Bill Cotter, Special Agent In Charge with the Criminal Investigations division of the Internal Revenue Service, joined us for this week’s exciting episode of Life In Accounting: The Where Accountants Go podcast.
Opportunity
Bill recounts the story of how he decided to apply with the IRS at the beginning of this episode. In a nutshell, the economy was somewhat tight at the time and a friend suggested that he try the IRS as a possibility. He was accepted into the ‘Exam’ division, but then quickly had the opportunity to move into criminal investigations. It’s been a whirlwind of variety since then. You’ll have to listen to the details, but it includes tours in Washington DC, New York, and Germany.
Master Your Craft
I asked Bill about his thoughts on what led to some of his success in moving up within the Service, and just like in most organizations, he credits it to putting in the effort to learn his job to the best of his ability and then coupling that with the effort needed to get the job done well. He also noted that a high level of attention to detail is important in the criminal investigations division, which makes total sense given the nature of the work.
More opportunities
We also get into a discussion of the other career options for those of us with accounting background within the IRS. Among them are positions as Special Agents, Revenue Agents, and of course many involving technology. A minimum of 15 hours of accounting is required for the majority of these roles, which is typical for an accounting major. If you have an interest in a position with the IRS, Bill also notes that it pays off to try to get onboard before age 37 because the Service has a generous retirement benefit that requires 20 years of overall service before their mandatory retirement age of 57 years old.
This episode really was intriguing to record. I had no idea of the variety that someone could experience while working with the Internal Revenue Service.
Happy listening! Join us again next week as well – there’s more to come…
Mark Goldman CPA
President – Where Accountants Go
www.WhereAccountantsGo.com
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