Kerry
Individual Taxpayer Advisory Specialist

As an Individual Taxpayer Advisory Specialist, working for the Wage and Investment
Division, I work in a field assistance location where I assist taxpayers that come in
with a variety of needs. They may come in with tax return preparation, tax law
questions, payments, or may want to setup an installment agreement and we’re
there to provide quality service.

No two days are alike. There are basic components to your day. You know you’re
going to wait on taxpayers. But one day you may do mostly returns, you may take
mostly payments, you may do installment agreements, you may answer a lot of tax
law questions – so no two days are alike working in a field assistance location and
that’s what’s fun about it, because you never know what you’re going to get or who
you’re going to see for that day. 

As a financial center manager for ten years with a large bank, it was rewarding, it was
fun, but the benefits weren’t exactly what I needed them to be. In looking at the
government I realized that they not only had the health, the dental, the vision, the
long term care, but they had the retirement savings and the thrift savings plan that
I could look forward to putting money aside for my retirement and then again in addition to the tuition assistance reimbursement that was definitely a plus wanting to go back to school.

I started off as an initial Assistance Representative with the IRS and then not long after
starting a colleague of mine had inspired  me to go back to school to get my Accounting
degree. My boss understanding that I wanted to grow with the Internal Revenue Service and that I was also in school recommended the Student Career Experience
Program. I applied for the program and was  accepted. That’s how I became an Individual
Taxpayer Advisory Specialist.

The Student Career Experience Program has an agreement with my school which enables
me to work full time and also go to school to further my education.

As an Individual Taxpayer Advisory Specialist you have to be a U.S. citizen, and you can
have three years worth of specialized  experience or you can also qualify with a four year degree.

It feels great to be able to put someone at ease who is nervous, who may have looked at the
IRS in a negative light for whatever reason and to be able to be that smiling face when they
come in and change that perception of the IRS. It’s a wonderful feeling and that’s what I
really love about my job.