Well, this question is most common when we encounter someone using the software as part of the job but has no certification, also among the fresher. SAS certification is definitely a plus on the resume, it gives a stamp that you know the language to do simple data manipulations and you know how to utilize the SAS software suit at its top capacity. Some companies even pay for your SAS certifications for their employees as they know this will ultimately help them only. Speaking specifically to the base and advanced certifications, the process of spending time on the material is very beneficial, especially if you work in a role that requires significant SAS programming. While it's absolutely not necessary, it will distinguish you from coworkers or potential applicants vying for the same position. Our biggest recommendation would be to wait to acquire any SAS credentials until you actually use the product, in part because the company employing you will usually pay the cost of study materials and the exam. More importantly, though, use it first to see if you enjoy the product and can see yourself working in it more in the future. You’ll also eventually reach a point where you’ll want to learn something else too, embrace that itch.
Here is the experience of “Patricia”, one of our community member in his word. “As I was using SAS on a daily basis in my first company, I knew the language well enough and was confident about it. My two years of experience and confidence during the interview in SAS was enough for recruiters to believe that I knew SAS, but what actually played a big role was the certification I was having, my resume was shortlisted based on that. In fact, that certification I finished just two weeks before. I feel the experience is the key to your performance for sure, but the first key to open the door of opportunity is the certification.”
To add to the above story from my personal contact, one of my friends is a Risk Analyst in underwriting and wanted to enter a full-time risk analyst. Even though he had the domain knowledge, about 5 years’ experience in the domain, but the lack of experience in SAS was not getting him a chance even for the interview. So it’s a fancy looking certification on your resume, which will help you in future, and educations and degrees are always good to have, so go ahead and get a certification in SAS. So the conclusion is, It is easier to kick-start your career if you hold any SAS Certification.
SAS is on top in Job Posting
Statistics show that 70% of analytics jobs are in SAS Programming, followed by R and then Python. It ever-evolving features according to industry needs is one major factor in its favour.
There is a huge scope of SAS for fresher. Banks are heavily using SAS as are Insurance & other Financial Services companies like HSBC, Citi, JP Morgan, & Wells Fargo.
The reasons are:
They have been using SAS for ages and have systems built around SAS
SAS is safer than open-source tools like R and Knime, very important for Data Security and Basel II norms and more statutory norms
SAS has introduced Big data capabilities along with SAS JMP and SAS Visual Analytics.
Production level capability: SAS can put your analytics into production in banking and financial systems. R does not have this, though we need to see where Revolution R (purchased by Microsoft) stacks up.
SAS offers numerous IT certifications in the Business Intelligence space for IT pros working with data warehousing, data mining, data management, administration etc. Now it depends on your field of expertise and interest to choose from them. However, considering the most in-demand profile nowadays is the data management and report visualization, Professionals whose workdays or has the career aspiration more around managing data and platforms rather than deep statistics, analysis and modelling will gravitate to Data Management credentials. Here is the link to SAS web for more details.
SAS Certified Big Data Professional Using SAS 9:
The Big Data credential is designed for professionals conducting statistical analysis using SAS and open source data-management tools. Here is the detail
SAS Certified Data Integration Developer for SAS 9:
The Data Integration Developer works with data to prepare it for analysis and reporting. Candidates must know how to define the platform architecture for SAS Business Analytics. Also, to create metadata, transform data and tables and run jobs. Here is the detail
SAS Certified Data Quality Steward:
The Data Quality Steward validates skills of professionals using the DataFlux Data Management Studio. Here is the detail