Clarification from the agency

U.S. Citizens or Nationals

WHAT IS THE WAGE AND INVESTMENT DIVISION? The Wage & Investment Division (W&I) serves about 122 million taxpayers who file upwards of 94 million returns each year. Key W&I objectives are to provide high-quality taxpayer assistance, and to enable taxpayers to transact and communicate electronically to file their returns, make payments and receive assistance. W&I partners with private organizations to provide assistance to such disadvantaged groups as elderly and low-income taxpayers.

WHAT DOES A CLERK DO? Clerks work in various functional areas within the IRS, therefore your specific duties may vary according to assignments. As a Clerk you will perform various clerical duties such as maintaining records, extracting, sorting, numbering, batching, filing tax returns and related correspondence; receive, open, sort and distribute both incoming and outgoing mail; and screen documents, forms, and letters addressed or routed to various offices.

As a Clerk, you will:

• Perform various clerical duties such as maintaining records, extracting, sorting, numbering, batching, and filing tax returns and related correspondence.
  
• Receive, open, sort and distribute both incoming and outgoing mail.
• Screen documents, forms, and letters addressed or routed to various offices.
  
• Review and process outgoing mail. Maintain appropriate records and/or logs for tracking and reconciliation purposes.
  
• Conduct searches and other follow up action on delayed shipments.
• Examine file materials to identify primary subject matter and assign proper classification.
  
• Locate and withdraw file material or information from records to meet the needs of users.
  
• Periodically review filed material in the light of ongoing programs or special projects.

WHAT DOES A DATA TRANSCRIBER DO? The Data Transcriber performs a vital role in the Service's ability to process thousands of tax returns each year. In this position, you will be responsible for examining incoming returns, perfecting them to ensure compliance with the required format, and finally processing the return using the systems and applications that you will be trained to operate. This process ultimately converts millions of paper documents, including a variety of taxpayer prepared returns and related schedules, federal tax forms, and other taxpayer information, to tape.

As a Data Transcriber you will:

• Review documents for specific requirements necessary for processing. Processes current year and/or prior year individual and/or business returns and related information.
• Bring documents into compliance with the required format or initiate action to obtain or clarify information not otherwise available.
• Identify and properly route correspondence (e.g., letters, powers of attorney, etc.) to appropriate function for processing.
• Interpret taxpayer's intent from available data and complete the document in the required format.
• Identify and review Forms W-2 attached to Forms 1040EZ and 1040PC for conditions meeting Criminal Investigation criteria and code the returns appropriately.
• Prepare documents for scanning by detaching Forms W-2, correspondence, unnecessary schedules, etc. from the returns; removes staples and paper clips; and makes necessary repairs to ensure documents are scannable.
• Perform original entry, character identification, and/or data validation functions.

WHERE CAN I FIND OUT MORE ABOUT OTHER IRS CAREERS? If you want to find out more about IRS careers, visit us on the web at www.jobs.irs.gov

Conditions of employment

• Refer to Additional Information.
• Click "Print Preview" to review the entire announcement before applying.
• Must be a U.S. Citizen or National.

You must have:

In addition to meeting the education/experience requirements, Data Transcriber applicants must possess the ability to type or have skill in operating an alphanumeric data transcribing machine, 25 words per minute typing speed for a GS-4.

Qualifications

You must meet the following requirements by the closing date of this announcement:

Applicants must be at least 18 years of age or older, or at least 16 years of age or older, and meet one of the following: (1) have graduated from high school or have a certificate equivalent to graduating from high school; (2) have completed a formal vocational training program; or (3) have a statement from school authorities agreeing with the decision to pursue employment rather than continuing your education. 

BASIC REQUIREMENTS:

GS-3 LEVEL: Six (6) months of general clerical related experience. The experience could have been progressively responsible clerical, office or other work that indicates ability to acquire the particular competencies needed to perform the duties of this position. This may be paid or non-paid experience.

OR 

Completion of an intensive, specialized course of study of less than 1 year. Courses may have been obtained through a business or technical school, or military training program, and should include up to 40 hours per week of instruction for at least 3 months duration. The course must have been designed specifically as career preparation for the work of the position being filled.

OR 

One (1) year of education above the high school level in any field of study obtained from an accredited junior college, college, university, business, secretarial or technical school. OR A combination of education and experience equivalent to that described above.

GS-4 LEVEL: One (1) year or twelve (12 months) of general experience equivalent to the next lower grade (GS-03) in the Federal government. General experience - Progressively responsible clerical, office, or other work that indicates ability to acquire the particular competencies needed to perform the duties of the position to be filled. This may be paid or non-paid experience.

OR 

Two (2) years of education above the high school level (education may have been obtained in an accredited junior college, college, university, business, secretarial or technical school.

OR 

A combination of education and experience equivalent to that described above.

- The experience may have been gained in the public sector, private sector or Volunteer Service. One year of experience refers to full-time work; part-time work is considered on a prorated basis.
- To ensure full credit for your work experience, please indicate dates of employment by month/year, and indicate number of hours worked per week, on your resume.

How you will be evaluated

You will be evaluated for this job based on how well you meet the qualifications above.

Your application includes your resume, responses to the online questions, and required supporting documents. Please be sure that your resume includes detailed information to support your qualifications for this position; failure to provide sufficient evidence in your resume may result in a “not qualified” determination.

Rating: Your application will be evaluated in the following areas: Reading, Listening, Conscientiousness, Interpersonal Skills, Flexibility, Teamwork and Customer Service. Category rating will be used to rank and select eligible candidates. If qualified, you will be assigned to one of two quality level categories, (i.e., Category A/B = Best Qualified and Category C = Qualified) depending on your responses to the online questions, regarding your experience, education, and training related to this position. Your rating may be lowered if your responses to the online questions are not supported by the education and/or experience described in your application.

Veterans' preference is applied after applicants are assessed. Preference-eligibles will be listed at the top of their assigned category and considered before non-preference-eligibles in that category. Qualified preference-eligibles with a compensable service-connected disability of 10% or more will be listed at the top of the highest category.

Referral: If you are among the top qualified candidates, your application may be referred to a selecting official for consideration.  You may be required to participate in a selection interview (telephonic and/or in person at the discretion of the Selecting Official in accordance with hiring polices). We will not reimburse costs related to the interview such as travel to and from the interview site.

If you are a displaced or surplus Federal employee (eligible for the Career Transition Assistance Plan (CTAP)/Interagency Career Transition Assistance Plan (ICTAP), you must receive a rating of Category A/B to be rated as “well qualified" to receive special selection priority.