What does a career at HMRC offer?

HMRC is one of the country’s largest employers, with around 58,000 people working across the UK.

Some of the career opportunities available include helping customers with tax queries, designing cutting edge digital services, tracking down international tax fraudsters and helping to make sure trade flows smoothly in and out of the country.

When you join HMRC you will receive the training and support you need to progress in your career, including shadowing and on-the-job learning, access to mentoring and coaching and secondments across government. You will also receive maternity, adoption or shared parental leave of up to 26 weeks full pay followed by 13 weeks of statutory pay and a further 13 weeks unpaid, and paternity leave of two weeks full pay.¹

HMRC now has one of the biggest and most dynamic IT operations in Europe and aims to be among the most digitally advanced tax authorities in the world.  HMRC has offices in Bristol, Cardiff, Leeds, London, Manchester, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, Telford, Edinburgh, Glasgow and Worthing.

We caught up with Sue Taylor, Development & Recruitment Manager at HMRC, to find out what is on offer in the HMRC apprentice training programme and why HMRC uses AAT qualifications and apprentices and why that is important.

What skills are you looking for in your new recruits?

We are looking for enthusiastic individuals who have a genuine interest in developing a career in Finance and will be dedicated to the 3-year programme.  We want our new apprentices to have great communication skills, be innovative and flexible and ready to work in a challenging and exciting environment.

Recruits need to be able to manage their own workloads and meet delivery deadlines whilst forming good relationships across the organisation.

Our recruits will have opportunities to build on the skills and knowledge they have already gained and use this programme as the start of their future career progression.

Why are you growing your finance team?

Our financial services are vital not only to the everyday running of HMRC but to building the Department’s future as a trusted, modern tax and customs department.

As with all areas of HMRC we need to keep our continuous pipeline of talent going and want to grow our senior leaders of the future.  We already support finance apprentices across our organisation, but the opportunities are currently limited to existing civil servants.  We see this programme as a chance to tap into the external market, bring new people into HMRC and enable them to reach their full potential with us.

Who are the people behind the recruitment process and what is their mission?

HMRC’s Finance Community & Profession Team support the whole Finance Community, which equates to over 2000 people, working right across the Department.  The team have worked with Finance Directors to develop this programme, making sure they understand where there might be potential gaps going forward.  The mission is to bring in enthusiastic individuals, who want to develop their finance career with us, and in turn we will provide them with all the support they need to achieve this.

Why do you use AAT qualifications and apprentices and why is that important to you?

An apprenticeship is a great opportunity for someone to learn on the job.  Individuals can build valuable skills and gain an internationally recognised qualification. 

We are offering the AAT qualification on this programme as it gives people the perfect grounding in finance, teaching them all the fundamentals, which they can build on as they progress their finance career.

How many young people are you hoping to recruit?

We are hoping to recruit up to 15 individuals across 4 locations, London, Newcastle, Nottingham and Worthing.

What does a career at HMRC offer?

HMRC is committed to developing its people, we provide clear pathways so that everyone can develop their skills and knowledge and enjoy a rewarding career with us.

We invest in our people and their development and ensure everyone has access to a comprehensive selection of training and development opportunities to suit their skills and ambitions.

Should our apprentices wish to continue to study to a higher level they will have the option to apply for this opportunity at the end of this apprenticeship programme.

How should potential recruits express an interest in the roles on offer and get in touch with you?

Our apprenticeships are open to everyone age 18 upwards.

The entry requirement is five GCSEs grade 4-9 (or grade C and above under the old system), including Maths and English or equivalent.

The apprenticeship is a 3-year programme where trainees will complete their Level 3 and Level 4 AAT qualifications.

The opportunities will be advertised on the Civil Service Jobs website and HMRC social media websites.

Why have you made the decision to hire even in these difficult times? What lessons did you learn from 2020?

We have continued to recruit onto our existing finance apprenticeship schemes during the last year and didn’t see a reason to delay this programme.  We have all learned to be more flexible, to use technology to help us to continue to deliver our business and most importantly to support each other through these unprecedented times.  We know that our finance teams are ready to welcome our new apprentices and continue that support.

Apply here.

Further reading:

• Why you should ask your employer to put you on a financial apprenticeship
• What Network Rail is looking for in new recruits
• How AAT provided an entrepreneur with the perfect clean start

Marianne Curphey is an award-winning financial writer and columnist, and author of the book How Money Works. She worked as City Editor at The Guardian, deputy editor of Guardian online, and has worked for The Times, Telegraph and BBC.