This job originated on www.usajobs.gov. For the full announcement and to apply, visit www.usajobs.gov/job/568863900. Only resumes submitted according to the instructions on the job announcement listed at www.usajobs.gov will be considered.
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. W&I provides high-quality taxpayer assistance, and enable taxpayers to transact and communicate electronically to file their returns and make payments.
See "Other Information" for Locations.
05/20/2020 to 05/28/2020
$17.23 - $30.72 per hour
GS 05 - 08
80 vacancies in the following location:
Yes—as determined by the agency policy.
Not required
No
Permanent
Full-Time
Competitive
08
No
No
20KSC-WIB0318-0962-5-8
568863900
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.
As a Customer Service Representative, you will:
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
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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.
For GS-06, GS-07 and GS-08 Level:
You must have been at the next lower grade level of the grade you are applying to for 52 weeks (time-in-grade requirement).
80 Positions are located in W&I Service Centers, Philadelphia Accounts Management located at 1000 Liberty Avenue, Pittsburgh, PA (PA0233).
POSITION DESCRIPTIONS: 92405 GS-05, 92406 GS-06, 92407 GS-07, 92408 GS-08
A PM/C SharePoint site is available for IRS Employees at: https://organization.ds.irsnet.gov/sites/HCOETS/PMC/SPDLibrary/SitePages/Home.aspx
CONDITIONS OF EMPLOYMENT:
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.
If you are tentatively eligible and qualified for this position, you may be asked to participate in an on-line Assessment. Participation in the assessment process is dependent on the date and time of application and the number of vacancies being filled in each location at the closing of this announcement. Throughout the hiring process applicants will be evaluated on competencies critical to the Contact Representative position: Customer Service, Conflict Management, Decision Making, Interpersonal Skills, Listening, Managing and Controlling Calls, Problem Solving, Oral and Written Communications, Attention to Detail, Conscientiousness and Reliability, Independence, Persistence, Planning and Organizing, Self-Esteem, Emotional Intelligence, Reading Comprehension, and Arithmetic/Mathematical Reasoning.
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.
You will respond to a series of questions designed to assess your possession of your potential (proficiency and capabilities) relative to the Contact Representative position. This assessment may take up to an one hour to complete. Category rating will be used to rank and select eligible candidates. Your results from the on-line assessment will be used to assign you to one of two quality level categories, (i.e., A/B = Best Qualified , C = Qualified).
You will only be allowed to take the on-line assessments once in an 8 month period. If you choose to retake the assessments after 8 months, your most current score will be used even if it's lower than your previous score.
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.
A complete application includes 1. A resume, 2. Vacancy question responses, and 3. Submission of any required documents. Please note that if you do not provide all required information, as specified in this announcement, you will not be considered for this position (or may not receive the special consideration for which you may be eligible).
All applicants are required to submit a resume either by creating one in USAJOBS or uploading one of their own choosing. (Cover letters are optional). To receive full credit for relevant experience, please list the month/year and number of hours worked for experience listed on your resume. We suggest that you preview the online questions, as you may need to customize your resume to ensure that it supports your responses to these questions. Please view Resume Tips
Career Transition Assistance Plan (CTAP) DOCUMENTATION: If you are a displaced or surplus Treasury employee, click CTAP for eligibility and a detailed list of required documents. IRS CTAP eligibles can apply for jobs within and outside the commuting area.
IRS Reassignment Preference Program (RPP): You must meet the requirements in your RPP notice. Submit a copy of your RPP Notice along with a copy of your most recent annual performance appraisal. Your performance appraisal must have a fully successful or higher overall rating.
PERFORMANCE APPRAISAL/AWARDS: Submit a copy of your most recent completed performance appraisal.
IRS employees: if a revalidated appraisal is used for merit promotion, the supervisor must prepare a narrative for each critical job element that does not have a narrative describing the performance in the appraisal period covered by the rating. Note: If you are a manager or management official, your most recent annual performance appraisal must be used for the overall rating identified.
EDUCATION DOCUMENTATION: If you are qualifying for this position by substituting education or training for experience, submit a copy of your transcripts or equivalent. If the position has specific education requirements and you are currently (or have previously been) in the Federal job series to be filled, there is no need to submit a transcript or equivalent at this time. An official transcript will be required if you are selected.
A college or university degree generally must be from an accredited (or pre-accredited) college or university recognized by the U.S. Department of Education. For a list of schools which meet these criteria, please refer to Department of Education Accreditation page.
If you are qualifying based on foreign education, you must submit proof of creditability of education as evaluated by a credentialing agency. Refer to the OPM instructions.
Education must be accredited by an accrediting institution recognized by the U.S. Department of Education in order for it to be credited towards qualifications. Therefore, provide only the attendance and/or degrees from schools accredited by accrediting institutions recognized by the U.S. Department of Education.
Failure to provide all of the required information as stated in this vacancy announcement may result in an ineligible rating or may affect the overall rating.
The following instructions outline our application process. You must complete this application process and submit any required documents by 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time (ET) on the closing date of this announcement. We are available to assist you during business hours (normally 8:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m. ET, Monday - Friday). If applying online poses a hardship, please contact us by noon ET on the announcement's closing date.
This is a roster announcement established for six months. Applicants need to apply by the closing date of the announcement (11:59 pm ET) to be considered. The roster will be used to fill an anticipated 40 vacancies throughout the next six months. Contingent upon funding and space requirements, one or more vacancies may be filled at the locations listed in this announcement as they become available.
Treasury believes in a working environment that supports inclusion; please view our reasonable accommodation policies and procedures at https://jobs.irs.gov/seasonal/reasonable-accommodation.html We will provide reasonable accommodation to applicants with disabilities on a case-by-case basis. Please contact Kirstin Brown at KCJobs@irs.gov if you require this for any part of the application and hiring process.
If you are experiencing system issues with your application, please contact the CareerConnector Help Desk at careerconnectorhelp@treasury.gov and/or the USAJOBS Help Desk.
You may check the status of your application for this position at any time by logging onto the USAJOBS “My Account” tab and clicking on “Application Status.” For a more detailed update of your application status, you may click on “more information.”
Please notify us if your contact information changes after the closing date of the announcement. Also, note that if you provide an email address that is inaccurate or if your mailbox is full or blocked (e.g., spam-blocker), you may not receive important communication that could affect your consideration for this position.
The Federal hiring process is set up to be fair and transparent. Please read the following guidance.
This job originated on www.usajobs.gov. For the full announcement and to apply, visit www.usajobs.gov/job/568863900. Only resumes submitted according to the instructions on the job announcement listed at www.usajobs.gov will be considered.
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WHY IS THE IRS A GREAT PLACE TO WORK? As an IRS employee, you will feel proud knowing you helped make America stronger while working at one of the world’s biggest financial institution. You will be part of an organization that collects over $2 trillion in revenue and processes over 200 million tax returns annually. We are proud of how we apply the tax law with integrity and fairness to all.
The IRS hires talented and dedicated individuals from many backgrounds, including accounting, business, finance, law enforcement and information technology. You will be challenged and supported on a daily basis. Whether you are just starting out or looking for a new opportunity, consider an IRS career