Sarah .

I'm an HMRC-lifer, but I've had many different careers within the dept

I started at HMRC straight from school because I didn't know what I wanted to do as a career. I started right as the bottom as a filing assistant and I've worked my way up – I'm now an SO working within HMRC Communications. I've got experience: • working as a front-line adviser – dealing with customers’ letters, phone calls and face-to-face queries • working in debt collection – visiting customers’ homes to collect what they owe • working in one of HMRC’s staff suggestion schemes • writing news stories and features and other internal communications • managing HMRC’s events and conferences. In my current role, I review and draft the correspondence we send to our customers. My job is to make it easy for them to understand what we want them to do, so they can get their tax right and feel confident dealing with us.

I improve customer letters so customers find it easier to deal with us

My team looks at how we communicate with our customers. Our aim is to create clear communications that support our customers, so they get their tax right. Almost everyone deals with HMRC at some point on their lives. Quite often that first contact is a letter and so this represents our customer’s first impression of us. My job is to make our letters easier to understand, so we can improve our customers’ experience with us. If we give them clear information, in a logical order, they’ll understand what we expect from them and what they need to do. People can be nervous about dealing with us, so if we use natural, everyday language and show we’re human, they’re more likely to engage with us.

The variety - I get to deal with lots of different areas within HMRC.

HMRC is a huge diverse department. One day I could be working on a letter to encourage a customer to pay their tax on time and the next I might be working on a letter all about changes to duty rates. It's interesting dealing with the different teams and the stories behind the letters I'm working on. In my role you need to build a good relationship with the teams because often we're approaching the letter from a different perspective. Getting that balance can be challenging. I'm approaching the letter from a communications perspective -– and I always try to put myself in our customers' shoes – but others could be coming from a legal approach. When we get it right between us, it's really satisfying.

Being happy in your job is more important than go-getting

I've had a huge variety of roles in HMRC, and I've enjoyed all of them. I've found it's not always necessary to chase promotion. A sideways move to another area can expand your horizons and build your skills and this is recognised when you're ready to take the next step. I've always tried to maintain job satisfaction above all else. I've done a couple of jobs I've really hated, so I moved on and found something else. I've found if I'm happy in my job, I perform better and this is noticed. Also, don't be afraid to ask for opportunities or for what you want. I've always believed 'if you don't ask, you don't get' – the worst that could happen is someone says no and you're no worse off.