Date: Tue, 18 May 2004 14:58:21 -0400
Reply-To: Charles Patridge <charles_s_patridge@PRODIGY.NET>
Sender: "SAS(r) Discussion" <SAS-L@LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
From: Charles Patridge <charles_s_patridge@PRODIGY.NET>
Subject: Re: why take SAS certification exam
Dear Ron,
I am sure having the SAS Certification would only help one in the
assessment / interview process BUT in the 10 years I haev been posting SAS
jobs, I have yet to see the requirement to have passed the SAS
Certification Exam before one should apply.
2nd - I have never seen passing the SAS Certification would enable a
candidate to ask for more money when offered a position or contract.
3rd - I am not against the exam but as I have said before, who is really
benefitting from this test scenario?
4th - It would be nice to have previous SAS Certification exams available
as a method to judge oneself against the "norm" to see what you might need
to expand upon in your knowledge and skill level in the SAS arena.
Do not get me wrong, I am not against these Certifications as just another
item to be judged on but rather I would prefer to see how an individual
would proceed in building a small application in SAS to ensure this
candidate has a good handle on the various tools, procs, data steps, and
system logic/flow/process to build a "quality" application that can grow
and expand as the business changes for more robust flexibility which
usually happens.
That is, build me a box with 6 sides and is 1 cubic foot in volume. But
realize that down the road, this box will probably change to be larger in
volume and size and may need more than 6 sides. If you build such a box
with stringent or inflexible code, you will need to start from scratch and
waste all the previous code developed.
Or better yet, think "BIG" but focus on the "small" - that is, build re-
useable code where ever possible so it becomes a matter of making sure you
have sufficient CPU, IO and disk space (plus other stuff) rather than will
the current code work.
Her paper makes many good points but I fear in the real world not very
interviewer does what is necessary to carry out the "perfect situation" for
an interview as we all live in the real world with many hats to wear and
little time to do the best at every thing, including hiring new and unknown
people.
A suggestion she failed to mention is to network with people about the
people you wish to hire to be sure you are hiring a "good employee" as well
as a skilled SAS professional.
There is much more that can be said but that could be another paper by
someone who is interested in doing it.
Best Regards and regret I was not able to make SUGI this year to listen /
see firsthand all of the great papers and topics.
Charles Patridge
