Ok, I have to ask this question that is sooo relevant and yet is not the typical comfy "please help me understand this SAS procedure" question.
I have learned extensively from the book "Learning SAS by Example". I feel that I know SAS enough now to use it, at least for typical uses. I come from a background in chemistry, toxicology, and public health. There are some jobs within this field that require SAS knowledge, particularly in epidemiology and biostats. That has been my initial motivation for learning SAS, although if job opportunities branch out beyond that, that would be fine.
Now I come to the question of certification. I can spend the time and money to get as many certs as I need. I learn quickly and given the proper resources can pass most tests. However, it has become apparent to me that getting a base SAS cert in and of itself may only marginally improve my marketability. While I think it is worth it, I do not feel it is enough. Then the question becomes, what would add more to this in terms of supply demand economics. The best thing to have is umpteen + years of experience in SAS programming, but, well, that takes umpteen years and you have to start somewhere. So, I am asking, based on the experience of SAS programmers here, what, in their experience, lands marketability from the perspective of SAS certs. Advanced programming? I have read that SAS Certified Predictive Modeler Using SAS Enterprise Miner 7 opens up doors. Is this accurate?
These are very relevant questions. In today's job market it is not enough to just learn skills. You need to really focus on where the bang for the buck is, or you risk spending a lot of time (and perhaps money) chasing marginal returns. The goal of the SAS forum is to encourage people to learn and use SAS, as this maintains SAS as a viable and important platform, hence benefiting the SAS institute. So, with that said, any advice and/or insight would be greatly appreciated and is very much within the mission of this forum. Thank you.
