https://communities.sas.com/t5/New-SAS-User/Where-to-begin/m-p/691854#M24867 <P>I would suggest that as an aid to learning that you pick a topic where you have some familiarity or experience.</P> <P>Then you might search this forum or even a general google for things related to that topic to find the types of things people ask about.</P> <P>&nbsp;</P> <P>The familiarity with a topic will help you when something odd appears in results. Which either brings up more interesting questions to evaluate or a clue that what you may have attempted in an analysis was not quite correct.</P> <P>&nbsp;</P> <P>"Know thy data" is important. So I would suggest starting with the tools to examine data of interest for accuracy or completeness, i.e. descriptive statistics.</P> Thu, 15 Oct 2020 14:45:30 GMT ballardw 2020-10-15T14:45:30Z https://communities.sas.com/t5/New-SAS-User/Where-to-begin/m-p/691720#M24845 <P>Hello,</P><P>I have no experience with data analytics but am really interested in it and would love to start taking some courses or maybe even working towards certifications. Are there any specific courses that are recommended? Or maybe even some certificates that are important? Any help would be greatly appreciated!</P><P>Thanks for the help everyone,</P><P>Tyler S.</P> Thu, 15 Oct 2020 02:38:02 GMT https://communities.sas.com/t5/New-SAS-User/Where-to-begin/m-p/691720#M24845 TySado 2020-10-15T02:38:02Z https://communities.sas.com/t5/New-SAS-User/Where-to-begin/m-p/691739#M24846 <P>Hello&nbsp;<a href="https://communities.sas.com/t5/user/viewprofilepage/user-id/352512">@TySado</a>&nbsp;! Thanks so much for your interest in SAS! Our recommended Global certification for those who are just starting is the&nbsp;Base Programming Specialist (<A href="https://www.sas.com/en_us/certification/credentials/foundation-tools/base-programming-specialist.html" target="_blank">https://www.sas.com/en_us/certification/credentials/foundation-tools/base-programming-specialist.html</A>). The course content, training courses and other resources are included in this page for you to browse. Or, you can check this comparison char (<A href="https://www.sas.com/en_us/certification/credentials/foundation-tools/compare-sas-credentials.html" target="_blank">https://www.sas.com/en_us/certification/credentials/foundation-tools/compare-sas-credentials.html</A>) to know which is the right SAS credential for you. Hope that helps!</P> Thu, 15 Oct 2020 03:46:21 GMT https://communities.sas.com/t5/New-SAS-User/Where-to-begin/m-p/691739#M24846 SAS_Cares 2020-10-15T03:46:21Z https://communities.sas.com/t5/New-SAS-User/Where-to-begin/m-p/691754#M24847 <P><a href="https://communities.sas.com/t5/user/viewprofilepage/user-id/352512">@TySado</a>&nbsp; - I would highly recommend you search out your nearest SAS User Group and go to their meetings. Networking with analytics professionals will surely guide your career in the right direction.</P> Thu, 15 Oct 2020 06:36:32 GMT https://communities.sas.com/t5/New-SAS-User/Where-to-begin/m-p/691754#M24847 SASKiwi 2020-10-15T06:36:32Z https://communities.sas.com/t5/New-SAS-User/Where-to-begin/m-p/691854#M24867 <P>I would suggest that as an aid to learning that you pick a topic where you have some familiarity or experience.</P> <P>Then you might search this forum or even a general google for things related to that topic to find the types of things people ask about.</P> <P>&nbsp;</P> <P>The familiarity with a topic will help you when something odd appears in results. Which either brings up more interesting questions to evaluate or a clue that what you may have attempted in an analysis was not quite correct.</P> <P>&nbsp;</P> <P>"Know thy data" is important. So I would suggest starting with the tools to examine data of interest for accuracy or completeness, i.e. descriptive statistics.</P> Thu, 15 Oct 2020 14:45:30 GMT https://communities.sas.com/t5/New-SAS-User/Where-to-begin/m-p/691854#M24867 ballardw 2020-10-15T14:45:30Z