96. How to Get 1 Year of Tax Prep Experience
Show Notes | March 22, 2021 | Episode 96 This episode is sponsored by our military spouse employment partner Stay at Home Profit. Getting told you have too much education and not enough experience is a hard place to be. That’s where Navy veteran Rachel McNary found herself when she used her GI benefits to go back to school to get a master’s degree in accounting after she took time out of the workforce to raise her children. With so many years out of the workforce and an advanced degree Rachel hit a wall. She kept being told she was over educated, and she had no experience. Rachel was determined to put her education to good use and began volunteering with VITA – the IRS’ Volunteer Income Tax Assistance program that offers free tax help to those in need. After four years of volunteering, Rachel took the exam to become an Enrolled Agent, the highest credential the IRS can bestow, and got #hired as a Credentialed Tax Expert with Intuit, the maker of TurboTax, QuickBooks and Mint. Rachel loves helping people, so taking those calls - especially from stressed military members - to help with taxes has been very fulfilling. Getting one year of tax prep experience is more important than ever because this year, Intuit recruiters are considering candidates with one season of tax prep experience instead of the typical three seasons for the Non Credentialed Tax Associate role. Originally Intuit was looking for three tax seasons of paid tax prep experience. Now, just one year – or 30 tax returns of experience – will qualify you to apply. One of the main things recruiters will focus on is how many tax returns you have completed. Even if your experience is volunteer or for family and friends, talk about what you have done. Let them know what software you used. Intuit will provide training. They just need to know you have tax prep experience. Don’t be afraid to advocate for yourself. For those who need to acquire one year of tax prep experience to qualify for a job at Intuit, you can volunteer with VITA to gain experience. Why not help people while gaining experience? Then, next year you will be ready for a job with Inuit. Rachel started as a Basic Preparer at VITA. The next year she stepped up to Advanced Preparer, gaining the training she needed while studying to take the Enrolled Agent exam. There are many resources out there that can help you prepare including PassKey and Fast Forward Academy. VITA is currently offering remote work, so you don’t have to go into an office and you can still volunteer if you are OCONUS. Intuit is also hiring QuickBooks Live Bookkeepers who help customers balance their books virtually. Candidates also need a year of bookkeeping and accounting experience and must have the QuickBooks Online ProAdvisor certification, which you can get online for free through Intuit. Email podcast@virtforce.us for a guide on how to complete the ProAdvisor cert. Tune in to hear more about how you can get the tax prep experience you need to land a remote role with Intuit. If you are a new listener to VirtForce podcast, we would love to hear from you. Please email podcast@virtforce.us and let us know how we can help you today. Links and Resources Enrolled Agent Facebook Live discussion VITA VirtForce Job Board Kimber Hill LinkedIn Intuit LinkedIn In this episode, we mentioned the following resources: Resume Boot CampFreemium Course (Episodes 47-60): https://bit.ly/RBCEp47Premium: http://bit.ly/vf-bc Remote Virtual Assistant Certificate Program Fast Forward Academy Join the Conversation Our favorite part of recording a live podcast each week is participating in the great conversations that happen on our live chat, on social media, and in our comments section. VirtForce on Facebook VirtForce on LinkedIn VirtForce on Instagram Check Out Recent Podcast Episodes: VirtForce Podcast on Apple Podcasts