Budget and policy analyst skills for your resume and career

Policy issues are key issues that influence the economic, social, and political life of a place where conflicts arise over the direction of government policy. Often the policy issues are general, dealing with broad approaches to problems, such as whether the federal government should increase spending on national defense or whether social security should be privatized in some fashion.

Budget analysis entails explaining and examining the components of revenue and expenditure in a budget plan. The primary aim of the budget analysis is to predict and control future expenditures, needs, thus providing the information needed to prepare a budget for the subsequent fiscal cycle. The structure of the budget can vary based on the goals that the organization aims to accomplish.

Budget preparation is a calculative process between the finance department and the spending department. It indicates the start of the budget process and supervises departments and agencies for developing revised assessments (for the past year) and budget estimates (for the coming year). Budget preparation makes the organization responsible for its expenses, lessens costs, and provides for a worst-case scenario. It works as an assessment tool that can visually explain if you have sufficient funds to operate or to grow.

R is a free software environment and a language used by programmers for statistical computing. The R programming language is famously used for data analysis by data scientists.

State Agencies, also called government agencies, are organizations associated with the government that oversee various aspects of society. These handles often handle administrative paperwork to ensure all laws, rules, and regulations are followed. State agencies include the Tennessee Valley Authority, Washington State Department of Labor, and Texas Health and Human Services Commission.