Education, Technical Skills, Personal Qualities and/or Characteristics Needed to Be a Successful Tax Examiner
Prepared By: Trina J Miller

5/22/2011
Education, Technical Skills, Personal Qualities and/or Characteristics Needed to Be a Successful Tax Examiner
Prepared By: Trina J Miller

5/22/2011

LETTER OF TRANSMITTAL
DATE: May 22, 2011
TO: Kari Carr
FROM: Trina J Miller
The findings of my research provided necessary information to be aware of in choosing the career of a Tax Examiner. The main place of employment that I discovered for a Tax Examiner is the IRS, including: state, federal, and other local government agencies. It is best to obtain a Bachelor’s degree for this position; however it is not always needed. Experience in the field and continuing education are necessary to maintain knowledge needed for a Tax Examiner. I may need to revise my educational options in order to achieve the best possibility of obtaining this career.

Table of Contents
Letter of Transmittal………………………………………………………………………………………2
Executive Summary……………………………………………………………………………………….4
Introduction: Requirements for becoming a Tax Examiner……………………………5
Background……………………………………………………………………………………………………6
Discussion of Findings……………………………………………………………………………………7
Conclusions and Recommendations……………………………………………………………..8
References…………………………………………………………………………………………………….9

Executive Summary
The best education to achieve for a Tax Examiner is a Bachelor’s degree and field related experience. For the best experience an internship or possible volunteer work in this field is recommended. Excellent communication skills both verbal and written are needed as this position requires personal contact with the public. Also attention to detail is a must; this position is a proofing job in a sense. The outlook for Tax Examiners is very good as government taxes are always around.

Introduction
Requirements for becoming the best candidate to be a Tax Examiner
This report includes the education, skills, and personal qualities to be a successful Tax Examiner. To be a qualified candidate for a Tax Examiner one must possess the following attributes: * Educational Background: A Bachelor’s degree * Technical Skills: Computer Knowledge * Personal Qualities and Characteristics: Attention to Detail, Communication Skills, and Interpersonal Communication Skills

Background
The United States Department of Labor, Occupational Outlook Handbook website provides valuable information for many careers. The Occupational Outlook Handbook is a nationally recognized source of career information, designed to provide valuable assistance to individuals making decisions about their future work lives. The Handbook is revised every two years. Some of the information provided includes the education you need, skills, qualities, and job outlooks. (www.bls.gov/oco/ocos260.htm)
The My Pursuit website has specific information on specific jobs that you need to be qualified for that job. It also states the top cities for employment within firms and corporations. (www.mypursuit.com/careers-13-2081.00/Tax_Examiner.html) eHow money is a website that explains how to obtain a certain job and what the job entails. (www.ehow.com/about_6712716_job-description-tax-examiner.html)
These websites provided ample information on many different careers. I found each one to be useful by providing the same information, showing the reliability of each one.

Discussion of Findings
The United States Department of Labor, Occupational Outlook Handbook website I was able to find plenty of information that I needed to discover what I need to do to be a Tax Examiner. For my education I would need to obtain a Bachelor’s Degree for a Federal Government position as a Tax examiner. For in state and local government positions, an Associate’s Degree, some college-level business classes, and specialized experience, or a high school diploma and specialized experience would be sufficient for this career. For technical skills just basic knowledge of Excel and Word would suffice for the job expectations. Personal qualities and characteristics would involve: attention to detail, trustworthiness, and communication skills- both verbal and written.
The My Pursuit website contained a little different information, but mostly the same contents as the Occupational Outlook Handbook. For state and local government positions you may need nothing more than a high school diploma and specialized experience. The Federal government will require you to have a Bachelor’s Degree or a combination of college and experience. As you continue to work as a Tax Examiner you would need to have the desire to continually learn in order to keep up with current changes with tax laws. For advanced knowledge it would be best to study and learn tax laws and regulations in depth. Personal qualities and characteristics the difference that was stated here was communication over the phone and willingness to travel if needed.
The last website that I researched was eHow money (Samano, 2010). It stated in the site “Tax Examiners usually deal with the simplest tax returns – those filed by individual tax payers with few deductions or those filed by small businesses.” According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). For education it listed that you need a Bachelor’s Degree for this position. One different personal quality I found was you need to be able to work well under pressure because of the deadlines required to complete certain tasks. If you can handle some stressful situations it would be a plus in this field as time is a factor.

Conclusions and Recommendations
A Bachelor’s Degree would be the best option in gaining an education for a Tax Examiner as I discovered this in all of my research findings. Technical information wasn’t stated in my findings, but I’m sure computer knowledge is needed in almost every job today so it isn’t stated. Personal skills and qualifications include: interpersonal communication, written and verbal communication, attention to detail, and ability to work under deadline pressure.
In the findings of my research I feel that I would need to go further with my education if I still choose this as a career. I was hoping to find something that I would be happy with by obtaining an Associate’s Degree, which is still possible, but much more challenging. I think the best way to really find out if you want to do a certain job would be to shadow a person that is currently in that job. I already have the personality traits and qualifications that are stated with the exception of working on some speaking skills over the phone. The main things that I would need to work on are a Bachelor’s Degree and gaining experience in the field.

References
The United States Department of Labor, Occupational Outlook Handbook website (www.bls.gov/oco/ocos260.htm ) 2010-11 Edition
My Pursuit website (www.mypursuit.com/careers-13-2081.00/Tax_Examiner.html)
Samano, C. (2010, July 8) Job Description For a Tax Examiner. Retrieved from http://www.ehow.com/about_6712716_job-description-tax-examiner.html