SAS® by SAS Institute remains to be the most popular and widely used tool in the world in the area of Data Analytics. Therefore, if you are interested in pursuing a career in analytics or upgrading your existing analytics career using SAS, it makes immense sense to become a SAS certified professional. In the recently concluded Analytics Seminar conducted by Data Brio Academy in December 2014, our alumni Soumil Mukherjee shared his experience in preparing and becoming a certified SAS Professional in Base SAS, Advanced SAS, and SAS Business Analyst modules. Today we will discuss how to prepare for Base SAS certification.
Base SAS certification
This is the basic module of SAS certification. Though It is not mandatory to write this module first and you have the option of writing Advanced SAS first if you want, it is advised to write this first as this is the easiest module.
Coverage of topics
Base SAS deals mainly with data handling and data manipulation. The topics in this module are –
- Import and export raw data files
- Manipulate and transform data
- Combine SAS data sets
- Create basic detail and summary reports using SAS procedures
- Identify and correct data, syntax and programming logic errors
There are typically 60-65 multiple-choice and short-answer questions covering the above topics. Qualifying marks or pass percentage is 70%.
How do I enroll for the Base SAS exam?
SAS certification exams are online exams to be written in Prometric centers (Pearson VUE) in the city of your choice. You can search for the nearest center here https://www6.pearsonvue.com/testtaker/registration/SelectTestCenterProximity/SAS/1468467
To register for an exam, click here – http://www.pearsonvue.com/sas/
The fees for the exam is USD 180.
How do I prepare for the Base SAS exam?
There are many ways one can prepare for this exam. You can take training at SAS Institute or one of their partners which costs between Rs. 70,000 to Rs. 1.5 lakhs based on the duration and nature of the program. There are many online resources available (a few are listed below) that you can use for self-learning and preparation. If you are already working on SAS, then self-learning may be adequate for writing exams.
Will Data Brio Academy’s programs help me prepare for SAS certification?
Data Brio Academy offers specific programs on the SAS tool and SAS certification for both Base and Advanced SAS. Data Brio Academy also offers a comprehensive analytics program that covers concepts and application of analytics using SAS and many other tools like SPSS, R, Tableau, etc. Many of our alumni have completed the Base and Advanced SAS certification successfully after attending these programs.
Useful SAS resources
SAS certification website – http://support.sas.com/certify/index.html
More on Base SAS topics – http://support.sas.com/certify/creds/bp.html
Little SAS Book – http://www.sas.com/store/prodBK_65423_en.html
Useful LinkedIn Group – https://www.linkedin.com/groups/SAS-Users-Group-4000846
We wish you the best in your journey towards SAS certification in the new year!
Many of our students have done Global SAS certifications from SAS Institute. If you are interested to know more about our program on SAS programming and certification and/or other courses in data science, analytics or big data, please visit Data Brio Academy website.