Thread by @abi_grif

After 10+ years in the public sector, I joined SAS Software at the end of 2022. I’ve spent most of the last decade analysing data for the public good - I hope to continue this but from a different angle. Here’s a thread about my learning curve in SAS. #government #SASLife

Week 1: Induction was a nice ease into a new company and the people were lovely. In one of the many meet & greet sessions someone suggested I should keep notes about my early days - turned out to be good advice as now I can post this. #SASLife

Week 2: Still finding my way, completing compulsory e-learning and technical training courses. I was always the biggest critic of point and click but changing my mind now I’ve seen Viya in action. Also comforting to find that I can keep using Python with Viya #datascience #viya

Week 3: Things are starting to come together, I understand more about the role of different teams and where I can add value. Realising that I don’t need to be an expert in all of the different tech solutions – also now know what a polyglot data scientist is. #datascience #SASLife

Week 4: Represented SAS at the Government Statistical Service (GSS) Conference. Great to be able to use my previous experience to relate to our customers & starting to get a feel for the changing landscape of using open source. #government #datascience #SASLife

Week 5: A weeks leave and a chance to reflect. The last month has been hectic and I’ve struggled thinking that I didn’t know anything. So glad for SAS e-learning courses to help me work out how to complete tasks in Viya. #impostersyndrome #datascience #viya #SASLife

Week 6: Short week focusing on environmental, social and governance (ESG) research and SAS training courses. A bit lost in research on ESG issues and don’t feel like I’m making much progress – I know it’s important but not yet sure how it ties in with SAS. #ESG #viya #SASLife

Week 7: Joined customer meetings with sales & was able to follow conversation thanks to ESG research last week. Felt positive being able to add value because of customer knowledge - also terrified when asked to present a demo due to lack of technical SAS expertise #viya #SASLife

Week 8: Another busy week with lots of SAS learning. I attended industry days which left me with more questions and a larger list of things to research/learn about. Starting to panic again that there is just so much to learn and I really want to be good at SAS again #SASLife

Week 9: Taken a step back & feeling a bit calmer. Recognising a pattern to life at SAS; I find out more about something, then realise I have more questions—but that’s good. Staying curious and continuous learning are both essential. #SASLife

Week 10: things got busy pretty quickly, but it's been good to get experience supporting customers with their analytics challenges. Feeling settled into SAS now, so keep an eye on updates from @SASsoftware & tune into #SASChat for weekly discussions on topics of interest