Hiring Behavior Analysts: Free Gifts at a Booth Increase Verbal Contacts with a Recruiter, but Not Serious Job Inquiries

The job market for certified behavior analysts currently is excellent, which poses a serious challenge for organizations looking to hire such individuals. We evaluated whether the provision of small giveaways at a recruitment booth set up at two behavior-analysis conferences and at a university career fair influenced the relative number of attendees who verbally contacted a recruiter for an organization looking to hire certified and prospective behavior analysts. We also examined whether the provision of gifts influenced the relative number of attendees who left an e-mail address requesting further contact about possible employment. An alternating-treatments design was used to compare the giveaways and no-giveaways conditions. The giveaways items significantly increased the number of attendees who spoke with the recruiter, but not the number who requested further contact. These findings provide support for the use of giveaways items to generally attract attention to a recruiter, but further research is needed to determine whether their use increases applications for employment.