SAS – Page 6 – CA Work Experience Program

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 🙂

Day 3 SAS Presales

First, this morning, I listened to a Skype call with an expert on the cloud at SAS. He explained that it is more profitable for some smaller to medium-sized companies to use SAS software through the cloud rather than installing it into their own servers. Then Later I experienced a common employee check-in where the boss (Ms. Hager) checked in with Ms. Lanier to see what she was working on and if she had any suggestions. She suggested for the pre-sales team to get together at social events like the Durham Bulls. After this, I got to know more about Lanier a pre-sales and analytics specialist. She actually showed me a little about the SAS software and what it looked like. It was really interesting to finally get a hands-on experience with what everyone in the meetings had been talking about! Lanier showed me a project she created that analyzed data about a fictitious company she called Statwars. She made this project when she was a new employee and she was just learning the SAS software.

Later, I learned more in depth about CECL and I listened to a conference call that was very confusing and difficult for me to understand. Later, I met with another employee named Erin and she showed me a potential client out in California whose business was similar to Amazon. I was really interested in the idea of how SAS could sell software to this company that would tell them what deals they should have and when based off of what customers buy at the same time and when they buy their items. This was my last day with the Pre-Sales team and I learned how important it is to use social skills in the real world. This is something that isn’t really taught at school and getting a hands-on perspective with real employees is really helpful for me to build and continue learning on how to speak and interact with professionals. Next week I have work with IT members and I’m really excited to see how it goes!

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:

Day 3 – Lots and Lots of Programming

Today, my day did not start until 9. I was very grateful for this because it gave me a chance to sleep in a little. After my leisurely commute, since I missed the traffic, I arrived at Bavarian Nordic and found Erika and Kaitlin in the conference room. To my sheer sadness, Erika told us we would be learning to program in SAS today. Programming was definitely not one of my best subjects last year so the thought of spending all of today learning to do it in a new language was terrifying. I thought I had escaped it, but I was wrong.

Erika set us up with our laptops and an extra one with the correct software (since we were having technical difficulties). She also explained to us that we would be using SAS to manipulate data. Erika does this very often for her job. She compiles reports and displays tons of tons of data in an easily understandable way. This skill is very important in the field of clinical trials and statistics in general. As Kaitlin and I made our way through lesson after lesson online, we quickly realized that sharing a computer to program wouldn’t work. Therefore, Erika tried to set up our personal computers so we could do the SAS online training there.

Our technical difficulties continued as I could not get the software to completely boot up and Kaitlin could not get it to download. While we waited for our computers to cooperate, Kaitlin and I had lunch with some of our co-workers. I had a very in-depth conversation about spaghetti squash (which was my lunch today), college, and traveling in New England. Once my relaxing break was over, I went back to my computer to try to troubleshoot the issue. After watching many YouTube videos and reading loads of articles, I was able to reconfigure my settings to support the software. By 2, I began to continue my online lessons. There are 11 total lessons that I need to complete before I can receive my certificate. However, each lesson takes so long to complete.

Kaitlin was not able to get her computer working, so Erika sent her to NC State to ask the IT department. I stayed for an extra couple hours chipping away at the lessons. I only got to lesson 7 so I will need to finish the rest tomorrow. It is important that I finish the SAS online training because I will be using what I learn now to manipulate data from the Brachyury trial next week. After hours and hours of programming, my brain was fried. I would like to say that I learned to love programming today, but I did not. However, I did learn that programming is not something I would like to pursue as a career!

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.