HMRC Tax Specialist Programme

Hi.... thank you so much for the useful information. I need some practice so definitely try the link. I don’t mind paying for practice test if I need to. I’m also working on my personal statement at the moment. Good luck with your offer.
How was your experience of assessment centre? Would you mind sharing some useful tips? Thank you.

I'll be honest, the Assessment Centre (AC) was stressful, but strangely, I found the exercises themselves to be enjoyable. If it makes sense, I felt pressured during the exercises and stressed in between. I make the distinction because a lot of the stress I felt could be attributed to anxiety and 'decompressing' after the exercises. Pretty much everyone felt stressed - this is a natural reaction and my first advice is that you accept there will be some anxiety - don't second guess yourself over it.

Someone once told me that you can't prepare for an AC. I don't think that's true. You can prepare, but be mindful that you can overprepare, too.

AC for 2020 is a while away and I think that for most of us, getting onto TSP isn't a sure bet...it wasn't for me. At this stage, my advice on preparation would be to focus on improving skills and self confidence. There are wider benefits to doing this, so it's worth investing energy into this, even if you don't get onto the programme. And it needn't be time consuming. You could:

a) identify and understand your strengths and limitations in 1. Critical analysis and problem solving and 2. Soft skill areas (e.g. collaborating, leading, style)

b) make a plan to work on both strengths and limitations. There used to be an internal manual on critical analysis but not sure if that's been removed now. There are books available, though. My maths skills were a little rusty and I'm not ashamed to admit I ended up using BBC Bitesize for help!

c) if you're concerned about stress, focus or self confidence being factors, now could actually a good time to start mitigating those risks. It may sound corny, but mindfulness really helped me. PCS and FDA unions often run courses on self esteem and presentation skills or there are good books out there. There are tricks you can learn and practice which can help nerves. Getting a mentor or coach might help. You just need to explore what works best for you.

It might also be worth mentioning that a friend of mine applied for the civil service fast stream, which opened earlier. He didn't get through that but he says the experience helped him when applying for TSP (which he passed).

I appreciate I've gone on a bit, but in case you have any specific questions, would like further advice or if you'd like some advice shortly before AC, I've messaged you my details.

Hi

Anyone have any tips regarding the hmrc assessment centre.

Please message me

Also if you have an assessment centre in February please message me.

Hi

Anyone have any tips regarding the hmrc assessment centre.

Please message me

Also if you have an assessment centre in February please message me.