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SAS Work Experience Day 8

Today was my final day at SAS for the work experience program. The first half of the day was spent finishing up in the finance department, learning about FM – Financial Management program, accounting, and getting a nice wrap up of the program by meeting a few more employees in different roles and getting some new information and words of wisdom from them.

Building T

After finishing up in finance, all of the CA students met at Building Q for a pizza lunch. We discussed our experiences from the week and filled out a quick survey. Four SAS employees from various departments came in for a panel where Kayla asked them some questions about their careers and how they’ve gotten to where they are today. It was interesting and extremely helpful to hear about their college experiences and their career paths, and we received a lot of invaluable advice for our futures. I thought this was the perfect way to wrap up our time at SAS, and I leave feeling very glad that I not only got to learn in depth about certain areas of business, but to learn about what an amazing company SAS is!!!

SAS Work Experience Day 7

My 7th day at SAS was my 2nd day shadowing in the finance department in Building T. Today I got to meet a few different people and learn what they all do within their specific jobs. Some areas I had the chance to learn about were budgeting and forecasting, internal audit and intercompany. It was very interesting getting an overview of many different tasks and roles within finance and learning the paths many different SAS employees have taken to get where they are today. Also, in the morning we got to sit in on a staff meeting where many of the people we’d met came together, which was also interesting since we got to see how the different roles interact and are relevant to one another, and how no one at SAS is totally isolated in their work since it is for a broader and more meaningful purpose.

Below is a picture of Building T, where I spent the day:

SAS Work Experience Day 6

Today at SAS was my first day shadowing in finance. I got to meet a lot of people in the finance department who are involved in a variety of different tasks and areas such as tax, global finance, marketing, etc. We started off with an introduction and overview of the department, which set down a good base for the shadowing activity which followed, where we sat in on a meeting discussing some financial issues related to marketing. We also got to learn about some specific roles in the department, by learning in depth about the treasury and about tax. At the end of the day a few college students interning in the finance department took us to get ice cream, which was nice. Below is a picture of Building T, where the finance department is. It’s a very fancy building!!

SAS Work Experience Day 5

Today all of the Cary Academy students doing the SAS work experience program were together again to learn about and work with the specific software and technologies that employees at SAS use to analyze data and create visuals. From being introduced to the programming system, the SAS design studio, and the visual analytics program, we were learning and experimenting all day – with a mid-day break for chicken tenders at Building T’s cafeteria of course.

One of our main activities was learning about SAS’s programming system. Since I, and all of the other CA students, had never programmed before the idea of this was somewhat daunting. However, with a detailed, step by step introduction to programming, it was much less complex than I had originally imagined. Below are some screen shots of the work we did.

For our data, we entered in some random numbers and then ran the program to create a frequency analysis and means analysis. Some things we learned include always remembering to put a semicolon at the end of each action, and also how to make notes that sit within the code but do not actually run through the system – these show up in green. Also, if the run fails, we learned to go to the log tab – shown below – and see if there are any errors or notes to indicate what went wrong, which is very useful.

After learning the basics of SAS programming, we were introduced to the SAS design studio where visual analytics can be created from data. Together we went step by step through a few examples, with various types of visuals like bar graphs – pictured below, line charts, lists, and more.

Once we had completed these models, we were able to work independently and experiment with the program to create our own visuals. What made this entire process especially interesting is that we were using real data from the UN about frequency and pricing of foods in different nations. Pictured below is one visual that I created with a pie chart and list, set up so that when you select a certain food on the list the pie chart will depict the frequency of it in specific nations.

Overall, today was an amazing introduction to the world of data science, programming, and analytics, which will be extremely useful in the future!!!

SAS Work Experience Day 4

On my fourth day, all of the Cary Academy students participating came together to learn about the GatherIQ app created by SAS, which incorporates both the humanitarian qualities of SAS and all of the data available to them. We got to test out the program on laptops and our phones, and filled out surveys giving feedback and suggestions. GatherIQ is a platform with information and data related to world issues, and the program encourages users to share their perspectives and thoughts on the data via social media, specifically Twitter, which is connected within the program. Below are some screenshots of one example of an article on the GatherIQ app:

After tinkering with the program in small groups and submitting our feedback, we all came together to brainstorm new possible ideas for the app. The target audience for the app is essentially anyone, but mostly is aimed towards middle schoolers and high schoolers as well as young adults. We were able to share our perspective on what tactics and features will resonate with young people. In small groups again, we used a series of guiding questions to gather ideas for GatherIQ, and then presented those to our hosts, who were very open to ideas and interested to hear what we had to say. Overall, this day was very interesting, and I can’t wait to see the next model of the GatherIQ app and how our feedback and ideas may have actually influenced its development!

And we all got to take home some fun GatherIQ merchandise, pictured above 🙂

SAS Work Experience Day 3

Today was my last day shadowing in HR at SAS. The highlight of the day was sitting in on a meeting where university recruiters and members of the marketing section of HR worked together to brainstorm and make preparations for visiting career fairs and offering info sessions at universities in the fall. The team discussed and worked through any issues with the planning, such as with the handouts to students and deciding whether they will have multiple or just a singular handout, and if those will be flyers or brochure style. They also discussed the types of items that will be given out to students, such as stickers, laptop camera covers, and buttons, and weighed which of those options would be most enticing to students and which would actually be used by them and therefore broaden the reach of SAS’s brand. For example, a student putting an ‘I heart SAS’ pin on their backpack would allow exposure as they walk around campus. They also discussed t-shirt design, and how it’s essential that the shirt has SAS’s logo and name clearly on the front of the shirt, sleeve, and back. They pointed out that although in our area and throughout North Carolina there is generally a great knowledge of what SAS is and how amazing the culture and work experience is, in more distant states college students may have no idea what SAS is. Therefore, the meeting focused on how to get SAS’s name out there to students. It was very interesting to see the behind the scenes planning, and to see how HR and marketing connect and overlap and how effectively those with different areas of expertise were able to combine their knowledge to find solutions.

Later, we got to visit the warehouse where most of the SAS merchandise given out to students is stored, pictured below:

Also, after lunch, our host Christie showed us an area outside of Building R which was a nice open space with tables to eat or work, and it also had giant chess, which is pictured below:

SAS Work Experience Day 2

This morning I got to listen in on a conference call discussing the company Handshake, which is a platform for reaching out to and recruiting university students for internships and job opportunities. The representative from Handshake displayed his presentation on our host Kayla’s screen, and he walked through what the program is and did a demo of what the platform looks like from both the perspective of a student and an employer. This was very interesting since this new program is revolutionizing how companies connect to college students and expediting the communication between them.

During lunch, we got to attend a graduation for those who had just finished the SAS Academy programs for areas such as tech support and consulting. There were many people who spoke about their experiences with the SAS academy and everything that they’d learned, which was very interesting because everyone had very nice things to say, especially about how SAS goes through the process of teaching and easing their employees into work instead of just throwing them in, which shows how much SAS truly cares about their staff.

Below is a picture of Building Q, where HR is and where I spent Day 2:

SAS Work Experience Day 1

During my first day at the SAS work experience program one of the first things we did was listen to a presentation about SAS culture and life at SAS. One of the most interesting parts of the presentation was learning some ways that data can be applied and ways that it can help the world. For example, we learned how data can be used in retail, banking, environmental matters, sports, etc. We learned about how data is used to create a profile for users, which is then used to create effective advertisements specifically for each user. The SAS presentation really showed how SAS is concerned with helping with issues in the real world; for example, data can be used to track and monitor members of endangered species.

After this presentation, we were able to shadow two different SAS employees who both work within the Human Resources department, specifically with hiring and recruiting. First, Christie explained what her job is and showed some of her everyday tasks, such as reaching out to prospective employees to schedule interviews. She also showed us the email that is typically sent out to those about to be interviewed at SAS, and the videos attached to those emails which depict life at SAS. Second, Jessica explained about her job, which is similar to Christie’s except for that it is less geared towards university students. She showed us her process for sorting through submitted resumes and how LinkedIn – the program she and her coworkers use – works.

Here is a picture of Building Q’s main sign at its entrance.