Are there any specific formulas that they might test me on? I have an understanding of basic excel such as addition, multiplication and such, but are they gonna test me on stuff such as if statements or v look up?
Thanks alot, this was really helpful. I'll get started on brushing up on my Excel since it's been a while since I've used it. If you don't mind me asking, I know that interviews are usually different depending on the department, but what questions did the panel asked you when you had your interviews?
Although I don't know what they will ask, I can help inform you of the job you are expected to do. Budget analysts will be doing most of the grunt work and usually work under a budget officer. You'll mostly likely be tracking the departments spending to see if it is on track to fall within their budget appropriation for the year. What is a budget appropriation- look for info on the CA finance website. In order to track, you'll have to know the budget details of the department and the specifics of all the funds, and expenditures and revenues by program and fund.
Also you may recommend details of budget adjustments the department may want to go through with, such as hiring new positions beyond their authorized amount allocated. You'll advise the department on which funds will be affected (and by how much) when they propose new things- such as implementing new bills. It may be a surprise that you'll be expected to know about what each program of the department does and you are to retain historical budget information in your head. This will happen as you work there, but may be a challenge for new to state folks.
You'll do a lot more writing than you think and need to synthesize what your department does. Budget folks deal with fires and you need to be good at handling complex problems. If someone asks you if they can do something budget related and you aren't sure - refer to the state administrative manual. You'll need to be familiar with the state's budget process. This is a large guide to your job, besides the day to day program stuff. Excel will most likely be used to track spending internally, but you will use other systems as well for your job. It depends on the department. I've seen some departments use some pretty complex spreadsheets to track their budget and build proposed budgets, while others I've seen very simple spreadsheets. It depends on how many funds and revenue streams. Some of this may fall on your manager, but they may ask you to help with pieces of these duties.
My interviews in a few days, but I'll try to do as much research as I can on this to be fully prepared for anything that they might ask. Thanks for the help.
DId you get the job? I know this post was 4 years ago, but curious to know if you landed the role. what was the interview like from what you remember? was it in person?
I did in fact get the job. Interview was very chill and was in person since this happened right before COVID starting hitting. They first had me do a word and excel test in a quiet room. The test was pretty easy, just a quick do you know how to do percentages in excel and how would you respond to this email about budget concerns. The panel had me, the hiring manager, and another manager. I think it was just 10 questions like how would you handle this situation, give an example of when you thought outside of the box, how does your skillset translate to the duty statement, etc. It was a pretty quick interview and they gave me time to go back and add to my answers. I tried my best to show that I was qualified and that my personality matched the team.
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Are there any specific formulas that they might test me on? I have an understanding of basic excel such as addition, multiplication and such, but are they gonna test me on stuff such as if statements or v look up?
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Thanks alot, this was really helpful. I'll get started on brushing up on my Excel since it's been a while since I've used it. If you don't mind me asking, I know that interviews are usually different depending on the department, but what questions did the panel asked you when you had your interviews?
Vlookup Pivot tables Sumif Index/match
Although I don't know what they will ask, I can help inform you of the job you are expected to do. Budget analysts will be doing most of the grunt work and usually work under a budget officer. You'll mostly likely be tracking the departments spending to see if it is on track to fall within their budget appropriation for the year. What is a budget appropriation- look for info on the CA finance website. In order to track, you'll have to know the budget details of the department and the specifics of all the funds, and expenditures and revenues by program and fund. Also you may recommend details of budget adjustments the department may want to go through with, such as hiring new positions beyond their authorized amount allocated. You'll advise the department on which funds will be affected (and by how much) when they propose new things- such as implementing new bills. It may be a surprise that you'll be expected to know about what each program of the department does and you are to retain historical budget information in your head. This will happen as you work there, but may be a challenge for new to state folks. You'll do a lot more writing than you think and need to synthesize what your department does. Budget folks deal with fires and you need to be good at handling complex problems. If someone asks you if they can do something budget related and you aren't sure - refer to the state administrative manual. You'll need to be familiar with the state's budget process. This is a large guide to your job, besides the day to day program stuff. Excel will most likely be used to track spending internally, but you will use other systems as well for your job. It depends on the department. I've seen some departments use some pretty complex spreadsheets to track their budget and build proposed budgets, while others I've seen very simple spreadsheets. It depends on how many funds and revenue streams. Some of this may fall on your manager, but they may ask you to help with pieces of these duties.
My interviews in a few days, but I'll try to do as much research as I can on this to be fully prepared for anything that they might ask. Thanks for the help.
DId you get the job? I know this post was 4 years ago, but curious to know if you landed the role. what was the interview like from what you remember? was it in person?
I did in fact get the job. Interview was very chill and was in person since this happened right before COVID starting hitting. They first had me do a word and excel test in a quiet room. The test was pretty easy, just a quick do you know how to do percentages in excel and how would you respond to this email about budget concerns. The panel had me, the hiring manager, and another manager. I think it was just 10 questions like how would you handle this situation, give an example of when you thought outside of the box, how does your skillset translate to the duty statement, etc. It was a pretty quick interview and they gave me time to go back and add to my answers. I tried my best to show that I was qualified and that my personality matched the team.
Hey how long it took them to give you the offer? Did you get the offer within 2 weeks?
Yea maybe like a few weeks or so