Author: georgea773

Today was Day 8 of the Cary Academy Work Experience Program at SAS, and I spent the day in Building U with the Web Development team. I was able to see an overview of how the Web Development team actually formulated the content that goes into the webpage. Although it was an interesting endeavour, not much happened. I was able to fit in one last lunch from Building C, indulging upon the finest sushi and burgers. Later on that day, at 3:15, the entire Cary Academy Work Experience Program Members convened at Building Q to tuck into hot pieces of pizza and fill out a survey (what did I expect, it’s SAS, they love data). All in all, it was a wonderfully uneventful day; however, it served as a calming and reflective day – an ideal mood for my closing hours on the SAS campus with this program.

Today was my seventh day at SAS as a part of the Cary Academy Work Experience program and I spent my time split between buildings E and R. Although my time in Building E was indeed, very interesting, my favorite part of the day began in Building D. Not only was building D super nice, but there was so much to see! I loved the technology products room, which was filled with brand new laptops, desktops, iPads, iPhones, iMacs, MacBooks, VR headsets, and any piece of technology a billion dollar company needs to efficiently function. I was astonished at the sheer number of devices that were just stacked on shelves, some shelves supporting over $75,000 an undisclosed amount of tech. My favourite part of the day was when I was able to test out a Virtual Reality headset with an archery game. Basically, enemies would try and break down the gate to the castle, and it was my job to kill them before they could do so. Indeed, I was the best bowman since Robin Hood, as I have never seen a more gifted shooter than myself. All in all, the day was wildly informative and an incredible experience.

Today was my sixth day at SAS as a part of the Cary Academy Work Experience Program, and I spent the day at building T with the Legal team. Although I did have the premonition that the legal department would be rather bland, I was pleasantly surprised! I was able to hear about some of the department’s more interesting dealings, a particular case of “Patent Trolls” intrigued me. Patent trolls are companies that exist solely to sue other companies in the pursuit of the defendant settling before a trial is ever brought to court – I found this dynamic very interesting! After lunch, I headed over to the auditorium in Building V to an event called “Data for Good,” where speaks talked about how SAS’ Data Analytics was being used to aid disaster relief organisations optimise their work. I thoroughly enjoyed experiencing a real world application of the product, as the speaker showed how SAS could scan through the data and see what the most common illness was amongst refugees or what camps had the worst conditions. Indeed, I enjoyed hearing about the legal team’s conundrums and quandaries and overall it was a spectacular day!

Today was my fifth day at SAS as a part of the Cary Academy Work Experience Program and I divided my day into two: the morning with Internal Communications and the afternoon with External Communications. The morning was fun because I got to sit in on a team meetings and actually experience what their job is, rather than just hear about it. Basically, I learnt that internal communications consisted of running the SAS intranet and keeping “SAS up to date with SAS,” via blogposts, articles, and videos. External Communications, on the other hand, dealt with PR and community forums. At lunch I made the switch over to building C from building Q, which turned out rather badly. I hadn’t checked the weather forecast today and I donned my suede shoes – a grand mistake, since at 12:50 the heavens opened. I found myself trapped in my car in the building C parking lot, with the rain not easing up in time for my 1:00 meeting with a member of the External Communications team. Thus, I was forced to make a mad dash for building C. Indeed, it was as if I swam to the building as I entered the hefty doors soaked to the bone. However, me being the opportunistic, business savvy boy that I am, I chose to take the opportunity to display my dedication and commitment to my temporary work. After having air dried off some hours later, I joined in on a meeting with the team responsible for the SAS community forums and I was actually able to help them come up with a name for their new “badge” (a reward for a member’s active presence on the site). All in all, it was a very intriguing and eventful day, despite the obnoxious weather!

Today was my fourth day at SAS as a part of the Cary Academy Work Experience Program and my day was spent in the Marketing department in Building C. My favourite part of the day came when I talked to Mr. David Phillips, the Senior Digital Marketing Specialist. Mr. Phillips explained to me how he is responsible for pushing SAS’s websites and resources to the top of the Google search engine. He does this by bidding on keywords which then allows SAS’s sites to appear closer to the top of the Google page. I found it super interesting how some key words such as “Big Data” could code up to $50 a click. That means when someone types in “Big Data” into Google and hen proceeds to click on the SAS.com link below, that click costs $50! Although the day was mostly spent talking to employees of the Marketing Department, I was able to venture up to the sixth floor and inspect Dr. Goodnight’s world reknown rock collection. His collection contained geodes from India, fossils from Egypt, and stalactites from Spain!

Today was my second day at SAS as a part of the Cary Academy Work Experience Program and my time was spent with not only the Corporate Creative team, but also the Video team! At Corporate Creative offices, I was introduced to Mr. Aaron Overington, the Senior Design Manager, as well as many of his colleagues. I thoroughly enjoyed learning about the design process behind their booths and banners for their participation at the Global Forum, a huge conference held annually to showcase SAS. It was super interesting seeing the designs progress from sketches to reality, and the final result always looked chiq. Also, Mr. Overington and his colleague took me up to SAS’s very own printing site, only a few feet from the campus gates. I was told that the printing site will pretty much print anything you want, regardless of the size or complexity of the image – thus, it was an essential tool of the Corporate Creatives. I remember there being a huge, industrial printer which printed the panels for booths and things like that – I couldn’t imagine how much the ink cartridges cost! After my time in Corporate Creative, I was handed over to the SAS Video team whose job is to create any video needed for events, advertisements, or promotions. Mr. Ed Harriss of the SAS Production team showed me around the audio and film studios on the SAS campus, something I never knew existed! I appreciated how passionate he was about his job and his enthusiasm really resonated with me. What I found interesting is that he had been working in the Video Department for 20 years, and technically, he was the last hire of the department!

Day 2Today was my second day at SAS as a part of the Cary Academy Work Experience Program, and I ventured into the world of Human Resources in Building Q. I started to day chatting to Bethany LeClair, the Associate University Recruiting Specialist for SAS, and she was able to explain to me the different departments within HR and their functions. After that, I met with Laura Allen, a HR Business Partner, and many of her associates – all of whom had many interesting and wacky stories from their time in HR. One of the funniest stories they shared was of a groundskeeper who asked if he could wear a kilt whilst he worked. HR agreed that he could wear one if he wanted; however, soon the department was inundated with complaints of a groundskeeper who had been inadvertently exposing himself. Indeed, it was the man who had requested to wear a kilt. Soon after, HR informed the worker that indeed, he was required to wear underpants with his kilt. If there’s anything I take away from my visit to HR, it’s that there’s never a dull moment!

Today was my first day at SAS as a part of the Cary Academy Work Experience Program and my journey began in Building C, with the Sales and Presales department. To start off, I met with the Global Program Director of the Sales/Presales Academies, Mrs. Patty Hager. I appreciate that she gave me a comprehensive rundown of what exactly SAS does and how their systems are applicable to real life, in addition to answer any questions I had. Moreover, I gained an understanding of how Sales/Presales employees work and pace themselves in teams over the course of the sales year, eventually working individually towards an end quota. After my meeting with Mrs. Hager, I shadowed Kristen Eggenberger, an Analytics Advisor relatively fresh out of the SAS Sales/Presales Academy. Under Kristen, I sat in with multiple meetings and talked to many of her colleagues about their role within the company. Overall, I really enjoyed learning about Sales/Presales within SAS and hugely appreciated everyone taking the time out of their day to make sure I had a good experience. All in all, they really sold the SAS experience!

I am so excited to be a temporary student of management at SAS!!