Pros
I was approached by SAS for a specific sales role and after an initial discussion I was invited into a stringent interview process.
SAS UK are clearly a business who care a great deal about attracting the right kind and best talent in the market and then focus hugely on retaining them.
My interview process consisted of 5 separate interviews, all very professionally run, culminating in a panel interview in front of management figures from around the business. Finally I was interviewed by the SAS UK MD before an offer was made.
Throughout the interview process I was kept constantly up to date by a very organised and supportive HR team, who provided exactly what I needed in order to best prepare for each stage.
Having been in SAS for a month now, I can also comment on the initial few weeks on-boarding.
On day 1 I turned up at their 144 acre country estate HQ and within an hour was provided with my pass badge, iPad, iPhone 5 and slim-line laptop so I could get straight on with my self-learning.
I was subsequently given access to all the usual online HR services to provide details, sign forms and select my benefits etc. This was all very simple, easy and the benefits are very very good, with the exception of annual holiday entitlement, which, being a US Software company, is lacking (25 days).
I have now been through the intensive on-boarding training, where each business area lead presents to you in an small group (of other new-starters) for 1.5 hours each. This provided an absolutely invaluable opportunity to get right up to speed very quickly.
All in all my experience so far in SAS UK has been absolutely fantastic.
Cons
Holiday entitlement in the UK (currently 25 days p/a) needs to be addressed and pulled in line with other high performance UK businesses (30 - 35 days p/a).
