This award recognises the efforts of employers to offer an outstanding, valuable and distinctive experience for every candidate prior to application through to hire or rejection. We are looking for evidence of a well-planned, well executed experience that is consistent across one or multiple stages of the candidate journey. We’d also like to see candidate feedback and testimonials to evidence the experience. Entrants should also demonstrate how the experience enhances and amplifies the employer brand.

Judges will be looking for:

• A sense of the impact this experience is having on your candidate population
• Consistency and alignment to the employer brand
• Evidence of effectiveness. Were results linked to an initial brief?
• What opportunities do you offer for candidates to feedback on their individual experiences? How has this improved the experience?

Whether it’s for a big campaign idea or a one-off execution, this category recognises brilliant conceptual thinking. Effectiveness isn’t the key here.

Instead we’re celebrating the creative ideas that go beyond the expected and demonstrate how we can convey messages and experiences in bolder, braver and more compelling ways.

Judges will be looking for:

• A clear outline of the problem that needed solving
• A smart creative solution
• Demonstrable evidence that the idea was used

Digital is ever more critical to the attraction and engagement of early talent. This award recognises excellence in the development of digital platforms designed to attract and engage graduates, apprentices or school leavers. Entries must outline how the approach has driven engagement and enhanced interaction with the target groups.

Judges will be looking for: 

• A strong virtual strategy that was relevant to the target audience
• Content for all audience segments that is relevant, high quality and accessible
• Technical quality of the product; responsive design; user experience; application process if relevant
• Evidence of effectiveness

We are looking for a clearly defined strategic plan , supported by a coordinated marketing campaign. designed to attract emerging talent in school leaver, apprentice, intern, placement and non-graduate recruitment.

Judges will be looking for:

• Entries that clearly define their target audience and explain how they have engaged with them
• The organisation’s long-term plans for this audience segment, and evidence that it has engaged with relevant stakeholders, such as pupils, teachers or parents
• Evidence of effectiveness linked to the initial brief
• Creativity

Employee engagement is more critical than ever and this category seeks to recognise excellence in the field. We want to see examples of how organisations keep people motivated, confident and connected to the business both functionally and emotionally.

Any work produced for employers wishing to communicate with employees can be entered, including direct mail, video, social, experiential activations, newsletters, apps and websites.

This category is also open to work produced for employers wishing to promote internal initiatives, for example employee referral schemes.

Judges will be looking for:

• A clear outline of the project, its objectives, goals, audience and methodology
• Clarity of how the project reflects the employer brand and/or culture of the organisation
• Evidence of effectiveness

This category celebrates excellence in Employer Brand development on the international stage. We’re looking for the organisation that demonstrates how their employer brand has delivered real business benefit through a robust programme of insight, testing, execution and analysis of the effectiveness of their employer brand. Judges will be looking for a robust narrative and a strong message framework that has international resonance and effective local tuning to country or territory.

We recognise employer brands evolve and measurable impact may only become apparent over time. Entries can therefore focus on the launch of a new Employer Brand OR a significant development to an existing one.

Judges will be looking for:

• Evidence of clear methodology which involved consultation with the appropriate stakeholders
• A clear understanding of the employee value proposition (EVP) and how it relates to the entry
• Examples of how the creative executions are firmly based on the EVP
• Effective country or territory tuning
• Consistent creative messaging and delivery with a clear creative strategy

This category celebrates excellence in employer brand development at a national (country) level. We’re looking for the organisation that demonstrates how their employer brand has delivered real business benefit through a robust programme of insight, testing, execution and analysis of the effectiveness of their employer brand.

We recognise employer brands evolve and measurable impact may only become apparent over time. Entries can therefore focus on the launch of a new Employer Brand OR a significant development to an existing one.

Judges will be looking for:

• Evidence of clear methodology which involved consultation with the appropriate stakeholders
• A clear understanding of the employee value proposition (EVP) and how it relates to the entry
• Examples of how the creative executions are firmly based on the EVP
• Consistent creative messaging and delivery with a clear creative strategy

This category is for employer websites dedicated to recruitment. Sites targeting both experienced hires and graduates should be entered into this category. Please include your web site URL in your entry, and indicate the area you wish to be judged.

NB: Sites specifically for graduates, apprentices or school leavers should be entered into the Digital Experience for Early Talent category.

Judges will be looking for:

• A site that provides jobseekers with a brand-based candidate experience. In other words, does the company culture come across in the overall design and copy? Is there continuity of branding throughout the site?
• How are jobseekers engaged? How are they directed to relevant webpages? Has personalisation been taken into account?
• Relevance, quality and access to the right content for all audience segments
• Technical quality of the website; responsive design; user experience
• Evidence of effectiveness

Entries into this category will demonstrate a commitment to supporting a diverse and inclusive workforce in terms of attraction and/or engagement. They may be either communication campaigns or initiatives.

Judges will be looking for:

• Evidence of a clear response to a specific challenge by the organisation
• Understanding of the target audience and a rationale for the channels through which the solution was implemented
• Creativity and/or innovation
• Evidence of effectiveness

This category covers all recruitment marketing events or experiences, virtual or face-to-face. The judges are looking for work that uses creativity and context to capture the essence of your brand, and allows your target audience to enhance their perception of the employer. Entries may be standalone executions or part of an integrated campaign.

Judges will be looking for:

• An understanding of why this route to engage the target audience was chosen
• Insights into how the experience, made an impact on the brand, and how it fits into the broader recruitment marketing strategy
• Creativity
• Evidence of effectiveness

Open to all entry-level campaigns targeting graduate and postgraduate hires. A coordinated marketing campaign utilising different media, designed to solve an organisation’s graduate recruitment objectives.

Judges will be looking for:

• A clear outline of the brief, the challenges for any specific skills within the brief that may have required a special focus, e.g. female engineers
• Effective and relevant creative strategy and executions
• Promotes the employer brand in an effective manner that is appropriate for the audience(s)
• Evidence of effectiveness. Were results linked to initial brief and how well did the campaign perform?

This category rewards the in-house teams and individuals responsible for effecting change in their organisation’s approach to its employer brand. We recognise employer brands evolve and that measurable impact may only become apparent over time. Entries can therefore focus on the launch of a new employer brand or a significant development to an existing one. This category is open to any organisation of any size.

Judges will be looking for: 

• Clarity regarding challenges, objectives and team responsibilities 
• Evidence of clear methodology to reach the objectives, including how the team and individuals have worked with relevant stakeholders internally and where applicable in partnership with their agency and other outsourced suppliers 
• An explanation of how the employee value proposition (EVP) was developed and how it relates to the entry 
• A summary of how the employer brand (EB) has been developed internally and how this was positioned to ensure employees engaged with the project 
• A summary of how the EB has been rolled out and the results it has produced

NOTE: We would like to see these entries produced and submitted but the client themselves.

This category rewards innovative solutions. We’re looking for ideas that are not just out of the ordinary, but change and challenge the way the industry works.. Entries could be digital, physical or both.

Judges will be looking for: 

• An innovation that offers something unexpected or unique in relation to the brief
• A clearly established, well-articulated link between the challenge you faced and the solution you developed 
• The relevance of the idea to your wider brand and principles
• Evidence of effectiveness

This category focuses on the synergy created through combinations of media channels; print, digital, social, audio, outdoor and experiential. A minimum of two different media channels must have been utilised.

Judges will be looking for: 

• A specific recruitment challenge that had been identified and the audience(s) defined 
• An explanation of which channels were selected and why? (All social channels count as one channel) 
• Consistency of messaging and branding 
• Originality and creativity 
• Evidence of effectiveness

This category covers all offline materials (printed brochures, leaflets, inserts, employee handbooks, wellness boxes, give-aways, graduate collateral and merchandise, etc.) specifically produced to recruit, engage and/or retain people.

Entrants must supply an electronic PDF, highlighting any special print features. You should provide visuals of the work.

You must also supply two hard copies of material by deadline day.
(Please send to: RAD Awards, DVV Media International, 1st floor Chancery House, St Nicholas Way, Sutton, Surrey, SM1 1JB, UK.)

Judges will be looking for:

• Evidence of how your entry met the brief 
• Quality of craft and product, including copy, typography, illustration, art direction and photography 
• Relevance of the information to target audience 
• Effective promotion of the employer brand in the format and is consistent with wider branding.
• Considerations relating to sustainability

Open to all standalone visual work including film, video, cinema, television, vlog, streaming, virtual reality and augmented reality. Collections of work should be entered into the Video Campaign category.

NB: Edited versions of a single execution should be entered into this category and not into Video Campaign.

Judges will be looking for:

• A powerful use of video that makes significant impact and reflects the brief
• An understanding of why the format was selected, and who the work is aimed at
• Effectiveness, including clear measurement

This category is open to all audio assets (including digital audio streaming, podcasts, radio, editorial and voice notes) used to attract or engage employees. Single and multi-audio files may be entered.

NB: Where collections of audio files are uploaded, please highlight which should be the focus of judging.

Judges will be looking for:

• A clearly defined brief, outlining what the audio needed to achieve
• An explanation of why audio was selected
• Distribution data (such as dates, platforms and/or channels)
• Overall creativity and quality of scripting and production
• Evidence of effectiveness

Employer Branding has matured from its roots in transactional recruitment advertising into something much more holistic and akin to brand marketing. This category recognises the increasingly important roles that audience research, insight and brand strategy play in shaping and executing a successful employer brand.

Judges will be looking for:

• Innovation/creativity, clear strategic thinking, rigour and effectiveness
• A summary of the process of creating stakeholder engagement, if applicable
• Evidence of how you have used research, data or analysis to inform and shape your employer branding strategy and implementation (new or evolved)
  

Currently, 79% of job seekers use social media in their job search. This category recognises initiatives or campaigns specifically designed to attract, engage or recruit candidates through social media. We’re particularly looking for the rationale behind channel selection, innovative use of the latest platform features, creative that speaks to the right talent persona/s, platform-specific content formats, and evidence of community growth, engagement, and reach.

Judges will be looking for:

• An explanation of the challenge, and how social platforms were selected to meet that challenge
• How and why the content was created to engage with specific talent persona/s
• If appropriate, an explanation of how employees were selected to feature on the channels and if content was amplified by the employees to increase further reach
• How social fits into the broader employer branding strategy
• Key measures of success for the social activity
• An explanation as to how this approach leverages the latest social trends, platform developments, and content types.

Here we are looking for innovative, intelligent applications of technology that address a specific challenge an organisation might face/has faced, and deliver demonstrable impact and results in terms of attraction and/or retention.

Judges will be looking for:

• Evidence that the entry was aligned to the brief
• The reason behind and the relevance of technology solution developed – why you did what you did
• Strong alignment and integration of the technology to deliver an excellent branded experience – how you used technology to improve the candidate or employee experience, and support your employer brand messaging
• Evidence of effectiveness

This category focuses on video, whether short-form or long-form, that engages candidates or employees.

It’s open to all collections of visual work including film, video, cinema, television, vlogs, virtual reality and augmented reality. Entries should comprise two or more executions featuring unique content in one or more video formats.

Judges will be looking for:

• An outline of the recruitment challenge identified and the relevant audiences
• Content that makes significant impact
• A structure that engages viewers
• Reasons why the video format/s were selected
• Consistency in branding/messaging, and if not, an explanation of why not
• Evidence of effectiveness