Clarification from the agency

IRS Employees with Career or Career Conditional Appointments

WHAT DOES A CONTACT REPRESENTATIVE DO? A Contact Representative, commonly referred to as a Customer Service Representative, carries out a full range of responsibilities in resolving issues and obtaining information relative to the tax administration process. The Customer Service Representative provides a full range of administrative and technical assistance to individuals and businesses. Although contacts are primarily by telephone, the employee is the point of contact when the customer desires authoritative technical and procedural information and assistance whether by phone, written or electronic mail correspondence. The work involves diverse issues that cannot be answered or resolved routinely. In this role, contacts often involve interpreting a wide range of tax processing regulatory requirements and procedures as administered by the organization for which you are assigned within the Internal Revenue Service. 

If you are selected at a lower grade level, you will have the opportunity to learn to perform all these duties, and will receive training to help you grow in this position.

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 "Other Information"
• Click "Print Preview" to review the entire announcement before applying.
• Must be a U.S. Citizen or National
• IRS Employees with Career or Career Conditional Appointments

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Qualifications

You must meet the following requirements by the closing date of this announcement.
GS-05 LEVEL: You must have one year of specialized experience at a level of difficulty and responsibility equivalent to the GS-04 grade level in the Federal service. Specialized experience for this position includes: experience that may have been gained in work with records, documents or financial accounts which involved applying established rules and procedures, or experience gained through work in positions that involved frequent contact with the public researching and responding to non-routine requests for information orally or in writing. The following are examples of specialized experience that may be qualifying and are not all inclusive. Applying laws, rules or regulations and written guidelines; Experience gained in an environment conducting face to face and/or telephone interviews (e.g., collection agency, telemarketing, customer service, sales) resolving problems and issues; Negotiating with others to resolve issues; Performing administrative and technical procedures using a computer to locate and review records and reconcile discrepancies; Experience working with records or financial accounts applying established rules and procedures (e.g., basic accounting, credits and debits, researching and/or adjusting accounts).
OR
You may substitute education for specialized experience as follows: completed at least 4 years of education above the high school level leading to a Bachelor’s degree (120 semester hours, 180 quarter hours or 2880 formal classroom hours) or a Bachelors or higher degree.
OR
You may qualify by a combination of experience and education. Options for qualifying based on a combination will be identified in the online questions

GS-06 LEVEL: You must have 1 year of specialized experience at a level of difficulty and responsibility equivalent to the GS-05 grade level in the Federal service. Specialized experience for this position includes: experience applying the methods, precedents, and guidelines related to individual and/or business accounts to determine the appropriate amount of tax, penalties, interest, or payments. Professionally communicating specialized information with internal and external customers verbally or in writing to clarify and resolve their account or tax issues. Experience working and/or dealing with all individuals including third party representatives, often in sensitive situations, including those where individuals are evasive, irate, and unwilling to accept the Service's or Employers position to resolve tax, penalties, interest or payment issues. Experience using interviewing techniques (e.g., disclosure requirements) to obtain and exchange information regarding reported or under-reported items.

GS-07 LEVEL: You must have 1 year of specialized experience at a level of difficulty and responsibility equivalent to the GS-06 grade level in the Federal service. Specialized experience for this position includes: experience applying standard/procedural methods, precedents, and guidelines related to individual and/or business accounts, collection techniques and enforcement actions to calculate the appropriate amount of tax, penalties, interest, or payments. Professionally communicating specialized information with internal and external customers verbally or in writing to clarify and resolve their account or tax issues. Experience working and/or dealing with all individuals including third party representatives, often in sensitive situations, including those where individuals are evasive, irate, and unwilling to accept the Service's or Employers position as to the determination of their account. Experience using interviewing techniques (e.g., disclosure requirements) to obtain and exchange information regarding reported or under-reported Experience using on-line systems, research materials and processing procedures to respond to account issues.

GS-08 LEVEL: You must have 1 year of specialized experience at a level of difficulty and responsibility equivalent to the GS-07 grade level in the Federal service. Specialized experience for this position includes: experience applying methods, precedents, and guidelines related to individual and/or business accounts, collection techniques and enforcement actions to calculate the appropriate amount of tax, penalties, interest, or payments and advise them of their taxpayer rights and appeals procedures. Professionally communicating specialized information with internal and external customers verbally or in writing to clarify and resolve their account or tax issues and to fully advise the taxpayer of options available for meeting tax obligations. Experience working, researching accounts and dealing with all individuals including third party representatives, often in sensitive situations, including those where individuals are evasive, irate, and unwilling to accept the Service's or Employers position as to the determination of their account. Experience using interviewing techniques (e.g., disclosure requirements) to obtain and exchange information regarding reported or under-reported items. Experience using on-line systems, investigative techniques and procedures to research materials to make determinations of the informational sources.

-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.

In addition to the above requirements, you must meet the following, if applicable:

You must have been at the next lower grade level of the grade you are applying to for 52 weeks (time-in-grade requirement).

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 on the CJEs of the position to be filled per the National Agreement Article 13. Your application will also be rated and ranked among others, based on your responses to the online questions, regarding your experience, education, training, performance appraisals and awards relevant to the duties of this position. IRS employees may obtain most recent awards listing at https://persinfo.web.irs.gov/
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.

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 at the discretion of the Selecting Official in accordance with hiring polices).

If you are a displaced or surplus Treasury employee eligible for the Career Transition Assistance Plan (CTAP), you must receive a score of 80 or better to be rated as well qualified to receive special selection priority.