Taxpayer Advocate Panel

Today I had an interview for the Taxpayer Advocate Panel (TAP). It was interesting. I had to call into a conference call at a certain time and there were three people there, waiting to interview me. They all asked different questions and posed scenarios to me and then I had to respond. We probably visited for about 40 minutes.

This is a volunteer position and they said they had 600 applicants for the 30 available slots. Wow. Who knew working as a volunteer with the IRS would be in such high demand?

So, I'll either get a letter saying "thanks but no thanks" and that will be the last cut I made it through or going on to the next step (FBI Check etc) by the end of the month. They said that we (applicants), if we make it through the final cuts, wouldn't be told final decisions until the end of October. Then, the official appointment is in the annual meeting in December held in Washington D.C.

update on 10/17/08 you can click here to read my blog post of what happens next

So, that's how volunteering for a position with the government works. Very interesting. (I found out about the citizen volunteer position opening on the Taxpayer Advocacy Panel in an e-newsletter I receive. After I read the information and found it interesting, I filled in the on-line application. Several months later I got a phone call setting up a conference call interview. That is the point I was at today and we'll see if I make it past the interview phase.)