Pros
-Avoid the infamous busy seasons of tax accounting -In my case, no micro-managing manager breathing down my back -Interesting work -Can easily switch between different fields if you want to pursue something new -Flexible paid time off -There are a lot of people who come to the IRS and stay for 15 or 20+ years so there is loyalty to the organization
Cons
-Inefficient processes -Need to document everything with paperwork -A manager can make or break a position because they are the ones who need to approve a lot of your choices and actions -Not as lucrative as a Big Four, but I don't see this as a con because I'd rather have a better work-life balance working on behalf of the U.S. government than working my butt off to make someone else rich - I always thought that an 8-hour shift was supposed to include an hour break for lunch, but somehow this doesn't apply to government jobs. So if you want to take a 30-minute break for lunch, you'd have a work day of 8.5 hours. If you take an hour lunch, then you'd have a work day of 9 hours. This model needs to change because the 40-hour workweek is arbitrary, since it stems from the Industrial Revolution, and is obsolete, but that's another topic.