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Thanatosian posted:I'm an underpaid IT guy working at a small financial institution; I'm looking at the IRS technology jobs where there seem to be a lot of openings. How are things, there? I'd be happy to just keep my head down, work my forty a week, get my regular raises, and retire with a pension; I don't need to love my job or anything. And if I come in at the level I think I would, I should be getting about a 15% raise compared to what I'm making now, and the steps are about double what I generally get as far as annual raises go. I can't speak for IT/tech jobs, but I'm in my second year at the IRS, and I've found it to be a great "keep your head down, do good work, and put in your forty" job. (I even enjoy it pretty well, although I'm not passionate about it.) The IRS is a union shop, so the job security is great once you get through the probationary period, and the benefits are good. Pay isn't amazing, but if it'd already be an upgrade from your current gig, you should be okay.
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Jun 29, 2019 06:05
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Yeah, I've overheard coworkers making a lot of tech-support calls lately (our systems seem to be having problems with smart-card logins) and the hold times range between "long" and "ludicrous." I wouldn't be surprised if they're hiring to try and get those times down.
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Jun 30, 2019 03:07
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I don't know much about the technical elements, and my experience is limited to the real cattle-call jobs at the IRS, but in my experience they don't care about people backing out. Federal hiring managers know new hires have a lot of options, so as long as you're professional about it, it'll be okay.
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Aug 2, 2019 23:54
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You do you, but I'd start the onboarding anyway, unless "may have an offer in a month" means "have a promise in writing that an official offer will be arriving in 30 days." If the new offer comes, nobody's going to be hurt by you spending a few weeks doing training/onboarding before leaving (in my experience, people drop out mid-training all the time once they realize the actual job duties are a bad fit for them), and if the new offer doesn't come, you still have a job.
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Sep 29, 2019 03:12
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Discendo Vox posted:Also several of my co-trainees who are internal hires are actively trying to point me at higher-ranked openings in the agency. I'm not sure how I feel about this. IRS, right? This is pretty common. A lot of people will get their feet in the door by getting hired for whatever they can, then get pointed at more advanced internal openings once they actually count as internal candidates. (Admittedly, my experience here is based on starting in a cattle-call job where they strongly encouraged us to apply for more career-type roles, but the IRS is incredibly talent-hungry right now in general.)
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Oct 25, 2019 06:32
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Yeah. IRS applications will have spaces to talk about tax issues; be honest and forthright there about any issues you have, and be ready to provide documentation if needed. (I filled my 2016 taxes late, applied for jobs in late 2017, and had several requests to prove I'd filled; scans of my return with an IRS Received stamp did the job, and I've been here since January 2018.) The IRS is a very lenient employer in many regards, but personal tax misconduct will cost you your job or your shot at one.
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Oct 26, 2019 23:29
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Saxon posted:Thanks for all of your replies! And that makes sense... If they were to do an audit, are they going through all of your bank accounts/financial accounts? Or are they just doing a look at your previous year's tax returns to see that you've filed something that more or less looks accurate? I'm not involved in audits, but if your taxes are current and accurate or close enough to it, I'd be shocked if they went any deeper than that. There miiiiight be income verification if your income and payments look hinky or aren't well-documented? But I don't think it's going to be a full financial audit if there's no evidence of serious malfeasance.
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Oct 28, 2019 05:23
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Honestly, after my last job where I lost a work area because "only PhDs get desks" and my supervisor treated me like a dancing bear for only having a bachelor's, government work not caring as much about education is fine with me.
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Nov 13, 2019 09:30
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Dr. Quarex posted:Ah yes this is a sad tale........ hey by the way where was that just wondering haha It was a biotech startup. Don't work at biotech startups!
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Nov 13, 2019 23:25
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GS5 4 lyfe, or at least for another month or so until I reach my one-year mark and get my grade increase 
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Dec 15, 2019 06:03
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Discendo Vox posted:the irs is insane. insane. nothing is as it should be Dude, just follow the IRM and talk to your lead, don't write survival-horror NPC madness diaries about it
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Dec 16, 2019 06:33
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"Having to learn the procedures and processes for my complicated new job is like fascist indoctrination" -- a grown-rear end adult man, apparently
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Dec 18, 2019 00:04
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The Skeleton King posted:Im still unemployed and am seriously considering government work. My problem is that Im a dental hygienist, meaning i am qualified, educated, and experienced in literally nothing at all outside of dental hygiene. The government offers very very very few DH jobs, my state offers even fewer, and I have been trying to get those for well over a year with no success. I don't care about working in dental hygiene anymore, its not working out for me which sucks but its time to cut losses and get employment. I don't know about other government employers, but the IRS will hire anyone to the entry-level clerical jobs; the pay sucks, but there are no degree or educational requirements, and it's a way to get your foot in the door for better-paying internal placements. I started as a seasonal data entry clerk and am now a perm career-track tax examiner.
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Feb 9, 2020 00:17
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The Skeleton King posted:This is one I’ve been considering. What kind of timeline did you progress on in regards to pay and opportunities to move up? I'm still pretty early in the process, but here are my experiences: I came on board as a seasonal GS-4 Data Transcriber (the position now known as Data Entry Clerk) in January 2018. I'm pretty sure I was hired at GS-4 because I have a B.A.; I don't know what an associate's degree will do there, but it can't hurt. The pay was a bit under $30,000 final take-home with our locality adjustment (it looks like there's a Wikipedia page with the federal pay scale, if you want a reference), but with full benefits even for a seasonal position. Towards the middle and end of the season, the managers in our department started heavily encouraging us to get on USAJobs and apply for higher-grade internal openings, since a lot of the better entry-level positions (tax examiner, IT, etc.) are only open to, or much easier to get for, internal applicants. There were a fair number of career-coaching opportunities in place, too. I imagine this probably varies by service center and department, but in my job, there was an understanding that this was often a "foot in the door" job for internal employment, and the managers were supportive and open to discussing IRS career paths. My personal goal was to get a tax-examiner job. I applied to several internal openings and received offers in a few different departments, and started as a seasonal GS-5 Tax Examining Tech in my current department in January 2019. (Most job openings/changes/promotions/etc. happen in January, since it's the start of the tax season and when seasonal workers who have been furloughed will generally get called back.) I've been in this position a year now. I was converted to permanent employee status in the middle in 2019 (this is not typical; while I was doing well, this was mostly because my department is small and needed to aggressively convert to get headcount) and my GS-6 promotion for time in grade is currently in the pipeline. This position goes up to GS-7, and I'm hoping to stay in it until I've got at least a year in GS-7, and then hopefully be able to consider advancement. In general, my experience is that if you get a position and perform well there, you can probably start job-hopping to better stuff within a year. I will warn you that the process can be slower depending on your education and experience; a friend I know who only came in with a high-school diploma spent more years doing clerical scut work, often as a temp instead of a seasonal (same job/pay/benefits, but actually gets let go at the end of the season and has to be rehired, instead of being furloughed and called back) -- but they were still able to advance steadily and are now on the managerial track. Good luck, and let me know if there's anything that needs clarification.
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Feb 10, 2020 04:13
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Yeah, that is definitely true. Starting low gets you a foot in the door for internal hiring, but you absolutely need at least a year in one grade before qualifying for the next, so advancing up the ranks will also take time (as well as experience in specialized IRS systems). It's a good idea to shoot as high in your initial applications as you think is even slightly possible; I have plenty of coworkers who got hired into my current job externally, although many of them are veterans or otherwise preferred applicants for federal work, and I'm not sure how viable it is to get hired as a Tax Examiner directly without a bachelor's. Still, it won't hurt to apply.
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Feb 10, 2020 06:40
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Yeah, I'm in the same "no feasible way to work from home" boat, and there's no way in hell they're shutting down the IRS in filing season. Hope I don't die!
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Mar 14, 2020 00:45
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Ugh, that poo poo is hosed up, and I'm sorry that happened to you. I have no idea whether it's the exception or the rule, but all the management I've had at the IRS has been basically decent and often very kind. (It's probably why I'm still here, other than "it pays me money which I can use to acquire goods and services.")
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Mar 24, 2020 00:38
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Ignatius M. Meen posted:my coworkers are cool and good and a big part of the reason I will be more than happy to telework while this remains a total shitshow is not adding to the risk factor to the more than fair number of them who are high-risk from age. I might miss chatting with them on break/lunch/after work but not enough to risk getting them sick or continuing to lose about three hours of my day on top of work. Yeah, this is my thought about it. So many of the people in our building are elderly or otherwise high-risk that teleworking is really the only way to keep them safe, even if it's pretty suboptimal. (It's a moot point for me, since my work can't be done outside the building and I'm on weather & safety leave, but I think it's important to recognize that this isn't just about protecting yourself.)
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Mar 30, 2020 02:51
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Discendo Vox posted:Briefly, private sector tax preparers are...not so hot at interpreting the tax code, especially when their clients are asking them if they can get more money. Welcome to the IRS!
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May 2, 2020 02:15
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Yeah, in this job market, I'd grab a federal offer and hang onto it, especially if it's an NTEU bargaining unit (non-management) position. Once you make it through your probationary period as a bargaining-unit employee, it becomes extremely, extremely difficult to get fired.
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May 16, 2020 07:00
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I'm going back to work on Monday and getting a new manager, so this is going to be a fun week. (Also my stats are going to be in the toilet as I have to remind myself how to do my job, and I'm sure all my passwords have poo poo themselves and I'm going to be on the phone with IT, and... welp.)
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May 28, 2020 14:56
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incogneato posted:Are these listed as "Tax Specialist" on usajobs? Seems like it from the description. If someone entered at GS 5, any idea how quickly they might move up? I don't know about this position, but in general: after a year at GS5, you'll qualify for a career-ladder grade increase, and you'll be qualified for GS6 internal openings. Assume a year a grade for IRS ladder jobs.
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Jun 4, 2020 00:54
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Xelkelvos posted:I'm crossing my fingers that I can get a not IRS job before I finish training. Honestly, this season is way messier and more chaotic than any I've dealt with previously, because... well, everything. I've been trying to impress on the new hires in my department that this is all very far out of the norm and next season will be a lot saner in terms of workload and expectations. That said, I don't work in Accounts Management; I'm not sure being on the phones in AM is ever sane.
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Sep 22, 2020 08:56
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oh christ I forgot about that Here's hoping someone in the pipeline knows how to handle it!
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Sep 22, 2020 11:49
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DACK FAYDEN posted:I definitely would appreciate people listing the codes/job titles they searched when they applied for stuff like IRS, I have real training but I'd rather be at a makework job if the choice is available given how chaotic my life is right now. Fair warning: unless you're applying for the lowest-level clerical stuff, the IRS isn't a no-stress makework employer right now, or possibly ever. I enjoy my job, but for tax examiner on up, there's a substantial knowledge base involved. (For clerical and data entry, less so, but there are performance quotas, so definitely not "sleep at your desk" stuff.)
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Sep 24, 2020 01:26
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I have the high option for GEHA dental (extensively hosed-up teeth), and during a recent dental emergency visit (see above), I got to overhear the receptionist exclaiming how good my insurance was. It chopped the bill for extraction/bone graft/implant by half, which I guess is relatively good? Still an awful bill, but less awful.
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Oct 2, 2020 23:18
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TheMadMilkman posted:The IRS has a ton of tax examining technician (seasonal) positions open right now. I won't pretend that it's great work (it's not), but it gets you into the door for federal workforce. I know a lot of people that have made good careers starting from there and branching out. If your goal is just getting a foot in the door, also consider applying for seasonal clerk positions -- it's also not great work, but it might be more accessible, and a season will make you eligible for internal hiring. I got into the IRS as a data-entry clerk, and my managers offered a lot of support for internal applications and advancement; there was an understanding that most people in the job were looking to move up in the IRS, and they were very encouraging.
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Oct 4, 2020 22:34
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W&I tax examining in Austin is probably going to be a pipeline processing job working with submitted returns. I'm not sure which departments use the 4-6 ladder, but that's my best guess. Welcome aboard!
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Dec 16, 2020 02:49
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Yep; at least in this service center, we're close to a 24-hour shop, when you factor in the mailroom opening at like 3 AM.
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Dec 16, 2020 03:08
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REMEMBER SPONGE MONKEYS posted:Not the case as I recall. Just keep plugging away and if you finish, go get another stack of tax returns to key. That was 10 years ago and I’m pretty sure that center is long closed, but still. I was seasonal so that might shift things too. Yeah, this is how it worked when I was a data transcriber at Austin SP in 2018. It was a fairly decent job, but the speed requirements were pretty serious; it's mostly brainless once you get it down (although there's a lot of fiddly stuff to learn about how to code certain fields), but it's basically all down to your typing skill. wolfs posted:oh, are you in Austin? thanks for the insight! I've been processing rocks for TxDOT for 3 years... just paper and pdfs seems a bit nicer. It's okay to accept as many tentative offers as you want to, as far as I know. Everyone I've met at the IRS is pretty understanding about how long the process can take and that people have a lot of job apps in at once; we just had a guy leave after a few months because an internal job offer in his degree field came through, and the general response was "good for him." As for choosing a job out of those: I don't know about the clerk positions, but I'm guessing cash clerk and deposit clerk are going to involve handling money, which is why they're more exclusive/responsible. Those responsibilities will come with extra work restrictions as well -- the mail/cash receipt areas have extra security controls, and if you're working in there, you're not going to be allowed to bring in any bags, just a small Ziploc of personal items. It's probably going to be fairly basic sorting stuff, but I honestly know very little about clerking, so check the job descriptions. If you're looking to avoid taking phone calls, that's going to come down mostly to where you're taking the job; Accounts Management will probably involve phones, but the Submission Processing functions probably won't. I don't know a ton about transferring to other federal offices, I'm afraid, so I'll let others weigh in on that. My advice is to take the position with the highest salary ladder available, even if they want to start you lower on it, because climbing the GS ladder is a reliable way to get raises and also improve your availability for other positions. Obviously, read the job descriptions thoroughly and see how you feel about the actual work, but most of them are going to be similar desk-job-type things.
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Dec 18, 2020 21:54
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Ignatius M. Meen posted:when the actual resolution is buried because the case has gone through a lot of people's hands If it's any comfort, I'm not in AM and I still deal with this on the daily. Gleaning information from cryptic AMS history notes and IDRS transaction history is a wild ride every time, and I'd say helping new hires through it is about 60% of my OJI time. (The other 40% is, of course, telling them which buttons to push on Quick CC and other IAT tools. NO, NOT THAT ONE, THE ONE TO THE RIGHT)
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Jan 19, 2021 08:16
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GD_American posted:I feel like a jackass asking everyone I take a retirement claim from, in the year 2021, "did you ever work for the railroad". I think it would be impossible for me not to always end this question with "all the live-long day?"
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Feb 22, 2021 11:24
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Half of the cafeteria at our processing center has been turned into storage for work-cart overflow. We are, in the most precise terms possible, hosed from orbit.
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Mar 10, 2021 02:20
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I don't know anything about FEMA, but the IRS allows seasonal employees to voluntarily furlough at any time, for any reason, without any repercussions besides not being eligible for unemployment while furloughed. It's not common or anything -- most people I've worked with want as much work as they can get -- but I had a few coworkers furlough last year to dodge COVID, and they're back now. (Not sure why they did that rather than just take weather and safety leave, but I guess they just wanted to tap out of the season, and I can't blame them.)
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Apr 20, 2021 04:52
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No idea about locality pay, sorry. As for full-time telework at the IRS: it really depends on your particular job and department, as some tasks are much more dependent on paper documents than others. I'm in submission processing, which is pretty doc-dependent and has few to no full-time remote opportunities; I'm currently teleworking but have to go in one day a week to catch up with paper documents, while my fiance in another SP department just transitioned from a two-week-remote/one-week-office schedule to being back in the office full-time because of paper backlog. I imagine Accounts Management and other departments that need paper returns less might have more options.
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Apr 20, 2021 06:00
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IIRC he also came in with the attitude of "I'm going to modernize everything and revolutionize the IRS with my fresh thinking!", which... is not a useful attitude when you're coming in as a random tax-toucher. I think he was even angry at IDRS, which is somewhat understandable but is also like declaring war against the sea.
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May 16, 2021 00:39
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Ignatius M. Meen posted:when was the last time I had an adjustment call about PTC again? Wait, does AM not get calls about PTC all the time? I would have assumed you did given how many problems with it we see in SP. I guess the 8962 is just scary enough that taxpayers accept the numbers we spit out?
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May 22, 2021 03:35
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We're working on it It's... gonna be a while
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May 22, 2021 07:45
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Middlin', but like a 10-point improvement from 2019, so... hooray?
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Jul 3, 2021 05:33
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Toshimo posted:Also they should fire the dude who makes 9/11 jokes in meetings about the Muslim guy on his team. I once heard a dude in my office use the word "mongoloid," as part of a conversation about minorities that also circled back to others being confused about why little people didn't like to be called midgets anymore. (How did this even come up?? No loving idea!!) That guy moved off my shift, thank loving God. I didn't say anything at the time because I'd been on the job about two months and didn't want to piss off the veterans, but what the gently caress
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Jul 26, 2021 00:23
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