Tag: consulting

Day 8 at SAS

For our last day, we came in a little early to meet with Jenni Elion. We sat down with her in her office and discussed her work as a senior test engineer. She brought us to a team meeting where they discussed their updates and any problems that she might be able to help with. She then took us to a whiteboard to diagram her job and tell us a little bit about how she got there. Then she gave us some advice, telling us to try new things. She told us about her passion for improv and I told her about the UCB book I am reading about improv right now. She ended up giving us tickets to her show and we can’t wait to see her perform! Then we met back with Mr. Sims for a final wrap up and last minute questions and advice. It was a very quick last day, but still full of information.

Scott Sim’s desk

outside of building Q (featuring the rotating statue)

Day 7 at SAS

Today at SAS we started the day back in building Q with our host Scott Sims. We met with Brad Lagle, a solutions specialist, who told us all about his work with child welfare. It was so interesting to hear about how much good he does with his coding. We then spoke with Mr. Sims a little bit more about his day to day so we could get a better feel for what he does. He then took us to tour parts of the campus Elena and I had never seen before. Then we went to lunch in building F, one of the few cafeterias we had yet to try. then we met with Ruth Baldasaro who’s an analytical consultant. She mostly told us about her family and how to balance your career with your personal life. it was very helpful advice. Then we went downstairs and met with Vrushali Sawant who works as a solutions specialist and focuses on data for good projects. It was a very fun and eventful day!

Scott Sims and I in his office!

getting ice cream in building R (photo by elena)

Brad Lagle’s desk (he went to NC State can you tell?)

Day 6 at SAS

Today Elena and I headed into building Q (the second newest building on the SAS campus) to meet our new host. This week our host is Scott Sims, a manager in the consulting department. We spent the first hour talking and getting to know each other and what our interests are so that we could make the most of the week. We then met with a project manager who presented a powerpoint on what her job entails, and what kinds of things you have to do in order to be a productive member on her team. We then had lunch with Mr. Sims and his two co-workers. We discussed exchange programs and foreign countries over our gourmet SAS meals. Elena and I then headed to meet with a director in the consulting department who told us about what her job is like, as well as the adversities of being a woman in the workplace. She told us that out of all the places she’s worked, SAS has been the most progressive when it comes to female empowerment in STEM. We then closed out the day by meeting with a member of Mr. Sims’s team who works on Data For Good projects. He told us about the current software he is helping develop that assists in child welfare cases. All in all it was a very interesting and jam-packed!

 

notes from our meeting with the director in the consulting department

one slide from the consulting 101 powerpoint, presented by the project manager

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 2 at SAS

Today Elena and I came in bright and eyed and bushy tailed ready to start the day. I was excited to learn more about RSQ and the different departments that all need to work together to make it run. We spent the first 30 minutes in a meeting with a consulting architect that specialized in the RSQ department. He told us all about how different types of consultants have different responsibilities and through that, we learned exactly what his job does. We learned that being a consultant for a software company is very different from marketing consulting or strategy consulting. We then spent the next hour or so in a team meeting with our host, Pauline Ashcraft. We got to meet her team and learn about what each of them does to pull their own weight. After lunch, we met with Rani, a coworker of Pauline’s that works right down the hall. She gave us insight into her career path and how she assembled her resume to get to where she is today. Our conversation quickly digressed as we discussed colleges and majors, all helpful nonetheless.

notes taken by me during team meeting

whiteboard explanation during meeting with architect consultant

First Day at SAS

Today was my first day at SAS. I arrived with a group of 10 other CA students in the Global Education Center building on the SAS campus. We got a quick tour through the new building and even learned a fun fact. Building A on the SAS campus is the tallest building in Cary. The fire department didn’t have a ladder tall enough to reach the new nine-story building so Mr. Goodnight graciously bought the department a new truck with a ladder that could reach the top of the building. After learning a little bit about the building, we were taken to a room for an orientation on SAS. We spent the first half of the day watching videos and slide shows that informed us all about how SAS functions. It informed us of the basics and began to delve into some of the complexities of the company. I spent the second half of the day with Elena Huang as we began shadowing our host, Pauline Ashcraft. We met her coworkers and some members of her team and we got a quick introduction to the RSQ department. We can’t wait to keep learning about it!

Me outside of Building A just before starting my day at SAS

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