My day today in Sales and PreSales was a very calm, casual and conversational day (similar to yesterday). Tyler (my host) and I talked a lot about college and SAS. He was born in the San Francisco bay area and attended UC Berkeley which is one of the schools I may be applying to! In addition, he talked a lot about the Sales Academy at SAS which is a way that SAS recruits college students right out of undergraduate school and gets them to work at SAS in the Sales/PreSales department. Throughout the day in his office I also played around with some quick sand… (refer to image).
Tag: AthinaZ-Design Marketing
Day 7 – Web Development
Today was my most casual day at SAS. The majority of the day was spent chatting with a contractor who actually just graduated from undergraduate school in Cleveland. It was really cool to talk to her due to our similarities. She has also traveled the world due to her fathers occupation. The majority of her childhood was spent in Japan and it was really interesting to talk about the similarities and differences between Japan and Hong Kong. We quickly saw that our childhoods were very similar in many ways. In addition, she gave me really good advice in regards to education, career and lifestyle. Also, she told me about her experience with the 2012 Japanese earthquake and tsunami and how she was flown back to the US due to chemicals leaked in the air from the nuclear power-plant explosion. The funniest topic of conversation was when she explained to me that some people in the US actually don’t get their passports until they need them (like her husband). Growing up in a European household and having travelled I figured that everyone must get passports at a young age not only for travel but also for identification. I guess thats not always the case! In regards to her job, she explained that she was hired as a contractor to delete things at SAS.
Day 6 – IT
Today in IT I met with a variety of people from the different internal teams within the main department. My day was kicked off by an hour long conversational session with the CIO of SAS (Keith) which revolved around technology in the modern day and how SAS is undergoing a global change. My favorite parts of the day was when I got to spend time with one of my hosts who actually played professional basketball in Russia and played in college! We talked a lot about the cultural difference between Europe and America, especially revolving around data privacy. Towards the end of the day I attended a presentation on how analytical data can help the world in regards to social quality. There was a lot of discussion on how SAS can help with natural disaster, police brutality and poverty in general.
If you are interested in helping the world with data download SAS’s app! GatherIQ
Day 5 – Legal
Today in legal I had a great experience meeting lawyers and hearing about their different experiences in regards to law school and their first few jobs prior to SAS. The coolest part of the day was when I got to watch my host (Jeff) present the link between Sales/Pre-Sales to the Global Sales Academy. It was SO cool to see all the different young reps from across the world. I even had conversations with students that have travelled from Germany, Austria and Hong Kong to participate in SAS’s 19 week training program. Most of them, after they graduate this friday, will return back to their native country and occupy a sales job at the SAS office over there. Other then the students, it was really interesting to see how legal and sales co-operate to close the best deal possible for both partners (costumer and SAS).
Day 4 – Internal/External Communication
My day in the communications world was fairly interesting. I learnt a lot about the roles of both internal and external communications and how they work together but have very different roles at the same time. In addition, I was introduced to the idea of ghost writing for executives and how you need to be sure you are correctly portraying the voice and tone of the specific executive. The coolest part was listening to the different ways that SAS handles and reacts to negative opinions AND competition. For example Casey explained that one of SAS’s main competitors is a group of very passionate, forward thinking and young people. This makes SAS’s job when dealing with them a little frustrating because SAS is typically not considered as “cool” or “hip.” I attached a picture of a funny incident/scandal that Casey and her team had to deal with! 🙂
Day 3 – Marketing
Today was a super fun day in the marketing world! The coolest parts of the day was when I got to sit-in and watch a Webinar conference that promoted a new SAS product. However, at the start of my day my host (Scott) told me a few things about the marketing philosophy at SAS. He explained the infinity sign and how the marketing department uses it as its guide. As a costumer you first feel the need to have something, then you research that particular product you are interested in, then you decide and buy. This left section of the loop is one part of the management team that searches for new costumers. The right side looks to retain costumers by making sure the experience of adopting, using and recommending the product is efficient and smooth. The funniest part was when Scott used the boyfriend metaphor to fit this model!
Day 2 – Corporate Creative & Film
My second day at SAS was a lot more creative and artistically based then the first. For the first half of my day I got to shadow some really cool graphic designers and saw how they work with the marketing managers to make SAS appeal to multiple costumers. The coolest part about the first half of my day was that I got to sit-in in a very heated or “spirited” (as my host described it) meeting where people constructively agreed and disagreed with each other to reach the best possible outcome.
The second half of my day was primarily getting to know what the Film Team does at SAS and also how they work with other departments to advertise the company. Ed (my host) demonstrated and showed me some cool animations that he creates for shows or presentations that his colleague from other departments do at SAS. Finally the coolest part of the day was that I got to see a live interview take place at SAS’s filming studios! 
Day 1 – Human Resources
For my first day shadowing/working at SAS I was placed in the Human Resources department. For the majority of the day I shadowed and helped a Talent Equisition team. The first hour I got a really neat overview of what Human Resources as a department has to offer. Kayla, the manger of the small Talent Equisition team, sat down and explained to me the details of HR Business Partners, Training and Development, Composition and Benefits, and Talent Equisition. Afterwards, Kayla dropped me off to my main host of the day (and organizer of the Cary Academy-SAS Work Expierence Program): Bethany. She took me on a short campus tour and explained the main things she does for the company and what a typical day looks like for her. Throughout the day I sat in on meetings that varied from organizing an intern orientation day to closing the reassessment of colleges that SAS recruits at. It was really interesting to see how SAS recruits its interns and how they asses their first time full-time employees. Finally, Taylor T and I got to help out and pack candy filled goody bags for the new interns!