Tendering: Adult Group Assignments
By Kylie Dixon
About Kylie
I have always been design oriented and originally intended to study Architecture only. I was accepted into Melbourne University (I am from country NSW and wanted to live in the big smoke of Melbourne) however I changed to Deakin University just before the first semester because the course was more specific, later changing it into a Architecture and Construction Double Degree as it was only one extra year for an entire second degree.
How did you get into industry?
During university I secured two roles – first a part-time role at a small company building multi-res, and another in my final year working full-time for a high-end residential builder. Upon graduation I was fortunate enough to secure at grad role at Lendlease and started the weekend after I finished university.
At Lendlease I was a Site Engineer in the ‘User Experience’ department - where I managed small projects for large companies – (I built banks and supermarkets). I wasn’t 100% into being in this department – I wanted to work on the BIG projects – that’s why you join Lendlease in the first place right?
In this role we were involved in managing our own small projects. This was a highly client facing role. The client would provide a very basic brief, I would then procure the architects, design manage stakeholders including the client, building surveyors, and engineers to develop concept, tender and construction drawings. This was followed by quoting/ reviewing subcontractor estimates of the project, writing WHS and finally delivering the project while managing my own contracts.
Our division at this time had mostly pre-existing contracts with some big name brands, so it wasn’t until I was involved in some competitive projects that I learnt the ‘thrill’ (could be described as stress) of tendering.
What is tendering like?
I don’t think I fully understood the concept of tendering at uni – so here’s my overview.
Tenders (for non-PPP’s) are often 4-6 weeks long. They pretty much an ‘adult’ group assignment which require not only pricing, but often smarts on how your company plans to build the project with WHS, time, disruptions, deliveries, traffic management, a programme, to list a few. You want to review the contract so you know the risk profile (fair to you). In more complex tenders they will want to know intimate details about how your team has previously rectified challenges, that your company is correctly certified, has quality systems, environmental policies and proven initiatives, and in some instances, your social contribution. It's essentially a holistic sell of why your company is the most suited to deliver this project for the client.
However, unlike university you cannot get even a minute’s extension on many submissions – oh and did I tell you it might be worth $100’s of millions, or even several billion and it might cost your company $100k+ or more in manpower and resources to compile? And, there's no guaranteed outcome? That's tendering.
What made you change from Project Management Pathway?
Rewind back to my first competitive tender at Lendlease, I enjoyed the process so much googled to see if this was an actual job. Surprisingly it was, and the more I looked at the job description and role – the more it felt like it was made just for me – I had this knowledge of the construction process from estimating to running projects, I had been client facing at Lendlease, and remembered those design skills I learnt in Architecture – BINGO!
I applied for a job and four weeks later I was living in Sydney working as a ‘Bid Coordinator’ with a Tier 2 contractor learning the process of Expressions of Interest, Tenders, and Business Development.
Moving into Consultation
Several years later, I have now started my own business as a bid coordinator and designer. As an external consultant I have built up my skills to specialize and because I am not so involved in the daily activities of each company I work with I can see things in a different perspective that perhaps a company cannot see themselves. I also have a lot more creative freedom. Running a business has been an exciting challenge, in addition to competitive remuneration my main reward is that clients trust me to make meaningful changes to their documentation.
Though I only target construction, my clients now include Tier 1 & 2 Lawyers (focusing on construction), Architects, Subcontractors, Surveyors and Tier 2 Head Contractors that I dreamed of working for as a young grad.
What would you share with other students and grads?
1. Take a risk. Those ‘eat, pray, love’ inspiration quotes feel a little hollow to me because I don’t think that we fully understand what taking a risk truly is. To me - taking a risk often feels like ‘doing something that might make you look stupid’. That’s because you don’t know what the outcome will be. It is fine to take the trodden path, it is also fine to do something different (as long as you research it!). You gradually learn that you live your own life, so try to avoid dwelling on the judgement of others.
2. Trying something sometimes means ‘doing it by yourself’ and not waiting for your peers to join you. While I was in Geelong I started sailing and went on to do a Sydney to Hobart and would not have been afforded the opportunity if I waited for a friend to join me. Sometimes you have to go it alone and make new friends – that often means introducing yourself to stranger with a smile on your face. The same can be said for every opportunity in my career that I have pursued, I did it for me.
3. There’s more than one trajectory; all your experiences will lead you there, just make sure that you are true to yourself.I think a lot of graduates study construction management thinking that project management is the only path to follow. However there are a lot of other areas that can also be fulfilling and surprisingly handsomely financially rewarding (once you have invested into yourself and built up your skills). Being true to myself, I am so much better as a bid coordinator than I was at delivering projects.
4. Set backs and monotony are great teachers. Oh, and really, truly follow your own timing. I started uni a couple years late because I was generally unfocused. I didn’t get on the big projects that I wanted to (but now I have tendered for them). The forms and forms I had to fill out working at Lendlease and council that felt tedious were actually processes that I wouldn’t have had known about unless I spent hours filling them out and taught me about the process. Never underestimate what you are doing now.
I believe in the saying ‘the world is your oyster’ - provided you have the right attitude, and follow the path that was made just for you. There are two sides of the coin, learning to make choices that benefit the future you and the other is not taking yourself too seriously when it doesn’t go to plan. This is because your perceived ‘set backs’ can in fact become your strengths. So in the face of a setback, know that it's just that, a setback!
Kylie Dixon is an experienced bid coordinator specialising in the building and construction industry with experience on private and government (GC21) bids from $500,000-$2B.
Originally an architecture and construction management double, Kylie has several years of submission coordination, design and project management experience in both Melbourne and Sydney.