SAS – Page 5 – CA Work Experience Program

Day 6 – Intro to IT

Today was my first day in IT. I started off the morning by getting to meet Sarah Betz, a person who oversees a team of enterprise business analysts. She said that at first, she got a degree in journalism economics at UNC. So, she didn’t know that she would ever end up at SAS. So, at the end of the day, one of the main takeaways I learned was to just keep learning, working hard, and following my passion and I will end up in the right job for me. Then I sat in on a meeting with Ms. Bettz’ very friendly team and they talked about what IT does and what their goals are. They make SAS’s software compatible with businesses and they update and make changes and make bug fixes. This group also makes sure data is what they want from customers and that it’s clear. During lunch, I met with Andy, another IT worker and he explained how he got to SAS which was after he learned he likes to manage other people’s projects. After lunch, I met with Bill Mckeown who taught me more about IT and gave me an overview of his career. He explained how he used to work with data centers and how customers use SAS’s data centers.

After that, I met with Randy Wilcox who taught me about his job. Randy was a DBA (database administer). However, it is more like “Does ‘Bout Anything.” He managed and protected customers data, assisted RnD and helped with their optimization, and he helps sales through engineering of projects. He also showed me a little computer that had old arcade games on it that he plays on for fun from time to time.

Day 5- Working with Data For Good

Today I got to learn a lot more about the coding that goes behind SAS data. I created my free SAS on demand for academics account which is similar to Java or Python, but it is intended for analyzing data sets and forming graphs, so it is also like Excel. A SAS programmer presented to us for the first half of the day teaching basic lines of code that will create bar charts and such that represent fake data that is realistic to sales. We analyzed fake data from 3000 customers, three different groups of 1000 people were presented with the same product at different three different prices and we were to analyze lots of data to figure out what would maximize our profit. There were many factors that we had to take into account.

After lunch, we learned how to use SAS Visual Analytics which had many options to turn numbers into graphics. This was very helpful for me because I was able to understand all the data better when it was combined all into one visual graph and the data was easy to compare and contrast. We eventually got to make our own visuals about data from the prices of different foods in developing countries and it was really interesting to see how other SAS interns interpreted and presented their data. In the picture below I am asking Matthew Schaeffer a question about his data presentation.

Day 4- Working With Gather IQ

Today we came to building R, one of the research and development buildings and the first thing I did was get to meet some members of the development team working to create a new SAS application. The team gave me and the other SAS interns a presentation on the development process and how there are many more than just developing and marketing a software. Then, I got to go hands-on with the GatherIQ, one of SAS’s projects in development. I was working with Matthew Schaeffer who could read at the speed of light where I could read at a normal speed, so he would always want to get ahead and I would make him go back so I could finish reading things on the website. After getting hang of the purpose of the website we submitted a survey to help SAS understand what users thought about it. I thought the purpose of the website wasn’t clear at first and it would take at least five minutes of digging to figure out what SAS was getting at. Then I had lunch in an incredible cafeteria called that took place in an open space called the atrium.

The chefs were really nice and the food was great! After lunch, then I went upstairs to a new conference room to present on ideas that I thought would make for a good app. The purpose of GatherIQ is to raise awareness on global issues by sharing information, data specifically, on social media. So, the other interns and I had to come up with ways to present the information so that a younger audience like middle schoolers would be interested in learning about the issues and would want to share them with their friends. My group came up with the idea that the user should be rewarded in some way if they view the page or share it/retweet the page/ like it. So, we thought that for every 100 retweets it would get a sponsored company would donate 10 dollars towards the cause or something along these lines. This activity was really fun and its really cool how SAS will actually use our feedback to make changes to their app going forward!

Day 2 – Introduction to SAS Software/CECL

This morning I showed up a little late because I misheard Ms. Hager when she told me what building to show up to yesterday. I originally came to T when I should have gone to C, however, this wasn’t a huge deal as I parked and I came in near the beginning of the meeting. The presenter was very lively and engaging and it he made it very easy for me to be engaged and interested in learning about a new topic that I was unfamiliar with. Basically, he was teaching all ten or so people in the room the importance of calculating expected credit loss when customers default on loans. They used many different acronyms that were really unfamiliar to me, but I tried my best to understand what was going on. I participated in a presentation with three other employees on how we would pitch SAS’s CECL product (a model to precisely predict expected credit loss on defaults) to a CFO of a target business. I learned many key presenting points such as the “Tell, Show, and Tell method,” and how important it is to use repetition to emphasize the main point of your talk. My group’s presentation went well and later at lunch I met with college interns and talked with them and then I ate lunch with the Pre-Sales team I was working with before lunch. After lunch, I went back upstairs to the conference room and continued to learn more in-depth aspects of CECL and how it is helpful for businesses. Their CECL program will launch by Jan 1st 2020, so SAS needs to finish up the software and find get in contact with potential clients between now and then.

Day 1 – Introduction to Pre-Sales

I arrived at SAS at 9:30 this morning, 30 minutes early for my shift. I was very excited and a little nervous to see how my first day would go at my new internship. I sat in the lobby with excitement as my classmates arrived. Then Ms. Dougherty showed up and gave us a tour and I was really impressed at how nice everything was at SAS. Everything was really tidy and clean and comfortable. After a quick tour, I sat in on a 2-hour presentation about SAS’s purpose and this was very helpful to me. I learned that SAS can do almost anything with data with any company in the world. SAS even uses their software to help them decide how many metal sheets they would need to help Nepal rebuild and recover from an earthquake. Their work can literally be applied to any company or situation on earth that deals with any sort of data. However, at the end of the day, I only have a vague idea of what SAS does because it is so complex and there is so much to learn about it. Throughout these two weeks, I hope to become much more familiar with some of their software and the techniques sales members use to convince other companies to try out their software. After lunch, I shadowed Patty Hager, the director of mid-market presales at SAS. As soon as I met her I was rushed upstairs to her office and she immediately got to work, we had a busy afternoon together. She called her boss to let her check in on her to make sure she was staying busy and on track with her relations with other companies. Ms. Hager, I learned, deals even with sports teams such as the LA Kings. After her checkup with her boss, I went with Ms. Hager to a conference meeting with three other pre-sales workers that were on her team and five other people that had called in through Skype. Everyone shared ideas on how to get their clients interested in their products. All of them had interesting ideas and perspectives. One of the most profound ideas I took notes about during the conference was the suggestion that as a salesperson for SAS you should put yourself into your clients’ shoes and consider what they would want to hear offered from a salesperson. A SAS salesperson would want to pitch their product in a way that leaves the customer confident they will profit from the SAS software. So, I learned a lot more about sales that I thought I would from this meeting. I’m excited to continue learning about the SAS software specifically tomorrow and I hope day 2 will be just as fun as day 1 was!!

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!!!

Artsy Fartsy

Have you ever been to a conference or presentation and one of the slides was so beautiful you were like “wow, how did they ever make that slide.” Well apparently marketing works in conjunction with another department, to be honest I forget its name, but they make beautiful slides together. The design was pretty incredible. They go for a simple aesthetic which seems to be the wave of the future.

Then we toured the customer contact building, shout out to Kevin for incredible navigation. The building is actually on the way to kung fu tea. They deal with both angry and confused customers, helping them find their way.

Lastly we had a pizza party and a career panel where some older members of the young professionals network gave us advice on college, life, and jobs. Just kidding, they were pretty young.

Overall I’d like to thank SAS for teaching me a lot, showing me the power of statistics and data analytics, and for hiring such great people. I enjoyed meeting the vast array of personalities, backgrounds, and people that make up the company of SAS.

Kevin!

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!!!