The new(ish) free SAS University Edition software enables you to start learning about core parts of SAS Software, and as recommended by others posting on this thread, you should download it so you can get started with learning how to use SAS. Free online tutorials are also available from SAS Institute that address basic/core SAS programming topics, and SAS' publications arm (SAS Press) has released several books that are tailored to folks who want to use the UE to learn core SAS tools. SAS Institute and third-party vendors also offer online, as well as classroom based, instruction on a wide range of SAS Software capabilities. So, there are many ways to teach yourself and to learn from others about SAS tools. Depending on where you live you may find an active local or regional SAS users group that holds periodic meetings. Attending them will give you some exposure not only to SAS Software itself, but others using it in the "real world" who can potentially help you find work in the field. The issue of "SAS Certification" is often a controversial one in the SAS user community. I think it is a mistake to assume that if you pass one or more of SAS Institute's certification exams you will "get a job." Certification(s) may bolster your chance to compete for a job, but it will not guarantee you a new a job. There are a lot of people who are "SAS Certified" who cannot find jobs using the product and there are not a small number of people who have managed to pass the exams who cannot successfully apply SAS tools in the workplace, for a variety of reasons. In my opinion, one of the major limitations of ANY multiple choice exam about ANY software product is that the test rewards rote memorization rather than how someone would conceptualize a solution to a problem. They also do not measure what I call "information seeking" skills, which are critical to success in apply SAS tools to data. Given some data and a problem to solve, how will you go about creating that solution? Are you able to look up, and then apply, in the SAS documentation manuals, online resources, user group proceedings, etc. what others have written about the problem on which you are working? Or, will you just sit at your computer and stare at the screen until someone else gives you the answer? I would personally work with someone who is eager to "look it up," to try different ways to solve a problem, and to determine the optimal solution to that problem than someone who just "memorized the book." Most employers will test your knowledge of SAS and of your information-seeking skills as part of the interview process. Certification in SAS is, in my view, a way to demonstrate to a potential employer that you may be suitable for the job at hand. But, you will only get that job if you can demonstrate both the technical and interpersonal skills needed at that workplace, neither of which come with "SAS Certified" credentials.
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