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The Pillars of an Award-Winning Program
SAS Software & Analytics was selected as a 2024 Campus Forward Award Winner for their unwavering commitment to seeking out and hiring early career talent and investments in nurturing and retaining the next generation of diverse talent. Please see below for the highlights of their approach to early career recruitment.
Standout Candidate Experience
The SAS early career team recognizes the hiring process can be stressful and confusing to students, so they have made efforts to remove some of the obstacles. By hosting a career readiness series focused on resume review, interviewing tips and offers/negotiation, the team has invited students to learn from a recruiter's perspective. Students have seen behind the scenes, which puts them more at ease. The early career team provides the questions for a pre-recorded video interview in advance so students may prepare and are given the chance to re-record an answer they’re not pleased with. This is in alignment with the strategy of looking for potential and removes some added stress in the interview process. With these practices, students can put their best selves forward for candidacy.
Overarching Commitment to Diversity & Inclusion
SAS builds a pipeline of qualified and diverse talent across internship and early career positions by establishing strategic partnerships with Career Services departments at HBCUs to provide professional development opportunities for students. SAS hosts an annual HBCU STEM Connect event to connect students to HBCU Alumni, hear about career opportunities, and learn about using Data for Good. In partnership with NC A&T, SAS launched the HBCU Academic Excellence Program that welcomed six students in STEM-focused majors to participate in mentorship opportunities with SAS employees who are HBCU alum. Students were selected by college advisors based on academic merit, leadership aspirations, and career interests in tech. SAS’ United in STEM Diversity Internship program provides the opportunity to receive mentorship and make meaningful contributions to the organization. Students in the program include individuals who identify as neurodiverse, disabled, Black or African American, Latinx, Indigenous, and other historically underrepresented students of color, female, LGBTQA+ and students affiliated with the US Military – service members, veterans, and military spouses.
Impactful Internship Program
Modeling SAS’ Future of Work Model, the Summer 2023 intern program was hybrid, giving interns the option to work at SAS Headquarters, from home, or a combination of both. To kick off the internship, SAS brought all interns together for InternPalooza, a 3-day onboarding event to set the stage for a summer of meaningful work and opportunities and programs to learn, grow, collaborate, and build community. This immersion in SAS’ unique corporate culture is grounded in its values of authenticity, passion, curiosity, and accountability. At the end of the internship, students have an opportunity to head back to HQ to present their projects at Intern Expo. These challenging projects significantly impact their customers and the company’s bottom-line, so employees and leaders from across the company come to the Intern Expo to listen, learn, and support the interns’ efforts. Some interns have received patents for their work and presented their projects to company executives. The SAS intern program builds intentional pipelines to meet future talent demands with about 60% of technical interns joining SAS full-time upon graduation.