Passing the SAS Base 9 Certification Test

I completed the SAS Base 9 exam just after it's production release last July. Since I'm often seeing questions regarding the certification tests on the SAS listserv, I thought I would post some of my thoughts regarding the experience. Call it a preemptive strike.

First, let me say I definitely recommend the prep guide, available here. As with all SAS Publishing books it's expensive and dense, but the practice exams are helpful and it remains a useful reference after you've used it to pass the test. SAS also offers online test preparations which are similar to the prep book, but integrate actual syntax writing and a comprehensive practice test. They are more than twice as much, but when I was preparing SAS was offering a free 90 day "desk copy" to educators. That offer appears to be gone, but a list of current discounts on prep materials and exam fees is available here.

This was my first time taking a SAS certification test so I can't really comment on whether things are different or not compared to other SAS exams, but a few things that stuck out in my mind were:

1) It was harder than I expected it to be. I ultimately did fine on it, but I really expected it to be easier based on the prep guide. For example, while reading the guide I had no problem with the chapter tests, but the practice exam and the actual exam seemed much harder. I'll admit the seat did get a little warm in the beginning when I thought I might have to shell out $150 to take the test again. However, the questions became easier as the test progressed.

2) Some of the stuff on the test was not covered in the prep guide. There were not enough questions that weren't covered to make you fail if you only used the prep guide, but it appears they do expect you to have knowledge other than that presented in the guide.

3) The test tries to be very tricky. I think this was my biggest problem with both the practice and actual exam. They throw some things in there that you would never do or never expect anyone to do in real life. This is actually probably a good thing as far as assessing understanding goes. You really have to know the processes and what results they generate to get the questions correct, but it's very frustrating from a test taker's perspective. You have to check every minute detail to make sure they didn't slip in a "GOTCHA!". For this reason I *highly* recommend one of the practice exams so that you can get a feel of some of the common tricks. Also, it allows you to mark and return to as many questions as you like during the test so make sure to leave enough time to go back through and look for these things.

4) This seems ridiculous to me, but the first couple of pages of the test are terms and agreement pages and BEWARE! the time you spend on these pages counts to the total 2 hours you have to take the test. It makes no sense at all to expect people to read a couple of pages of legalese while time is ticking away on the actual test. Hopefully SAS has changed this since I took my exam; if you know for sure, please leave a comment.

5) Overall, I think the test is OK and about as fair as possible for the format. As someone who has used SAS for about 5 years, I agree with those who think there is some stuff that you have to know in the real-world that a multiple choice format will never be able to test. However, the scrutiny the test requires, while frustrating, helps gauge understanding rather than rote memorization.

Just on a funny side note, when I called to set up the exam the conversation with the person at the front desk went something like:

Me: "Hi, I'd like to take the SAS Base 9 exam?"

Front desk: "SAS?"

Me: "Yes, the Base 9 version, please"

Front desk: "You mean S-A-S...?"

Me: "Yes, the SAS Institute..." (thinking back on it I wonder if he thought I meant the British S-A-S exam :))

Front desk: "Oh here it is...you know, I've been here seven years and never given out a test by this company..."

I guess there's no worry of my local market becoming saturated with certified SAS professionals....

Questions or comments? Please add them below.