Our track record helping clients write and win recruitment tenders

We have been helping clients write and win recruitment and labour hire contracts since 2015. We love the feeling of our recruitment clients emailing us to say that their bid for a government or private sector panel was successful. Over the past eight years we have successfully written 62 recruitment and labour hire tenders.

Government sector recruitment tenders

Within the government sector, we have experience writing submissions to all levels of government including federal, state and local government. Although similar, different levels of government often take a slightly different approach to procurement.

Local government (Councils and Shires) often have a focus on procuring locally and supporting the local community. They want to know that any benefit from awarding you the contract flows through to the local community.

State Governments differ – and are generally focused on processes and reporting methodologies. Whilst when bidding to the federal government, it generally depends on which government department you are tendering to. The Department of Defence often likes a no-fuss approach and is complex in its submission requirements, whilst the Australian Tax Office often has less submission requirements and can more open to non-compliant bids.

Our understanding of the Government sector stems from our experience helping recruiters and professional services firms (lawyers and accountants) submit bids and win government contracts. We understand their procurement processes, how to read between the lines and how to ensure your bid complies with the relevant requirements.

Our track record helping recruiters win tenders

Our Director, Jason Cooney, as well as one of our writers, specialise in recruitment tenders. We have worked with a range of recruiters including:

•  National and international recruiters such as hays and adecco who often bid for a wide scope of government panel categories.
• Boutique recruitment firms including specialist executive search firms and blue collar recruitment firms. For example, we provided assistance to Ampersand and Charterhouse in their bids to be appointed to two key executive search panels.
• Recruitment and labour hire companies that specialise in specific industries such as the mining industry, nursing and aged care. Our experience includes nursing home and nursing labour hire providers bidding for government (and NDIS) tenders across Australia including in regional and remote areas. We have helped a broad range of mining and construction services companies write and win labour hire contracts.
• Specialist, small recruitment firms (sometimes with one or two personnel) who are highly respected in their respective industries. This includes advising Carnivore Recruitment on their bid to be appointed as the exclusive recruiter for a number of agricultural sector organisations.

Our understanding of the recruitment sector and recruitment tenders:

When we assist our clients with a proposal, we bring our understanding of what you need to do to win a contract as well as what strategies work on what are not as effective. This includes:

• The key drivers of the sector – reading between the lines as to why a company has released a tender. We like to ask questions such as:
  • Is it something they do every three years or are they unhappy with a supplier?
  • Are they expanding their scope of service and looking for an additional workforce?
  • Have there been any issues with their current providers that are well known in the industry?
  • Have they opened any new divisions or practice areas which they will need to recruit for?
  • Is the client looking to reduce recruitment costs?
• What organisations are looking for in a recruitment service provider. For example, organisations may be looking for:
  • The size and scope of your talent pool as well as how often you nurture it.
  • The detail and process of your recruitment methodology including recruitment methods and communication processes.
  • Are your safety systems up to date and are they concerned about being audited?
• Innovative recruitment methodologies you need to adopt to differentiate from other recruiters. The reality is that many recruitment and labour hire companies use a similar methodology. You need to put forward something different to win.

Our consultants will ensure you provide an exemplary response to requests for tenders and bids. We will adopt industry best practice bids and tenders techniques associated with recruitment, staffing and labor hire. Our experience also spans professional services recruitment, executive search and government.

Areas we service

We have helped firms across Australia (and New Zealand) including in:

• New South Wales NSW (Sydney, Newcastle, Nowra and Coffs Harbour)
• Australian Capital Territory ACT including in Canberra.
• Victoria VIC – including in Melbourne and Ballarat
• Western Australian WA – including in Perth and the Pilbara
• Northern Territory NT – including in Darwin.
• South Australia SA – including Adelaide.

We mostly work remote, although if you are Sydney or Melbourne based, and would like a bid writing resource in your offices, we are able to attend your offices in person. Whilst we work remotely, we’re very much part of your team and are always available (after hours is also fine, especially when a critical tender is approaching it’s due date).

Short guide to win your next recruitment or labour hire tender

Through our past experience we have identified a number of strategies and methodologies that we adopt to help our clients win new recruitment contracts. Some of these include:

• Provide detailed information on your key personnel. Make sure you present them as specialists in the areas in which you are looking to recruit for. When writing their profiles, if for you example you are applying to be appointed to a panel of recruiters to recruit designers and ICT personnel, ensure that you present your consultants as specialists in ICT and website designers. Their profiles need to be tailored accordingly.
• When you talk about your talent pool – provide evidence of how you have developed and nurtured it. Nearly all recruiters and labour hire companies have a talent pool and love to talk about it. You need to talk about the methodologies you use to keep it current in order to set yourself apart.
• Don’t forget to cover modern slavery, ethics and the community. These matter to some companies who like to appoint firms that share their values. They want to know that you have a plan in place to ensure the benefits of the contract flow through to the local community and disadvantaged groups.
• Develop a tender strategy at the start of the tendering process. Identify your key win themes and ensure these are threaded throughout your proposal.
• Make sure to tailor your team profiles and general experience to the recruitment panel or contract you are looking to secure. For example, if you are bidding for a labour hire contract to the mining industry, and you claim to provide specialist diesel mechanics for mining and earthmoving equipment, you need to tailor your experience and the profiles of your personnel to suit this claim.
• For professional services bids and tenders, ensure you present your personnel as specialists in their respective fields. Small teams of specialists consultants are highly effective and need to be presented that way. Let’s look at executive search recruitment panels as an example. This is a highly specialised area. If you put forward a team of relatively inexperienced recruiters, even if it is a large team, it will not be convincing for the reader. However, putting forward a small team of highly experienced executive level recruiters is compelling to the reader.

Differentiating your labour hire or recruitment company to win a contract

With many recruitment companies offering similar core services, it is important to differentiate your service offering and gain credibility, respect and favour through your tender response. Our writers will work with you to understand your points of difference and construct your response. We write with flair, commitment and confidence.

Our writers have drafted many successful recruitment tenders across a range of industries from medical, mining, construction, aged care to IT. We understand what drives success and implement that latest best practice bids and proposals methodologies into your bid.

Our experience also extends to international recruitment tenders. We work closely with migration agents and other relevant stakeholders on joint tenders and bids, and have experience drafting recruitment tenders for foreign governments and multinational organisations such as IBM and the Australian Tax Office.

Frequently asked questions our clients ask us when enquiring about our service

I need help with a labour hire tender. Can you help us?

Yes we can. Here at The Tender Team, we have helped clients respond to lots of different labour hire RFPs. Many of these have been from the construction, engineering, nursing and aged care sectors.

Do you write the whole recruitment proposal for us?

Yes. We can help with the entire tender except for the pricing! We will need information from you along the way, particularly around what makes you different and what your experience entails.

I need help to write a tender that I really need to win. It’s for a panel arrangement for a government client. Have you completed any tenders before to the tax office?

Yes we have – as well as a range of other government departments.

Do you help recruitment companies respond to RFT, RFPs and RFQs in Tasmania? Can you help us win?

Yes we service all of Australia and have helped lots of businesses in Tasmania over the years. We can certainly help you win although we can’t guarantee that you will be successful in your tender unfortunately. Although we will certainly do our best!

I need help writing a recruitment methodology statement.

We have written a fair few over the years. In consultation with you, we can certainly assist with writing your recruitment methodology for your next bid.

How much does it cost to write a recruitment tender and what are your fees

This depends on the scope of the tender and how detailed it is. As a general guide, we charge somewhere between $1,500 and $7,700 for recruitment bids. Our fees are either a fixed project rate or an hourly rate. We are transparent in our approach and are able to work with tracked-changes in word or any other online forum.

Can we use ChatGPT or another AI solution to help write our recruitment tenders?

Yes – we have recently helped many of our recruiter clients develop bid libraries and select the most appropriate generative AI software. We conduct a thorough process whereby we:

• Understand your needs and the volume of tenders you produce.
• Analyse the level of repetitive content in your tender responses.
• Create a shortlist of the top three software packages for you to implement.
• Arrange a demo of each of the packages for your review.
• Implement the software package and assist you in your first bid.

We pride ourselves on our independence and are not aligned to any specific AI software provider. Instead, we work with you and advise you on the best structure to adopt.

What is the most recent recruitment bid or tender you have worked on?

The most recent recruitment bid we have worked on was for a labour hire contract in September 2024. Although we update this page semi-regularly. It was a large contract for labour hire over a number of different categories for the mining and resources sector. It was also a national panel which meant a successful result for our client would lead to their expansion as a business nationally.

We are also working on a tender which is due very early 2025. This is a professional services recruitment tender for a multinational insurance company.

Contact us to help you secure you next contract

If you are a small recruitment company looking to tap into the government market, or an established recruiter that needs to defend a key client under attack, our expert recruitment tenders consultants are here to assist and available around the clock on 0410 448 770. We are responsive, flexible and will provide an complimentary initial consultation to understand your needs and fee proposal. Or email our team:  info@thetenderteam.com.au