Helping the next generation discover the winning profession
For the second consecutive year, the APMP ANZ Intentional Career Path Task Force has presented to New Zealand university students through the Summer of Tech bootcamp program, introducing them to career opportunities across tendering, proposal development and bid management.
Samantha MacMillan, Gemma Fowle, Rachel Adams and Paige Duffy led the session, exploring how IT, technology, artificial intelligence and work winning increasingly intersect. The discussion showed students how the skills they are already developing at university could translate into a wide range of roles across the bid and proposal profession.
The session also challenged a common perception that tendering is purely a non-technical career path. While strong communication remains central to the profession, modern bid teams draw on expertise in solution architecture, solution design, technical translation, client strategy, commercial thinking and AI-enabled bidding.
For students preparing to enter the technology sector, these are meaningful career options. They offer the opportunity to work at the point where complex client problems, technical solutions and commercial decisions come together.
One attendee reflected:
“One of the most unique and thought-provoking Summer of Tech bootcamps I’ve attended so far! The session took a completely different direction from the usual software engineering talks. We explored the world of IT tendering, proposal writing and bid management, a side of the industry I honestly knew very little about. Before this bootcamp, if someone had asked me what a Bid Manager did, I probably wouldn’t have had an answer.” - Ash Nandan
That response captured exactly why the session mattered.
The fact that a capable and engaged university student had never encountered bid management does not reflect a lack of interest. It reflects a lack of visibility.
Too many people still enter the profession by accident. They begin their careers in marketing, sales, project delivery, engineering, technology or another related field, then discover bids and proposals later. Once they do, many find a profession that is strategic, creative, commercially important and full of opportunity.
APMP ANZ believes people should not have to stumble across the winning profession to know it exists.
Creating a more intentional career path
The Intentional Career Path Task Force was established to increase awareness of bids and proposals as a deliberate and meaningful career choice.
Its work focuses on connecting with educational institutions, industry partners, students, graduates and early-career professionals. By explaining what the profession involves, highlighting the range of roles available and sharing the experiences of people already working in the field, the Task Force is helping make career pathways more visible.
This is particularly important as technology reshapes how organisations pursue and win work. Artificial intelligence is changing how teams research opportunities, develop content, analyse information and manage submissions. However, it is also increasing the value of human skills such as judgement, critical thinking, collaboration, commercial awareness and the ability to communicate complex ideas clearly.
Graduates with technical knowledge and strong problem-solving skills have a great deal to offer the profession. The challenge is making sure they know the opportunity is there.
Presenting through Summer of Tech for a second year is an important part of that effort. It provides a chance to reach students before they have settled on a single career direction and to show them that the winning profession can offer a challenging, varied and rewarding future.
APMP ANZ thanks Summer of Tech for continuing to create space for these conversations, and the students who joined the session with curiosity, openness and thoughtful questions.
