Insider profil
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Top Insider Advice
Always remain positive. Take the plunge once in a while and believe in yourself. Learn what you can from others. If there are any opportunities outside of your comfort zone, rise to the challenge and volunteer. You will surprise yourself, who will release the abilities that you didn’t think you had. Remain positive and focused on your goal. Consider the bigger picture, how does my role fit in within the wider goals of the business and how can you make it a great place to work. In a customer led role like mine, you can really make a difference to people’s lives. You see the negative impacts our mistakes can make and how you can work to ensure that they are not repeated, whilst improving the customer journey and the reputation of the business. You will gain positive feedback and people will look up to you.
Career path
Complaints Manager-Officer
HMRC
Started 06/2008 to PresentCompany
What do you like about your job and the company?
I am proud to be a civil servant. I have received excellent training and from the experience I have gained, I have been able to use it to help others. I am encouraged to take an active role in my development, which allows me to take full control of progression opportunities. We have a culture in HMRC that it is an excellent place to work, it certainly is. Plenty of extra voluntary duties are available to aid in my development. I have helped other business areas in ways too. This has included being an independent on an interview panel. I have also trained new team members onto the team. It’s good to see how my work impacts on the business as a whole. One of HMRC's goals is to be the best provider of customer service, I love that my role reflects this and plays a huge part. I am proud to make a difference to the customer journey, working towards HMRC's ultimate goal of providing the best customer service.
Greatest achievements
In a bid to make efficiency savings, I took part in trail of how we can support customers who need extra support in dealing with their tax affairs. The trial was all about the customer and how we can improve the customer journey while at the same time reducing costs. A whole new way of working was devised. Instead of customer appointments in an enquiry centre, mobile advisers would assist customers who needed extra support to get their tax affairs in order. This would mean meeting customers in the community and even at their home address. Some were digitally excluded, and I would make use of technology, taking an iPad for example to help them file a tax return. I would liaise with other teams where required to ensure all the customers enquires were dealt with in full.
Jim
Portfolio Lead
Top Insider Advice
Find a mentor you are comfortable with. Be prepared to take honest constructive feedback. Create a support network...it's easier than you think.
Gordon
Risk Analyst
Top Insider Advice
There are a huge number of roles within HMRC and the wider Civil Service. There will be some that really suit your skills. Where there is a gap, the training and development opportunities available will give you every chance to fill that gap and find that role where you can excel. You will find management want you to improve and will encourage your development, whether within your current role or to achieve the abilities to change to somewhere else you can be better. Self-belief used properly can be your strongest skill.
Sam C
Top Insider Advice
A job can sound great from the headline, but read the description properly and think carefully if this is a good first job on a ladder of progression or could it be the next one on your way onwards and upwards? Ask yourself what are your strengths? What am I good at? What needs working on? Where do I want to go and how am I going to get there? If you aren't actually too sure where the path may lead, don't overly worry yourself, picking up skills and knowledge in any job is always a good thing. The trick is to know what you have and what you need next. You may have good experience in one area of work, but you need some experience in another to move forward, so sometime a sideways move can work too! I did a sideways temporary move in to VAT import policy as I wanted to understand how it fitted with my litigation work and how policy was developed. I did this for 7 months and it gave me insight in to how things like ministerial submissions were drafted and how communication with stakeholders was so important in this. I used this experience to further my knowledge and it helped me do a better job application for my current role as it demonstrated I was willing to stretch and develop myself. Keep trying and learn from any feedback you are given- it can be very useful ! Good luck!
