Lubna .

I started as an analytical chemist and ended up as a leader in tax!

From studying analytical chemistry at university to now leading a team of technical tax experts at the heart of Govt, my career has been varied. I briefly worked as a secondary teacher after university before getting married and having two young kids by age 27. When my younger was 2, I joined a Pakistan's nuclear institute as a scientist. After working there for a couple years, I moved to the Uk beginning my new life from scratch once again. I worked in secondary schools as a science technician and cover teacher before landing my first graduate job at a FTSE 100 company after 2 years of applying and failing. I was happy to be back at my happy place, a lab full of colours and extracting gold out of sand! Salary was good and benefits weren't bad, so life was going well. When I came across the ad for HMRC's graduate programme, I applied without thinking too much about it. The first year, I ended up failing the assessment centre but was offered a job at higher officer level. I left my dream job for more flexibility, career growth and change. After working there for a year, I passed the assessment centre the next time and moved to Bristol from London to start on the graduate programme. I graduated in 2019 to become a G7 tax specialist while tackling complex tax avoidance. I delivered on a variety of projects including loan charge and always enjoyed working with people from across the country. I have always been interested in people issues so I took the opportunity to become a people manager and now lead a multi-disciplinary team of tax specialists. As you've seen, I made several moves for growth so my advice would be to take the plunge and make yours!

I manage a team of tax technical experts across various disciplines.

After working as a technical lead and a tax specialist, I recently moved into a managerial position. I love working with people and listening and resolving any issues.

I love that we help the people most in need by collecting taxes!

Working at HMRC is not just rewarding but also challenging, especially in the area of my work. Tax avoidance has been a headline in many papers and still makes headlines. We in HMRC work to help everyone pay their taxes on time and tackle the use of complex avoidance. I enjoy leading a team of technical experts who are innovative, solution oriented and hard working.

My only suggestion would be to not give up and not overthink!

When I moved from Pakistan, I was told by many that the only jobs I can get is working in a shop as graduate careers aren't for us. The fact that I didn't take their word made such a difference. Self-belief is the first part of the equation and once you have that, top it up with doing your research and acting on it as actions make the most difference. There is a lot of material available for applications and what it takes to be a civil servant at HMRC. Have some time to read and understand it before applying. Lastly, overthinking is not your friend, so my advice is to do your thinking but DO NOT over think and take actions to make a plunge!

I worked on a project to deliver settlements for customers who wished to settle their avoidance use. This was at the start of Covid when I led a team made of colleagues from all across the country. I delivered 100s of millions in tax by leading the team, motivating them at a time when it was the most difficult challenging time for everyone in the UK.