Types of careers at Inland Revenue
Career options and case studies
There is a wide range of career options in Inland Revenue. With training and development to grow your skills and knowledge, and opportunities for experience through projects secondments, you are sure to find interest and challenge. For those already working in the public sector, there is also the possibility of inter-department secondments. These are just some of the job opportunities here at Inland Revenue
| Huni, Investigator, Manukau |
Huni has combined work, study and motherhood in a career with Inland Revenue that began in 1999.
"I started tertiary study after I had my child, but soon realised I was broke!" says Huni. "So I looked for a job where I could work and study, and became a Child Support officer at Inland Revenue's Manukau office, working on matters concerning people's child support payments." |
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She advanced to acting team leader roles, then in July 2002 applied for a role as an Investigator, work she describes as interesting and challenging.
As an Investigator, Huni divides her time between office-based activities like reconciling tax records and doing phone research, and going out to meet with taxpayers and their tax agents, inspecting records and properties.
She has kept working towards her Diploma in Business and now has just a few papers left to complete.
"Working at Inland Revenue has been a lot better than I expected. The training opportunities provided, and being able to work and study has been a definite bonus," says Huni.
"I'm also involved with the social club. This year I organised our Christmas function - the 100 tickets sold out in two days. Even at work we have time to organise a social life!"
"I only expected to stay a couple of years at Inland Revenue, but have been here five already! There have been so many opportunities along the way, there's always some forward momentum here."
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| James, Team Leader Child Support, New Plymouth |
James joined Inland Revenue in 2001 on a four-month contract as a customer services representative at our Wellington call centre, after the record store he managed was sold.
This led to another short-term contract, this time in our Services Group, doing reception duties and handling correspondence from businesses. A year later, his experience and ability saw James employed as a Child Support Officer, working on matters concerning people's child support payments. |
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Family links and lower house prices in Taranaki led him to accept an opportunity to transfer to New Plymouth in 2003. He has since become a team leader, managing more than a dozen staff.
"There's been such a variety of work, from giving presentations to community groups, visiting prisons to help sort out inmates' child support exemptions, and assisting at the government Heartland service centre in Hawera," says James. His development as a team leader is being supported by team leader training programmes and, as a health and safety committee member, he's attending a two-day course on this topic soon.
He envisages staying with Inland Revenue for some time.
"The beauty of it is there's no end of possibilities: I'm looking at doing some IT papers next year, with a view to a business analyst role, but there are also good opportunities on various projects throughout the department; and I'd be interested in a design advisor role back in Wellington, at some stage."
James believes there are few companies that can compete with Inland Revenue for the range of opportunities available. |
| Lisa, Child Support Officer, Hamilton |
Lisa joined Inland Revenue in June 2001 as a customer service representative in our Hamilton call centre, helping people with their enquiries about personal tax, family assistance and student loans.
A year later she became a Child Support Officer, initially doing administrative reviews, but these days she handles debt matters and is a case officer for overseas customers. |
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Lisa enjoys her job and loves dealing with customers. Due to the sensitive nature of her work, she often has to deal with difficult customers. But she says that, for her, they are actually a high point of the job.
"There's no greater satisfaction than being able to help a frustrated, non-paying parent back on track and turn them into a paying parent - it's good for me, Inland Revenue and the children."
Lisa especially loves that no two days are the same with her job. Every day there are new customers with different concerns to deal with.
"The work can be challenging at times, but a combination of supportive managers, great colleagues and an excellent working environment has encouraged me to stay here for the foreseeable future."
She thinks Inland Revenue is a great place to work.
"I would recommend Inland Revenue to anyone who is friendly, outgoing and wants to give everything a go. Inland Revenue provides so many opportunities for those who want to achieve and are self-motivated." |
| Manuel, Acting Team Leader, Investigations, Manukau |
An employer supportive of self-development and studies was the drawcard for Manuel, an Auckland accountant who joined Inland Revenue as an investigator in 2000.
"I had heard that Inland Revenue had a really good study policy that helps people obtain qualifications while they work - this turned out to be true," says Manuel, who has obtained ICANZ and NZIM qualifications during his employment here. |
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His work as an investigator has seen him work on major auditing and capability-related projects, and participate in some high-profile prosecutions. Along the way he has developed his skills in accounting, auditing, court work and managing staff.
Currently he is on secondment to Inland Revenue's Industry Partnerships initiative, which works with industries that have a high incidence of cash transactions, to help reduce non-compliance and make it easier for members to meet their tax obligations.
As well as the study policies and interesting work, Manuel notes that flexitime, superannuation and discounted medical insurance help make Inland Revenue a good place to work for.
"I'm also hoping to further my career here and become a senior investigator in due course." |
| Regan, Project Manager, IT Projects, E-Enablement |
If you've used any of the online forms, returns or calculators on this site, then you've already encountered some of Regan's work.
Nowadays a project manager on our E-enablement team, Regan started with Inland Revenue in February 2002 as a customer service representative at our Wellington call centre while completing his Honours degree, working evenings during term time and full-time between terms.
His previous experience as a web designer soon attracted notice, and he was seconded to a number of call centre projects, developing intranet-based learning resources for call centre staff. |
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In 2003 he applied for a secondment to E-enablement as projects advisor, developing online training and resources for our various community liaison officers: Business tax information officers, Kaitakawaenga Maori, and Agent account managers. He also helped develop E-enablement's marketing strategy.
Regan was appointed project manager in April 2004, and is now in charge of the redesign and implementation of our website's forms, returns and calculators.
"It's really good, interesting work, comparing favourably with other government departments both nationally and internationally - our work is pretty cutting edge," says Regan.
"I like the challenges and variety, and the strong communications element that accompanies the web design focus. There's always something new: people to meet, problems to solve and the scope to come up with creative solutions for web-based tools that meet people's needs." |
| Joanne and Rueben, Customer Services Representatives |
Joanne began her career as a Customer Service Representative (CSR) at the Hamilton call centre in 2001, and is now a team leader coaching and working with other CSRs.
"We are like a big family where we care not only about our work but also about each other," she says.
New CSRs are not required to know anything about tax, as Inland Revenue provides six weeks' full-time training, plus plenty of ongoing development and mentoring by team leaders.
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CSRs are able to specialise in different tax "queues" such as business tax, personal tax, student loans and GST.
"It is a very fast paced changing environment and with that comes challenges but also lots of opportunities. I have been fortunate to capitalise on the opportunities and further my development within Inland Revenue," Joanne says.
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Rueben, a Wellington CSR with Inland Revenue since late 2001, agrees that Inland Revenue's commitment to ongoing training and development has helped him thrive.
"The call centre environment nurtures the induction and ongoing development of CSRs - not just in terms of technical knowledge but also in a wider, more holistic sense."
Rueben says tools such as the "Knowledge Base" (a comprehensive online information database) and a helpdesk for CSRs staffed by technical experts mean there's always support on hand for more complex queries.
"Thanks to the support we receive, and the streamlining of tax processes, we are usually able to resolve our callers' issues right there and then, which is very empowering."
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Did you know?
Inland Revenue's call centres are one of its most significant communication channels, receiving around four million calls from customers every year, on topics including business tax, personal tax, student loans and child support. |
Date published: 05 Oct 2004
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