Mikkeee,

I don't really think being SAS certified helps the experienced SAS programmer get a job; I was recently looking for a new job due to cutbacks at my university and those I interviewed with did not seem concerned about a lack of SAS certification, but were very interested in the fact that I took 6 courses from SAS Institute not too long ago, so it is more that one is keeping up with new developments that is the concern rather than SAS certification (i.e., the recent courses from SAS Instutite were important because it indicated I was keeping up with new developments in SAS.)

However, I found that it was harder to get interviews for statistical jobs like "Biostatistician" than SAS jobs like "SAS Developer", because I have a masters degree in Management Science rather than statistics (despite my having over 30 graduate hours in statistics, I found that having a degree in Statistics or Biostatistics does matter in some (but not all) jobs; actually more at academic jobs than in private industry).

For new students, however, having a certification in SAS might matter to get in the door if they don't have any experience. The online Masters degree program in Statistics at Texas A&M does include a track where students are also required to get SAS certification, so it appears that some universtities are recognizing that it might help their graduating students get in the door, particularly if they don't have any experience.

Yes, all is well with me; I've secured a new job that starts in two weeks. Michael, since the job deals with very, very large SAS data sets, I am currently refreshing my skills on one-pass solutions and SAS indexes (I've dealt with 50 million+record datasets/database tables before but it has been around 5 years), so your book is on the "to buy" list with my first paycheck. Please watch for question on the list, Mikkkeee, starting the week of June 15th.

And look out Minnesota, HERE I COME!!!

-Mary

----- Original Message ----- From: "Michael Raithel" <michaelraithel@WESTAT.COM> To: <SAS-L@LISTSERV.UGA.EDU> Sent: Thursday, June 04, 2009 12:52 PM Subject: Re: Name list of certified SAS programer

> Dear SAS-L-ers, > > The inimitable Ya Huang posted the following: > >> >> Purely by accident, I found this: >> >> http://support.sas.com/certify/directory/dir_name.html >> >> I myself never consider SAS certification a big deal, but do >> wonder sometime if "Certified" on someone's resume is real or >> not. For that, this link may come handy. >> > Ya, interesting topic; and good subsequent discussion! > > I believe that successfully passing a SAS Certification exam nets the > candidate an email stating that fact... or maybe it was a certificate... > (It has been a while since we sent a brave SAS adventurer to explore SAS > certification, so I am a bit cloudy on the actual deliverable). > Consequently, that email or certificate could be demanded of a candidate > who's name is not on the SAS web site. The person should have some kind > of proof! > > Ya, best of luck in all of your SAS endeavors! > > I hope that this suggestion proves helpful now, and in the future! > > Of course, all of these opinions and insights are my own, and do not > reflect those of my organization or my associates. All SAS code and/or > methodologies specified in this posting are for illustrative purposes only > and no warranty is stated or implied as to their accuracy or > applicability. People deciding to use information in this posting do so at > their own risk. > > +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ > Michael A. Raithel > "The man who wrote the book on performance" > E-mail: MichaelRaithel@westat.com > > Author: Tuning SAS Applications in the MVS Environment > > Author: Tuning SAS Applications in the OS/390 and z/OS Environments, > Second Edition > > http://www.sas.com/apps/pubscat/bookdetails.jsp?catid=1&pc=58172 > > Author: The Complete Guide to SAS Indexes > > http://www.sas.com/apps/pubscat/bookdetails.jsp?catid=1&pc=60409 > > +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ > There are four basic food groups, milk chocolate, dark chocolate, > white chocolate, and chocolate truffles. - Anonymous > +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++