19ElenaH – CA Work Experience Program

Day 8 at SAS!

We first talked to Jenni Elion, a senior test engineer at SAS. She demonstrated the many aspects of testing in a tech savvy world, and she was also a driving force in the JD Leads project that integrates systems for the criminal justice system. Next, we talked to Brad Lagel, a solutions specialist and an avid NC State supporter, who talked to us about the different aspects of the consulting world and his specific career path that brought him to the position he is in today.

Finally, we said goodbye to Scott Sims, our awesome host. Thank you so much Scott!

After this, we presented our GatherIQ projects! This was an awesome project, as we thought of ways of marketing strategies to raise awareness for such an important cause.

Day 7 at SAS!

First, we shadowed Scott Sims through his work. He showed us the many softwares he uses and his daily tasks. After that, he took us on a tour around SAS campus. We got a close up of the solar panel farm. We learned that to further conserve energy use, they have sheep eat the grass around the solar panels! After that, we had lunch in Building R. Next, we had lunch with analytical consultant Ruth Baldasaro, who taught us the importance of balancing work and personal life. After that, we talked to Vrushali Sawant, a solutions specialist for the Data for good project. She went into further detail about the gratification projects at SAS has brought her, such as helping with child welfare.

Day 6 at SAS!

I had so much fun in the Global Hosting & US Professional Services sector of SAS in Building 6! On Day 6, we met our host, Scott Sims, who is a technical consulting manager in GHUSPS. He explained to us all the different aspects of consulting in a managerial position, and we talked about future career paths!

After that, we met and talked to Cammie, who is a project manager at SAS. She presented a PowerPoint titled “Consulting 101” and showed us all the different aspects of how a big corpora tion like SAS works together. The main things I learned from this meeting were that

1. It is extremely important to step up and out of your comfort zone. In terms of job growth, just meeting your job expectations are not enough. You need to go above and beyond.
2. The GHUSPS division provides value to the customer that motivates them to buy more and hire more services. They educate, advise, and implement.
3. I also learned that project management would be something I may be very interested in in the future. I am excited to learn more about it.

Next, we had lunch with a few of Scott’s coworkers in Building R. It was so cool to see all the different lunch options SAS offers and talk to people with different positions at SAS.

After lunch, we talked to Angela Hall, who is the director of consulting at GHUSPS. She spoke to us about the many adversities women in the STEM field such as herself had to overcome to get into the position they are in today. She was so friendly and outgoing, and you could tell that she truly cares about her employees, as she often plans group outings to make for a better work environment.

Lastly, we spoke to Clay Setser, who is a Solutions Specialist in GHUSPS. He specializes in Data for Good projects, which is so unique and special. Specifically he taught us about clumping, which is crucial for companies and even the government to recognize and differentiate who’s who. This directly connects with the child welfare program in NC and even the criminal justice system in NC. It was really interesting to see how important data and analytics are in terms of bettering the world and making it a safer place for all.

Day 5 at SAS!

Unfortunately, I could not attend the SAS work experience on day 4. However, on day 5, I caught up with my group. We were tasked to come up with a video campaign that will spread awareness about the unfortunate lack of access in many areas of the world, while focusing on the global goal.

Targets of the Global Goal:

6.1 – Provide safe and affordable drinking water

- - - Improve access to safe water

6.3 – Improve the quality, treatment, and reuse of water

- - - Reduce pollution
    - Eliminate dumping waste
    - Minimize the release of chemicals into the water
    - Increase recycling of water

6.4 – Increase efficiency and supplies

- - - Ensure sustainable withdrawals of water
    - Address the scarcity of water in some countries

6.5 – Water resource management

- - - Managing water sources and keeping them clean and healthy

My partners, Alyssa Thompson, Erin Singleton, and Anna Cheng, and I came up with the “Every Drop Challenge” in which 2 people see how well they can hold around 40 pounds of water, just like many in Africa, who have to carry this for more 4 miles at a time. We hope that this has potential to go viral with the hashtag #EveryDropMatters. We also challenged our audience to participate without wasting any clean water and donating to respective water donation companies!

Even though this video was produced in just a few days time, we hope this will inspire marketing campaigns for GatherIQ at SAS. I feel extremely fortunate to be a part of a process that could change people’s lives around the world!

Day 3 at SAS!

Day 3 was a lot of fun, as we explored building C and A!

At the start of the day, in building T, we met with some of the current computer science interns at SAS. They shared with us their experiences through high school and college and what led them to pursuing internships here. Each one of them had amazing stories to share and gave us wonderful advice about balancing careers, mental health, college classes, and everything in between. Two main takeaways from this experience were

1. Always take risks: Always go to the career fair, even if it’s fall of your freshman year. You never know what opportunities will arise and where they will take you! Experience everything, and this process is crucial in helping you find your passion.
2. Networking is key: Talk to and be friendly with as many people as you can on campus! You never know what experiences these people have and who they know. In the future, these people very well may play a huge part in setting you up with internships and even providing job opportunities.

Afterwards, we toured the 3rd newest building at SAS: Building C. This is where most of the customers will come and experience the executive business lounge. Floor 6 also holds Dr. Goodnight’s office, and it was really cool to be able to see that!

This building also holds one of the best cafeterias on campus. Niki and I took our lunches to go, shadowing Pauline in her book club, where we joined 6 other women in a glass conference room. The book they discussed was called “The Only Woman in the Room” by Marie Benedict, and I can’t wait to read this over the summer!

We then talked to Roger Lang, a Principal Sales Enablement Specialist for Risk in Building A, as he guided us through the newest building (Building A). This building is actually the tallest in Cary at 9 floors, and we learned that since it was so tall, the Cary firetrucks did not have a ladder to accommodate for this, so Dr. Goodnight bought a new one that works for them, just for this building!

Finally, we said goodbye to Pauline Ashcraft, our host and Senior Associate Business Operations Specialist. She was an amazing host and we learned so much from her this week. Thank you Pauline!

Day 2 at SAS!

Day 2 in building T was packed with meetings! It was so interesting to talk to different people at SAS and learn about their journeys to their current career positions. One of the main trend throughout all of them was that the position they thought they wanted was not at all the position they ended up in.

The first think Niki and I did today was meet with Alec LePrince, a business consultant architect. He taught us all about the different sectors of the broad term “business”. There is truly a career position for everyone in the realm of business, ranging from marketing to sales to developer to educator.

After this, we attended the weekly Risk Management Business Meeting, in which Pauline’s manager attended from Maryland! It was really awesome to see how each member of their team utilized their respective skills to come and work together. For example, Tatiana, originally from Brazil, focuses on the more global aspect of the Risk team, while Pauline focuses more on the marketing aspect. They also discussed future project plans, improvements, and what they each accomplished that week. Through the meeting, we learned more about the internal developments of SAS itself.

After that, we had lunch with the Risk team in the Building T cafeteria. Although SAS employees say that the lunch here isn’t as good as the ones in Building A and C, the food was still phenomenal and we had a great time talking to Pauline’s team.

At 1, Niki and I had a meeting with Rani, a business consultant down the hall. She gave amazing advice about pursuing a business career. My favorite advice from her was

1. Sometimes starting out in bigger companies isn’t the best idea. It is really easy to get lost in the mix, and it may be hard to advance in your career.
2. Find what makes you unique. Yes it’s important to get a business degree, but what will make you special? Is it digital marketing? Software engineering?

I look forward to use her advice when curating my path in the business world!

At the end of the day, we took on a small project. Our task was to research banking trends, specifically about AI in 2019. We utilized research from Deloitte consulting to summarize the biggest trends in the finance/business world.

These are some of the trends I found:

For the first time ever in 2019, the use of data, artificial intelligence (AI), and advanced analytics was ranked first, replacing improving the customer experience as the number one trend
Increase in importance of open banking and application programming interfaces (APIs) by organizations globally
increase in importance of innovation
increase in serving a segment of one: “Many banks have initiatives aimed at targeting demographic-based clusters such as young people, Millennials or older people, but some banks are now targeting customers based on lifestyles, values, aspirations, mindsets and underserved needs.”

Day 1 at SAS!

Today was such a fun day!

We started out the day by congregating in the lobby of Building A. Who knew we’d have our first obstacle before the work day even began? There were two entrances to the building, and after a few tries, we finally found the front desk. Before today, I had no idea how big the SAS campus was! I had only been here once or twice before to support my friends in swim meets at the SAS recreation center. After we finally found where we were supposed to be, I, along with my 11 other classmates who are also participating in the SAS work experience program, filed into a conference room where we learned all about the company and it’s mission.

What really stuck out to me during the orientation presentation was how committed SAS was to improving the world around us. SAS analytics are used everywhere, ranging from cancer treatment/research to retail to animal endangerment to the printing of US currency! I was shocked about the extent to which SAS had such an amazing impact on the world, and I feel so humbled and fortunate to be able to shadow and work in this company.

After the presentation, we ate in Building A’s cafeteria and the food was SO good. I cannot wait to try all the different kinds of foods throughout the next week and a half!

After lunch, our group split up into our respective areas of focus. Niki and I headed over to Building T, focusing on the many different aspects of business within a large company. There, Ms. Pauline Ashcraft explained to us her department: Risk business. Her job is really interesting because she gets to work with marketing, finance, and the consulting departments as a part of her focus in Risk. I am extremely excited to shadow her for the rest of this week!