Being accepted on the HO Tax Professional Programme demonstrated skills I didn't know I had and was the start of a period of huge development both personal and professional. I embarked on a course of becoming a tax investigator and I found that this was exactly the role for me! I loved trying to change people's behaviour to becoming more compliant and was fascinated by the trades and traders and the interaction of outside business and HMRC. I've since gained two promotions to Grade 7 and miss being so close to the work. The challenges are different in that I now lead teams or on projects and so those skills in understanding behaviour and being able to motivate and influence are still essential. I miss being so close to the actual work and front facing contact with the public. On the rare occasion I pick up a call with a member of the public, I really enjoy delving into the issues and working towards resolution.

I currently lead on two projects both connected to tax avoidance schemes. One of these is extremely technical and involves working with technical consultants and Solicitors to formulate legislative arguments to defeat the use of specific avoidance schemes right through to litigation at tribunal. As project lead I bring lots of stakeholders together as well as have overall responsibility for the delivery of the work, overseeing caseworkers who have varying levels of experience. On this project that means trying to get 900+ customers out of convoluted avoidance schemes and collecting the tax thereon. These are a difficult customer population so the challenges are significant.

I'd never managed a project before in previous roles and my last grade. Being a G7 stretches me to a high level and there have been times when I doubted myself. However I've discovered that whilst not being the most technically gifted person I'm really good at bringing people together, being focussed on a task and delivering it as well as developing strategy and direction. I've worked hard to upskill and develop my teams giving them the skills to do this type of work and in doing so seem to have become a strong advocate for learning and capability. My local learning lead looks to me for a lot of advice and help in developing training which ahs been something that's come as an add on to my job.

I've been a Civil Servant for 34 years, starting as an AO in what was DHSS, processing benefit claims. This was a real baptism of fire, dealing with desperate people and desperate situations and exposed me to parts of the population that were a long way from my life. I learned good people skills from this and a real focus on how important good customer service is-doing what you say you will and still having to deliver even when things are difficult or unpopular. This gave me a good grounding for moving onto National Insurance in a compliance role for business and individuals. HMRC merged in 1999 with NI and that was the start of my accidental career. I'm proud to have worked my way up from the bottom as I believe it made me who I am. Whilst no against direct entrance programmes, gaining experience within different grades and roles creates a rounded person.

I worked on a property taskforce project and loved the work. It was interesting and challenging dealing with customers who'd failed to declare and pay tax on property disposals, trades and rentals. It led me to become experienced in attending tribunal and in mediation and developed skills in negotiation and being able to separate pivotal information and evidence from the rest. I liked having the autonomy to get on with the work and was motivated by my results. Some of my customers thanked me at the end of their investigations even though they'd been caught out, because I'd dealt with them firmly but fairly and was always transparent about how the enquiry was going and the likely outcomes. I've come across all sorts of customer in this role....