call center representative

tax examiner

revenue agent

customer service representative

chief revenue officer

The hiring process with an overview: After spending 15 weeks in training it became apparent how the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) 'USA job' website section about the many job 'duties' lacked the necessary specific tasks required of a Customer Service Representative (CSR) for a GS-5, and was not detailed enough for me to discern whether I could succeed. The IRS required background checks, then required the selectee to travel to a certain nearby city for your photo to be taken and eventually placed on a security badge before fingerprinting through a digital scanning process of all fingers. Throughout their 15-week training period it was nothing nearer to the, JSAP, which was conducted at a home/elsewhere location and was a mildly complex computer test spent answering pre-recorded taxpayer questions and selecting the best response. The JSAP was required for selection prior to being hired at this office location. In-class individual training: the other reason their initial job description was not enough information is from their choice to teach easier tax concepts in their teleprompting during on-site and in-class training. But the prompts themselves lacked the necessary information to properly teach us about the mechanics of accurately filling in various tax forms from the 1040-EZ up to and throughout the several tax forms leading to the 1099-R. They also did not teach the grammar, meaning, and sentence conjugating written upon each of the complex several tax forms mentioned above. Group work training: there is a part of training without teleprompts which focused on group work beginning with using a pencil to write-in tax payment amounts for the various tax forms of the 1040-EZ up to and throughout the other tax forms meaning it eventually was leading to the 1099-R which is most complex at this Grade 5. Each scenario during group working was for a hypothetical taxpayer family and individual taxpayer; a simulation of tax form preparation, and also from many various circumstances requiring us to calculate tax payments for Family A, Family B with accuracy. Individual testing write-in: during their individual write-in, open book, and notes allowed testing portion; occurred at the end of each week, and consisted of many page lengths. The write-in questions for testing also consisted of various taxpayer scenarios which they required us to literally fill in each tax form provided from 1040-EZ to 1099-R, and we were required to accurately calculate how much taxes each simulated taxpayer would pay for a high score on each of our tests. Minimal testing questions were from the teleprompt portions. The write-in testing was over the mechanics for various complex tax forms which consisted of both complex tax concepts and tax form understanding for tax form preparation. Because of the tax form preparation testing, those employees who accrued previous paid job experiences filling in tax forms for taxpayers from some other private tax form preparation employer, or those who transferred into the position from elsewhere within the Federal Government IRS tax agency were the ones who could actually receive the highest grades. Grading to me meant favoritism. CSR queries through a search engine: they oddly utilized three separate databases for researching taxpayer questions with one search engine. Complex taxpayer questions are posed live by individual prospective tax payers by phone line and are actually spoken by actual people through a phone line to the headset of each CSR; thus, despite placing many on hold after 'targeting the question' means once portions of the taxpayers inquiry (which was typically a keyword or two) was entered into the IRS querying database meant why or how many similarly and highlighted keyword returns from each of the three separate databases are listed all at once; consequently, the many keyword returns left the IRS CSR in a state of quandary as they begin to scroll downward on the computer screen searching for the best answer about which returned information was the proper answer and best response to reply for each taxpayer. This tedious tasking I observed through the required 'job shadow portion', but the employer I observed was able to learn much, gained much experience, and answered each time, but I could not tell if the answer given was with accuracy. If a CSR is inaccurate in giving the proper information to each taxpayer could cause many electronic 'flags' being sent to management for review as each conversation is recorded and each flag reviewed; resulting in the possibility even greater likelihood of early job termination which often occurs within one year for inaccuracy. Favoritism by co-workers: Managers and trainers show obvious favoritism toward certain co-workers over others. Group A and Group B: they separated us into two groups named Group A highest qualified and Group B. I was in Group B because of my JSAP score. Nearly half of Group B quit before week 14. At the ending of the 15-week course is when I decided to quit and turned my badge in because one manager and one trainer were rude to me, and the other above circumstances I witnessed, even their nuances. Conclusion: everything written above all led me to believing about how despite the ease for qualifying with only a degree from college meant the applicants the IRS is truly seeking to retain for their CSR position and a GS-5 salary were those with much previous tax form preparation employment experiences from elsewhere which were spent answering tax questioning and filling in tax forms with accuracy. The previous tax experience I believe to mean greater success would need to occur throughout two previous years of paid, full-time tax form preparation experience with the 1040-EZ and all those tax forms leading up to a 1099-R. Lacking EOCC processing information: They didn't tell us about the EOCC complaint process, nor the allotted time for complaining. 

At the bottom of the ladder, you are treated like garbage. Expect to be moved to other buildings constantly to do garbage work. There's a reason they are always hiring. Too many people leave due to being treated like garbage or finding that there is no chance that they can get one of the high paid positions that are also not on a measured plan. Under the measured plan, unless you can type or do work fast, you cannot get high enough evaluations in order to qualify for other jobs. You're simply stuck until you leave. Add to this that you could get a higher up position and overnight have this job abolished to save money and you're back to the bottom of the career ladder. Even worse, you could be in this higher position on paper but since there is no work or a manager wants to give you a learning experience, you could be doing clerk work that other employees refuse to do instead of your new job. They will not reimburse you for gas as they make you drive to other buildings when you have no work and force you to do junk work. Even employees that have been there for 30 years are forced to do junk work when there isn't any work. Personally, I feel they are just doing this to make people quit so that they can hire more bottom of ladder employees that aren't paid as much. To top it off, many data transcribers have been GS-4's for years and this past year they hired on employees started at a GS-5 wage. So many GS-4 employees are training GS-5 employees. They remedied this by making GS-4 employees apply for a few GS-5 positions but many didn't qualify despite working in the same job for years and haveing all kinds of experience. Many are only there for the benefits and are reconsidering their career options given that other employees (including the US government such as Hill AFB) treat their employees much better. It amazes me that the local union (NTEU) emphasizes how important it is to join the union but they don't do anything about the poor working conditions and  bad treatment by management. It seems the only thing the NTEU cares about is making sure people who smoke have rights and longer breaks and protect people who are about to be fired for legitimate reasons. 
The place is poorly run. For example, we are doing work in another unit because our unit doesn't have any work. Because of the deadlines, we have been told that we won't be able to take leave and are in mandatory overtime status. Meanwhile, the people who actually work in this area are not in overtime status and we are basically doing their work while they can take off work for vacations and don't have to work any overtime. We are being forced to give up our free time to do the work while the people who actually do work there are not being asked to give up their personal lives and work overtime. Most of the time, there isn't a need to force people to work overtime and it's just that higher ups are obsessing about numbers and even without the overtime, they would meet completion dates. They send you to all these different areas but won't give you training and the employees in these units aren't helpful since they don't like the idea that employees from other areas are being sent to their area without any training while they had to train and now have to deal with untrained employees temporary working in their area. They also have to deal with mistakes that these untrained employees make. You may have a great manager and lead but their higher up boss could be mean and force them to be mean to you. You cannot trust management as you could be sent to an area "for a couple of days" but spend over a month in this area instead of doing the job you were hired to do. Then they wonder why so many quit.
If you're lucky enough to be hired in a higher position, the IRS may be a great career but at the bottom of the ladder, it's a terrible place to work and chances are slim that you will ever get one of these higher paid positions. 

Everything about working there is mostly fair when it comes to being trained its good so is the workload and job expectation. You must be prepared to be hired on a seasonal basis. You can be laid off at anytime and or called back to work at anytime. When you return to work you will have a new manager and supervisor (Team Leader) every time.
Every manager is different, they will not adapt to you, you have to cater to them, they do not all posses the same level of job knowledge (some are very dull or not bright or have bad mood swings). Unfortunately every time you get a new manager you have to prove your worth or they will constantly micromanage you or shadow you. Even if your previous manager knows you were an excellent worker they will not relay that information to one another. The best managers are assigned to the full-time-all-year-around workers. Co-workers are great, they usually move around as a unite, naturally,  as you become more accustomed to being there over the years. 

Department managers aren't bad they are fair but will take advantage if you let them. 
Feed back; prepare for the ups and down that come with the job, some managers cannot empathize with the financial woes that come with constantly being laid off and returning back to work with debt (rent, bill, childcare services, etc). Most of them are old and don't have school, kids that need care, or have simply forgotten how tough it is to be young and come up on your own. 

Rules and procedures are constantly changing. The IRS will hold weekly team meeting to discuss such changes, etc. Like i said, depending on your managers capabilities- will dictate how productive team meetings are and how the overall experience can be. 

Keep a positive attitude and don't let the negative reinforcement put you down. Your teammates likely experience the same thing so its always helpful to vent with your co-workers in a good and productive way. Be nice to everyone and that should eventually come back to you as well, for the most part.

Don't let other peoples resignations discourage you, people there constantly resign , quite, or are let go. Keep going make it if you truly want it.

FYI: My hiring group consisted of about 150 people, by the end of training(3 months of training in a classroom) there was probably 100 employees left. 
By the time we first got laid off and returned (9 months later. Reason: Dept. of The Treasury did not receive the budget needed from congress.) we had about 60 people left.
We got laid off a few more times after that and my original hiring group was down to about 20 people.Keep in mind they still did not offer me a full-time position and did not indicate to any of the people in my hiring class of the possible prospects of it occurring.
After 4 years there, i had to move forward. I must admit I , as well as, my other co-workers of the same hiring class became frustrated and unmotivated by the circumstances and the lack of empathy from management who, by the way, all work full-time.

Also, the managers and team-leader assigned to manage the seasonal workers (like myself) are actually regular REPRESENTATIVES that are given temporary promotions. They basically take this time to haze you with write-ups, i never got positive outlook on how to do anything without a write-up. I believe every temporary manager had incentive to prove to the DM's that they were worthy of a managerial position via proof of discipline.

Seeking a Permanent Full time Position that will allow growth from within. 

•Review all taxpayer's requests 4506, 4056-T, 4442 for completeness
•Perform research in IDRS using the IAT Tool and Command Codes to validate taxpayer information to fulfill taxpayer's request. While preventing disclosure, and Identity theft.
•Prepare correspondence to the taxpayer regarding their requests when they cannot be filled due to a rejection issue or notifying them of their request not being filled completely when not able to acquire the entire requested product.
•Input required information into TDS (Transcript Delivery System) in order to fulfill taxpayer's request with accuracy and efficiency.
•Review correspondences and prepare entity to make sure information is sent to the correct address and the authorized party.
•Close work per IRM/Department standards.
•Submit work for quality review while maintaining a fully successful rating.
•Utilize the IAT tool to request photocopies of taxpayer's returns.
•Evaluate taxpayer's request to determine if photocopies need to be reordered per IRM standards.
•Process taxpayer's photocopy requests to completion by validating all photocopies of tax returns and issuing refunds accordingly utilizing the Phoref database.
•Piloted the 4442 program by initiating requests through CEAS for electronic audit information.
•Print electronic information to fulfill audit requests.
•When electronic audit information is unavailable; I initiate manual requests through IDRS using the IAT tool.
•Complete the audit request by completing the closing procedures which includes the review and validation of the information, preparing the documentation in the order as specified by the IRM, and preparing the entity.
•Train fellow coworkers on the new procedures for the 4442 program. 
•Perform quality review on all 4442 requests that is processed by other coworkers.
•On the Job Instructor for 2011-2013
•Lead Instructor for 2012-2013
•Managed Training coordination for 2013 with CDS and RAIVS
•Have knowledge of TDS,IDRS,RGS,CEAS,PHOREF,IAT,ART,TCIS,MEF,Phone Bank, ESTAB
•Command Codes for RAIVS are ACTON BMFOL BRTVU CFINK ENMOD ESTAB FINDE FINDS IMFOL INOLE IRPTR MESSG MFREQ MFTRA NAMEE NAMEI NAMES RTFTP RTVUE SFDIS SUMRY TRDBV TRPRT TXMOD 


RAIVS PHONE BANK

•Provide customer service to taxpayers or Third Parties or legally authorized parties calling in with questions regarding their correspondences. 
•In the process of communicating with the taxpayer I help to de-escalate the any issues that the taxpayers may have. 
•Perform extensive research regarding questions received from the phone bank using TCIS, Phoref, and IDRS
Accomplishments

07-03-2011 Individual Cash Award 
07-04-2011 Individual Cash Award
07-15-2012 Individual Cash Award
08-26-2012 Performance Award GS/WG
CIT (Certified instructor Trainer) 
29026 RAIVS – IVES UPDATES 1/3/011
10631 RAIVS – IVES REFRESHER 2/3/11
10631 RAIVS – IVES REFRESHER 2/13/11-2/24/11
29026 RAIVS – IVES UPDATES 1/9/12-1/13/012
210631 RAIVS – IVES REFRESHER 1/7/13-1/11/13

As with any government job, the impacts of the shutdown were felt everywhere. Hiring process began in November but didn't actually start until March. There's no interview, just a lot of paperwork and background checks. They just want warm bodies.

My first impression? Nice but poorly equipped trainers. The office equipment is so uncomfortable people had bruises on their rears the first day from 8 hours of sitting. The IT personnel are either understaffed or lazy because a system issue kept us from doing any training for almost 3 weeks. We spent those 3 weeks learning a computer app from a book with no way to apply that knowledge. Come to find out once we were on the floor that we were taught some things incorrectly, but only after we got our quality checks back and had our mistakes put on our files.

Benefits are hard to get for temp workers even though we were promised them. Many part-timers were told they'd get health benefits only to find after the month of training that they don't qualify. High turnover due to disorganization and bad hours within the first month alone. Lost about a quarter of our class.

Two words. Paper. Timesheets.

Work areas are shared and some are very cramped. There's no ergonomic equipment so you must bring your own, but you have to hide it at the end of your shift because the other half of the staff might steal it. Most desks don't have locking drawers so that meant a lot of us were setting up and tearing down our workstations every day. 

Departments don't communicate. I would hear news about major changes from colleagues in other offices before our managers told us. They don't like the word "mandatory" but you are "required" to work 12-15 hours of overtime a week. If you don't? You get written up. Even part-timers were forced into full-time schedules. You can put in a hardship letter every week but the DM has to approve it. Every. Week. Some departments are pushing 80 hours a week. Yes, it's legal. I've been here 2 months and someone's already died of a heart attack in my department. Mostly you just find people crying at their desks.

The managers work 7 days a week. One bragged about living off 4 hours of sleep. Most returning staff talk about wanting to get furloughed as quickly as possible. It's impossible to meet numbers so they offer fun incentives to keep us from revolting. Food days, spirit week, contests, the usual. If you're lucky you'll get assigned a manager who gets how messed up things are.

Facilities are often non-functional or being "cleaned". Bad faucets, melting ice makers, no coffee machines. There's a cafeteria but it gets pricey and their hours are odd. No reprieve for night-shift workers wanting caffeine.

The only perk is the vacation time. You accrue 2-4 hours a pay period depending on your status. Same goes with sick pay. If you can get your time off approved, use it!

I had the privilege of working at the IRS for more than 16 years, and my experience was marked by a blend of challenges and rewards, contributing to my professional growth in unforeseen ways.
1. A typical day at the IRS is dynamic and fast-paced. Mornings usually involve reviewing and prioritizing the day's tasks, which could range from conducting audits, analyzing tax returns, corresponding with taxpayers, to participating in team meetings to discuss ongoing cases. The afternoons often include data analysis, preparing reports, and ensuring compliance with tax laws. Given the nature of the work, adaptability and attention to detail were paramount.
2. Working at the IRS provided me with an in-depth understanding of tax laws and regulations. I honed my analytical skills through data interpretation and learned to navigate complex tax codes efficiently. Additionally, the IRS fosters a culture of continuous learning, with ample opportunities for professional development, including training programs and workshops.
3. Management at the IRS is characterized by a commitment to enforcing tax laws with precision and integrity. Supervisors are knowledgeable and provide guidance to ensure the team's success. Communication channels are well-established, and there is a clear sense of purpose in upholding the agency's mission.
4. The workplace culture at the IRS is professional and collaborative. There's a shared commitment to public service, and employees are encouraged to work together to achieve common goals. The atmosphere is one of accountability, with a focus on accuracy and efficiency in tax administration.
5. The most challenging aspect of working at the IRS is the constant evolution of tax laws and regulations. Staying abreast of changes and ensuring compliance can be demanding. Moreover, dealing with complex cases and addressing discrepancies requires careful attention and can be mentally taxing.
6. The most enjoyable part of working at the IRS is the sense of purpose that comes from contributing to the nation's tax system. Successfully resolving challenging cases and ensuring compliance provides a sense of accomplishment. Additionally, the camaraderie among colleagues, the wealth of learning opportunities, and the satisfaction of helping taxpayers navigate the tax landscape make the job fulfilling.
In summary, working at the IRS offers a unique professional experience with a focus on continuous learning, teamwork, and a commitment to upholding the integrity of the U.S. tax system. While it comes with its challenges, the rewarding nature of the work and the supportive workplace culture make it a fulfilling and impactful career choice.

Job is great. Typical helpdesk environment. IRS is in the middle of a modernization effort so the software and tools are currently changing constantly. My position is work from home with 2 days at the office per pay period (one day a week generally). Other positions still have work from home as an option but is on a case by case basis. Management is very supportive and flexible with the schedule. Leave is extremely easy to request and get approved. So far I haven't had leave requests denied. Coworkers are hit or miss, some are very helpful and knowledgeable while others complain too much. It's generally easy to meet the goals for performance reviews. Learn how to research for solutions to the issues and try not to rely on coworkers so much. You'll learn more this way and advance faster.

My position involves phone, webchat, and working tickets submitted via the self help system. Management tends to be pretty flexible about placing you where you feel more comfortable but it benefits you to learn as much as you can to pad your resume. Think ahead and you should be fine. 

Advancement can be hard; it's easy to get stuck in your current role. If you want to work the same job until you retire then there's no problem doing that. It's hard to get fired once you pass the probationary period. Like a lot of government jobs, the IRS is having a hard time transitioning away from the idea that people will happily work the same position until they retire. So if you want to advance you have to make the effort to get promoted and apply for positions. Edit and re-edit your resume constantly and apply, apply, apply. There are, however, guaranteed yearly pay raises within your position's pay grade. For example, I start off as GS 05 and my position has a range of GS 5-11. So the second year on the job, the pay went up to the next grade level. And it will continue increasing each year until I max out at GS 11 then increase in steps within that grade. See the OPM site for details. The point is the raise is more or less guaranteed as long as your performance is not terrible. 

Benefits are great. Medical, Vision, and Dental. Short term and long term disability, FMLA, PTO, Sick leave. Life insurance policies and retirement are great. Some positions offer overtime with the option to receive at time and a half or credit hours or comp hours. Benefits are exactly what you would expect from a government job that's unionized.

Union experience is a judgement call. I personally have had bad experiences with union members and staff but others have had good experiences. 

Overall, I like the work, the job, and environment but it can get monotonous.

The pay is decent, you can buy yourself health & dental & life insurance. You can set up retirement accounts & FSA HSA whatever you want if you earn enough spare change. 
When you need help none of your managers actually know how to help you (usually they are HR people, period) half the time the Leads also don't really know how to help you, or flat ignore you. The Lead will tell you to go read the manual, when the manual is outdated or contains conflicting info you are told to file a complaint & form with a suggested fix to the "Analyst" ...that goes nowhere. It feels like a method to get you to waste energy pointing out a problem, so you just learn to work-around or ignore problems like everyone else.
If you ask for training they just rehash the same outdated or WRONG training material, using the same outdated WRONG or conflicting manuals. I worked here for years & they had me re-training with years-old new-hire material every year, aka completely dumb & unhelpful.
Very few employees have pride in what they do, peers will flat out tell you they are Fed for the money benefits and retirement. Some managers like to pick on you in Quarterly Reviews to make themselves look more productive so they can put it in their own file how great they are so they can apply for different department with higher pay & leave you behind. 
There is no ethics... Management has you take online briefings about ethics & check the box saying you understand, but half the employees just click through & spend the rest of the alotted time napping or wandering around looking for snacks. Managers see & know this but ...pretend not to notice.
Managers and Leads both are often away from their desks pretending to work. If you are "lucky" enough to telework you get monitored more closely for timelines (unless you are a lead or manager as outlined before). Many requests for assistance are not answered timely at all, they check-in with you hours later asking if you figured it out yourself...again using the *above* same shoddy manuals that give you 3 sets of instructions for the same problem & you gamble which one seems correct. 
If a Quality Review person says you did it wrong give them the Manual links and text & then THEY get the bad score instead. So this often teaches the Quality Review person to blindly check the "yes it's all great" box and use the remaining alotted time to nap on the desk. 
Really made me wonder...if it's this bad at such a low-tier of Fed...how much worse does it get as you progress? & "they" want more funding for IRS. What a joke. 

What I witnessed here is an incredibly unprofessional environment. The first week of training we were told that the IRS only answered 17% of their calls the year before and they almost seemed proud of the fact. There were always a lot of vague threats too. Like if you are running two minutes behind, they’d say they have seen people walked out and terminated for that. Yet not all the instructors were timely regarding logging into the class themselves. 
From the start it seemed a little like an environment of fear-based managing. I also found the lack of communication up the chain of command very bad. I had contact with my manager 5 times with no response whatsoever. I left a VM, sent two emails with questions, and 2 texts with questions and never received any type of response. And these were legitimate questions about when I’d have access to the software that you put your work time into and whether someone was putting those hours in for me or not. After about a month and a half of employment a good deal of us still didn’t have access to the online system with our timecards. One of my pay checks was missing a day too as I requested to use my sick/PTO time I had accrued to attend a funeral. Not only was I short that pay but that paid time was never paid out. They harped on communication, communication, communication from us to them but did not receive the same respect in return.
There were a few really great instructors and some that just liked to talk about themselves and allow disruptions in class. Then after 2 hours of that we would be expected to read the missed class content on our own time that evening unpaid. Then the next day a new instructor would teach the class and say, “I’m so sorry that was requested of you, and you should never be expected to work on class material after the day ends on your own time.” It was like the left hand didn’t know what the right hand was doing. There were quite a few times instructors would be an hour or more late logging into to the online classroom and then harp on the students for timeliness with more vague threats of termination.
The class content material was terrible too. You are basically starting at a computer for 8 hours taking turns reading a really dull and boring PDF. It was mind numbing. There were many times the instructor had to give us an answer on a test because the question and answer in the test was incorrect. That happened a lot.
I could see this wasn’t the right fit for me and ended up resigning shortly there after and was not paid my last pay period. 


Highly proficient in all office procedures, experience with many databases, computer software and I possess excellent MS Office skills. Conducted training on various office procedures, office devices, systems and MS Office. Tracked all annual training to ensure that all employees were effectively trained, while maintaining all required training. Created and implemented manuals for various office equipment. Received phone calls, provided routine and non-routine information, answering questions, directing calls and visitors to the appropriate person/office. Controlled all incoming and outgoing mail. Utilized a postal meter, prepared and typed a variety of correspondence, reports, forms, requisitions, requests for personnel actions and legal documents.  Organized and maintains files, records, manuals, handbooks and other related materials. Implemented/created a new filing system, to ensure that all files were maintained and destroyed according to proper IRS guidelines. Maintained calendars, scheduled appointments and engagements, prepared meeting agendas regarding topics to be discussed and prepared meeting minutes. Arranged all travel and prepared travel vouchers in a government database. Implemented a tracking system to organize and keep track of suspense dates. Audited cases to ensure accuracy for case closure, properly closing them out in the computer database and shipping them to the proper authority. Processed incoming checks and installment agreements, ordered and maintained supplies; maintained a government credit card for purchase of all office supplies.  Ensured accurate data entry, inputting daily reports for tax compliance officers and generating various reports in various databases. Created time analysis for 13 tax compliance officers, to ensure they were completing case audits in a timely manner. Assisted tax compliance officers’ with copying, miscellaneous administrative duties and filing. Implemented a new tracking system, to track annual/mid-year reviews on a weekly/monthly/annual basis.  Completed inventory analysis, accurately and efficiently entered timekeeping, to ensure that all employees were paid in a timely manner. Received new cases and prepared them for auditing by tax compliance officers. Worked overtime to ensure the office continued to run flawlessly, traveled to other offices and always went the extra mile; while working under minimal supervision.

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Call center representative 31 salaries reported	$22.05 per hour
Tax examiner 38 salaries reported	$48,174 per year
Revenue agent 143 salaries reported	$71,829 per year
Customer service representative 24 salaries reported	$50,165 per year
Chief revenue officer 61 salaries reported	$61,210 per year

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