Successful tender writing requires a strategic approach from the tender writer to achieve success. There are many aspects to consider in applying for tenders and even before you do apply. It is vital before a company or non profit entity charges in and lodges a response to a request for tenderers that they carefully analyse the requirements of the tender plus their ability to prepare a robust response AND most importantly their ability/capacity to deliver if they in fact their response is successful. Preparing a tender can be very costly in staff time, hiring a specialist tender writer like Red Tape Busters or in costs incurred in having the response prepared, printed and collated etc.

Before deciding to prepare a response you should consider when it closes. Do you have the time, resources, skills required to prepare a comprehensive response? You should also obviously consider the Selection Criteria and if you can prepare detailed responses to these and include past examples of your experience or capacity to handle this type of contract previously. This is really important – where possible you need to refer to existing or past contracts which are similar to the scope of this tender in order to provide proof that you can deliver on contracts of the specifications and extent of the tender you are thinking of applying for. So it is essential that you spend preparation time in putting together initial thoughts on how you will respond to the Criteria and what examples you can bring to the “argument”.

You also need to consider your pricing – can you make a profit and win the tender or do you want to take a “loss” on price to essentially to get a foot in the door and win the contract with a view to proving your value and experience to set you up for other opportunities? Remember if your pricing structure is not highly competitive, you simply won’t be much chance of winning the tender.

The key issues to be considered in determining if you should apply for a tender is your ability to deliver and does it fit within your organisations strategic goals and drivers. This requires you to critically analyse the business to identify if you have the staff, resources and capacity to deliver an outstanding result if you were awarded the tender. The reputation of your organisation will be badly damaged if you win a tender and can’t complete same or fail to deliver. Further this could open you up to litigation as well – obviously to be avoided at all costs. As identified it is vital that pursuing a tender opportunity or indeed opportunities is considered in light of your overall Business Plan and strategic imperatives. Does it fit with your overall business objectives and support the outcomes you have identified for your long term growth?

Only once you have undertaken these pre-tender considerations can you make an appropriate decision to pursue tender opportunities.

Should you need assistance with tenders or grants contact Red Tape Busters via our website – www.redtapebusters.com or telephone 07 38822055.

It us funny sometimes but as highly skilled job application writers sometimes we stumble on clients who simply have no idea when it comes to job application writing, preparing quality Resumes or even in preparing for interviews.

Many clients believe that their Resume should be fancy or pretty, have flowers and bows on it and basically jump out at the reader. Maybe if you were applying for an artistic related job or a job in graphic design then there is good reason to have a very fancy and arty Resume. However when I was working in the public service I was chairperson of hundreds of interview panels and my first impressions of the applicant’s Resume or their covering letter really laid the foundation for whether I would bother to read the whole application. A fancy Resume generally suggested to me that the person was all fluff and bubble and short on substance and that the fancy artwork on the document was a subconscious attempt to cover up their shortcomings in their application. Obviously this not a hard and fast finding based on research but it generally proved relevant in my public sector days at least.

So in preparing Resumes and job applications/cover letters I rarely venture outside a very standard and professional format and font style. I have a preference for Times New Roman 12 point as the font style and this is purely because it looks professional plus I was told many years ago in a training course that font with “little feet” under the letters like Times New Roman are better remembered than other font styles and therefore this is the font I basically use unless a Government job specifically asks for a specific font and type size such as Arial 11 point. Plus in my public sector days Times New Roman 12 point was the standard font and size used in the public service at the time. So I always use to think – you do what the Romans do – if they write in Times New Roman 12 point then if you are corresponding with a Government Department then you correspond with them on their terms. So if an applicant knows that a specific Department has a preference for a font style and type size then that is what you should use in your application unless the job guidelines/requirements specify a different font/size.

Also sometimes in applying a Department might specify that they require applications to be fully justified or left hand justified. Again it is essential that you comply with the application requirements. If no formatting is specified, I normally fully justify my documents. Again this is a personal preference and I just believe the documents look much more professional being fully justified.

Obviously headings should stand out and here is where you can maybe add some creativity with a different font and larger type size and certainly you should use bolding, underlining or Italics in order to draw attention to your headings. So think carefully when preparing documents in applying for jobs. Get the little things right and this will go a long way to winning that job.

If anyone needs a specialist job application writer or needs to hire a business highly experienced in job application writing across virtually all industries then please contact us at Red Tape Busters – www.redtapebusters.com or on 07 38822055.

Applying for a job is a challenging and stressful process. At Red Tape Busters we are specialist in job application writing, tender writing, grant writing and in lobbying Government and Councils on behalf of clients. Previously we discussed how jobs in the public sector come to be open to be filled. Today we will discuss the importance of searching widely for possible job opportunities. Obviously the easiest way to find job vacancies is through the media outlets and in checking your local paper or Wednesday/Saturday editions of your major City/State/National newspapers. While the importance of the media and in particular newspapers is diminishing, many organisations still believe that they must advertise any job vacancies in the newspapers. However more and more organisations either advertise job vacancies exclusively online now or they complement their advertising in newspapers with a web based presence. The main online web sites for job vacancies include:-

• Seek;
• Career One;
• My Career;
• Job Search.

Obviously many organisations, Government agencies and Councils also list job vacancies on their individual websites so if you know a job is being advertised or you are interested in working for a specific organisation then look directly at the relevant website. Another really important way to become aware of potential or existing job vacancies is via networking. While the “old boys club” approach to filling vacancies is becoming a less and less phenomenon it still happens. More specifically though while the job might not be filled through the old boys network the positive word of a friend who is an employee in the right ear within the organisation or company certainly wont hurt your chances of getting an interview or winning the job. Friends, colleagues and others that you have stumbled across in your career are all vital cogs in identifying job opportunities given they might know someone who knows someone who knows of a vacancy that might suit you perfectly. So when you are actively searching for a new job it is essential that you contact those within your network to see if they might be able to point you in the right direction.

Searching for job opportunities however should be a considered all encompassing strategy where you use all avenues at your disposal to find as many possible employment opportunities as possible. That one job that fits you exactly and that you fit it exactly are few and far between so the wider you can leverage your search the better chance you have of finding that dream job. Remember  though be patient, it is important to find the right job – not just any job. We spend more time at work than we do awake and at home with our family so it is vital that you are happy and satisfied in the workplace and finding the right job is therefore crucial. If you take these tips you are well on your way to finding that one job for you.

At Red Tape Busters we pride ourselves on being tender writers, grant writers and job application writers without peer in Australia. 2014 will be an exciting year for us as we look to further broaden our exposure interstate. One of our primary goals is to be known as the number one grant and tender writer in Sydney by the end of next year. We are well on our way!

Job application writing in a public sector context obviously requires the applicant to firstly identify positions which are vacant or recently created. Before a position is advertised to be filled a determination will need to be made as to what process will be enacted to fill the position. Vacant positions can generally be filled as follows:- General recruitment process; Compassionate transfers; Redeployment or restructure – example 4 staff in a department that only has 3 jobs after a restructure, one staff member can be deployed into another position; Equal transfer – where an employee can apply for another position of the same level as their current position; Temporary appointments – where a position is vacant and the Department/Council appoints a person on a temporary basis without going through the advertising process. Temporary appointments normally comply with set time restrictions; and Secondments and relief – this is where someone from another Department or section is seconded into the position or the position is determined as a relief position and not permanently filled. In relation to filling positions through the normal recruitment and selection processes there are a number of initiatives, which must be undertaken prior to the interviewing process taking place. The following activities generally must be implemented prior to a position being advertised:- Ensure a position number is allocated to the designated position and that the position is vacant and can actually be filled; Ensure the position description (PD) is current and reflects the requirements of the relevant section; Determine the relevant selection criteria for the position; Have the Position Description evaluated to determine the appropriate classification level; Make changes to the PD dependent on the classification level arrived at through the evaluation if the classification level does not meet the needs of the organization; Have the PD re-evaluated; Have the PD approved and endorsement obtained by senior officers to advertise; and Determine the appropriate advertising medium – ie Government Gazette, Newspapers – local, interstate etc (dependent on the applicant profile sought). Firstly the Department/Council must determine that a position is vacant and that it is going to be advertised. The Manager/Supervisor of the area where the vacancy exists normally is responsible for ensuring that the Position Description for the vacancy is current. They will make changes to the Description if necessary. The changes may come about because the current status of the position no longer meets the needs of the department or through some other organisational issues. If changes are in fact made to the Position Description it is then formally evaluated to identify its appropriate classification level. If the level arrived at through the evaluation meets the needs of the organisation, the position is then advertised. If the level does not meet their needs, further changes are made to the Position Description and it is again re-evaluated and subsequently advertised. If no changes have been made to the PD – the position can be immediately advertised. This can be achieved through the Government Gazette, the Government/Department Web Site or Media outlets. Once the position is advertised, the potential applicant then needs to carefully analyse the position to determine if they have the skills and experience required. At Red Tape Busters we assist our clients to determine if they should apply for a position. Put simply if they do not have the skills and experience required and we believe they will fail to win an interview for the position we will advise firmly NOT to proceed with an application.

Grant writing is not rocket science – you don’t need a degree to write grants BUT you do need to have great research skills, great wordsmithing skills plus a thorough knowledge of funding programs and where to find funding opportunities. One of the major problems that non profit organisations and businesses face in the current economic climate is that Government agencies, Councils and even Philanthropic Foundations and Trusts are really reviewing their funding budgets and certainly with State and Federal Governments many are now actively seeking to find savings and one area they can find savings is to slash budgets involved with popular and long standing funding programs. For instance in Queensland we have had two very popular funding programs – Gambling Community Benefit Fund and Jupiters that have served non profit organisations very well now for a number of years. However the past Labor Government took significant funds out of the program to divert to other Government spending and now the LNP Government has slashed the maximum amount of funding available through the Jupiters Community Benefit Fund from $150k to $75k. Further, as a result of the State Government slashing ongoing funding to hundreds of non profit organisations early in 2012 the chase for elusive funding in Qld is very challenging. All other State Governments have also either slashed funding to non profit organisations or will also review funding regimes. This means that the competition for funding is enormous and that only the best applications/projects will generally be successful. This is where organisations and their planning processes come to the fore. Successful organisations are those generally with a long standing commitment to a robust strategic planning regime.

Planning for the future is as much vital to non profit organisations as it is to businesses. With the current squeeze on funding opportunities, planning is more important now than ever in the non profit world. Essentially organisations should have in place 5 year strategic plans which look forward 5 years and guide the organisation’s direction over this period. These strategic plans should be developed in our view through a discussion with stakeholders and an assessment of the competition. By including key stakeholders such as clients/members/committee/staff/volunteers/local politicians in the discussions or when holding a planning workshop, organisations can really be comfortable that their forward plans will be robust, inclusive and reflective of the organisations overall goals and objectives. In these planning processes important projects including those requiring external funding should be identified and included in the plan. By forward planning and ensuring that well thought out projects will be progressed this will also by default give the organisation a better chance of securing funding when applications are made. Most organisations rarely plan as such and when a funding program is announced or becomes available it is only then that they try and develop a project concept that might fit with the identified funding opportunity. This is fraught with failure. Well planned projects will always have a better opportunity of winning funding than something thrown together at the last minute. We at Red Tape Busters firmly believe in working with our clients to develop quality projects BEFORE chasing funding.

At Red Tape Busters we are specialist job application writers with a significant success rate of our clients receiving interviews based on their written applications. On average around 85% of our clients are successful in winning interviews. To achieve such a high success rate, we obviously have to have great wordsmithing skills but we also have to give our clients great service and quality advice with respect to what positions to pursue and what positions they should not pursue in our view. From our perspective it is not appropriate for us to prepare an application when we believe our client does not have the skills/experience required and as a result we believe they will have little or no chance of winning an interview for the position. We are very strategic in our approach to all our services – job application, tender and grant writing. As a result our clients reap rewards in having the best possible chance of success before we even put pen to paper so to speak.

We are specialists in job application writing both in the commercial world and in the public sector. As such over the following months we will provide tips on how to find employment opportunities and then how to prepare great applications and then subsequently slay the interview. It is important to firstly understand how positions become vacant. In essence they become vacant via three main streams:-

• Natural attrition;

• Restructures;

• Position upgrades.

Natural attrition can involve the following:-

Retirement, resignation, long-term leave or promotion of Incumbent.

Restructuring occurs where structures within an organization undergo significant changes and thus positions are created within those structures as a result of budgetary impacts, a change in Government direction, feedback from clients and stakeholders or changes in legislation.

There are also occasions where positions are upgraded from one level to another, resulting in a vacancy for applications suitable for the requirements of the higher level. At times – positions are also downgraded. So keep your eyes open and ears to the ground to ensure you are made aware of any possible opportunities.

At Red Tape Busters we have won clients around $70million in grants and tenders. We specialise in tender writer – Melbourne, grant writer – Melbourne, job application writing, council lobbying work. We specialise in assisting small, medium and large businesses and non profit organisations. Our outstanding team of consultants are also spread across Australia and no matter where our client is with the age of technology we can provide a first class service. We have been working with clients in Melbourne and regional Victoria now for over 13 years and our successes speak for themselves. Our goal is to not only be known as the top ranked tender writer in Brisbane but to be the number one tender writer across Australia including Melbourne.