programs and placements, as well as extensive advice, but they also transition this service from online to offline by sending teams around to country to meet directly with their audience.

BEST GENERALIST JOB BOARD

As one of the powerhouses of the UK recruitment sector, and globally if its plans are realised, Jobsite has an immense responsibility to the millions of jobseekers using its service every month.  This year, Jobsite has not only pushed the development of its technology and reach through mobile device access and social media, but also wider candidate engagement, as evidenced by being a Finalist for our Best Employment Advice award.  Whilst no job board at that level can rest on their laurels, Jobsite have pushed ahead to win our flagship award this year.