Quyen
Special Agent, Criminal Investigation

My job title is a Special Agent. I first learned about the job through a 
classmate when I was completing my master's degree. I applied for an internship, 
and I was fortunate enough to get hired. I was an intern for approximately six 
months, where I was able to shadow other Special Agents  and learn about the 
job to see if it was a good fit for me. Once I completed my degree, as well 
as my internship, I transitioned over to a full-time -- or a full-fledged -- 
Special Agent. And I've been with the IRS ever since. The Special Agent 
position requires law enforcement skills, as well as accounting skills, 
which differentiates it from the other jobs in the IRS. I would say a good 
candidate for this job should be somebody  who likes excitement, who has good 
analytical skills, and who is a good communicator, because there is definitely a 
lot of communication required for this job. Also, we utilize forensic 
accounting for our investigations, because what we do is, we follow the money. 
The training program, to me, at least, was very fun. It was challenging, 
it was interesting, and it was a once-in-a-lifetime experience. I don't 
think I would ever, you know, get that type of experience anywhere else. 
Sometimes, there are days where I work a lot of long hours, but at the 
end of the day, there is definitely a reward. For example, there are days 
where we do search warrants or arrest warrants, and we start really early 
with doing a briefing with everybody, and after the execution of the search 
warrant or the arrest warrant, you see the result of your work -- for example, 
you've gathered the evidence that you need for your investigation, or 
you've arrested somebody and brought them in to jail. So, to me, seeing 
the result after all the long hours that I've put in is the reward that 
I see. There's definitely a feeling of stability. It's not as volatile 
as the private sector. I've worked in private sector previously, and the 
economy definitely has its up and downs. So working with the IRS, I feel 
that it's always constant. I'll always have a job. And it's, for me, a 
job that I love.