Today marked the conclusion of my alluring experience at SAS. It was yet another fun day on my two-week venture into the corporate world. My highlight of today was meeting up with someone in marketing whose specific focus was on how data analytics impacts marketing strategy. It was interesting to see how SAS truly goes full circle, with SAS software being literally used to analyze customer data when it came to marketing. I also saw how the marketing department had to communicate with different agencies and websites to ensure that their ads went out and had a true impact. Marketing is something very intriguing, and I am glad I got to experience it on my final day at SAS!
Author: benl691
Day 7- Corporate Creative
Today was another fun day at SAS, filled with photo opportunities and a great deal of fun! I began the day by speaking with one of the directors of video production. We spoke about SAS as a company, and specifically why the video production team was so important. I then spoke with and saw some of the things writers in Corporate Creative do, such as drafting tweets and writing paragraphs for different parts of the SAS website. My highlight there was actually writing a tweet, that potentially may end up on the SAS Twitter feed if approved! Following an excellent lunch (sadly my second-to-last at SAS) I met with another member of the video production team. He showed me virtually everything that encompasses the SAS media facilities, from the audio rooms to the video production studios to the backstage of the SAS auditoriums. It was really cool to see behind the scenes when it comes to that aspect of SAS. Overall, today was a great experience, and I look forward to marketing tomorrow!
Day 6- Finance
Day 6 was another fun day in the finance department! In finance, I ran around all sorts of different sub-departments. I went into different areas of accounting and met with financial analysts. I learned about how the company’s strategy has to be followed on the financial side of things. I learned about the types of software that is used by the analysts to analyze financial information and make better decisions for the company from that perspective. However, the most fun part of the entire day was a part non-unique to finance. All of the interns and the Cary Academy kids were invited to a “Data for Good” presentation. At the presentation, the speakers talked about how SAS technology could be used by organizations such as the United Nations, as well as other humanitarian groups to make the world a better place using data analytics. Analyzing data was proven to make it much easier to carry out aid in the time of a crisis. As someone who is incredibly interested in how international and domestic issues can be solved, the fact that data can have such a big role is something I didn’t think about much before, but now realize can truly have a huge impact. Finance was a very interesting day, and I look forward to the last two!
Day 5- Sales and Presales
Today was yet another interesting day at SAS. I began the day by meeting with one of the main managers of sales for the organization. She explained to me the unique academy that SAS has, where they train recent college graduates for six months on sales functions, and how they directly apply to SAS. It was very interesting to hear about this unique program, and how people came from all over the world to partake in the experience and to eventually work for SAS. After speaking with her, I spent the entirety 
of the day with a member of the pre-sales team. He told me about how pre-sales was the more technical aspect of the sales department. What they do is they are able to better show what the specifics of the technology being sold does through demos and presentations. I listened to a couple of conference calls, where plans for attracting clients and selling products were being discussed between both the pre-sales people and the sales people. I saw some of the unique technologies used in the models, and also learned a lot about sales strategies within SAS. It was a very interesting yet educational experience, and I had a fun day. Looking forward to the last few days of this experience!
Day 4- Web Design
My fourth day at SAS was spent in web design! There I started by talking with one of the managers of the website, and she explained to me some of the difficulties in making sure the American SAS website was well-coordinated with all of the international SAS branch websites. I met with another person who was responsible for that coordination, and it was very interesting to see the different types of avenues through which messages had to be sent. In the afternoon, I met with an individual whose primary responsibility was managing the SAS intranet’s websites. She showed me some of the tools used to edit the website and even set up a sample site for me to play around with the tools on. It was cool to see the systems used by SAS to create web content and be able to actually mess with the tools first-hand. Before this day, I always assumed that web design was far more technical. However, despite its technical aspects, I learned about how aesthetic decisions also have to be made when it comes to web design, and how there is an entire department for that as well. Overall, I learned a lot, and look forward to the rest of my rotations!
Day 3- IT
Today was yet another interesting day in the friendly confines of SAS, as I experienced the IT department. I had an excellent host in the morning, who introduced me to many individuals within the sub-departments that make up the larger department of IT. It was really interesting to see the way project management works at SAS and the organizational structure involved. Today, my highlights included a few things. I got to walk through the entire supply room, where I saw the entirety of SAS’ inventory. It was very cool to see how the computers are put together, and how all resources are organized. The other thing that happened is I got to meet the CTO and executive vice president of SAS today. He talked to me a bit about the company and gave me a lot of insightful information on what he does. I really enjoyed the entirety of my day, and look forward to the next few!
Day 2- Legal
Today was another great day! I started off the day with a conversation, talking to one of the top members of the government relations staff of the company. For someone who is incredibly interested in the crossroads of the public and private sectors, this opportunity was extremely valuable. We had a conversation about his job and our shared interests. We then attended a meeting, where a law I actually knew a lot about from a government perspective was being discussed. Instead, however, it was being discussed from the perspective of how SAS should respond to it, and how it impacted SAS’ bottom line. The meeting was honestly extremely interesting. It allowed me to gain a greater understanding of something I had been interested in for a long time, and to be perfectly honest, it seems like the exact type of work I would absolutely love to do in the future. Following that meeting, I moved on to another meeting, where I listened as some of the employees discussed ways to enhance communication about legal matters to the rest of the company in conjunction with the internal communications department. This type of collaboration is something that I have continued to see throughout my two days at SAS, and expect to see in the future. After the meeting and the lunch that followed it, I stayed in the legal team but moved on to the compliance department. Members of that department told me all about the different ways they act to ensure that all laws are followed and that none of their actions directly help corrupt governments, or violate governmental policies throughout the world. I was very intrigued by the nature of the work done in this department, and it has continued to contribute to my heightened interest recently in law and policy. I look forward to moving on to IT tomorrow!
Day 1- Communication!
Today marked the advent of my experience at SAS. I was assigned to the internal and external departments of corporate communications. I started the day in internal communications. There I discussed with a team member the ins and outs of SAS as an organization. She explained to me the typical things that she does on a daily basis, and how imperative it is that companies such as SAS have good intra-organizational communication to ensure all of the employees understand the vision behind all of the purposeful actions taken. We then attended a department meeting. In the meeting, I watched as the employees discussed how they could make their direct communication with the rest of the organization’s employees more accessible, and how they could improve their reception to the rest of the organizations’ thoughts and concerns. It was very interesting to hear and begin to understand how the organization works in this fashion. After the meeting, I moved to another building and ate an excellent lunch.
Following lunch, I was taken to the top floor of one of the primary buildings on SAS campus. I walked by Dr. Goodnight’s office, and into the office of SAS’ Director of External Communications. She explained to me the extent to which the organization really has a diverse set of needs and explicated upon the types of sub-departments within the general external communication department that work together. I learned a lot about the public relations team, and how external communications works a lot with internal communications to ensure that the message remains consistent across the plethora of programming platforms in use by SAS. I watched how one of the employees dealt with a problem, where the internal and external communications were not conveying the same message. She dealt with it swiftly by directly communicating with members of the internal communications part of the company, and the issue was resolved smoothly. Overall, my first day was a lot of fun, and I learned a lot about SAS’ organization communication!