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Letters from BATS alumni

Hello Dr. Malott,
I have some good news. I recently accepted a position with Holland Home in Grand Rapids. There website is http://www.hollandhome.org/ if you want to check them out. They have a staff of about 900 people. I will be performing organizational development initiatives and reporting directly to their COO.

Keep in touch,
Ed

Dr. M.,
I want to thank you for encouraging an undergraduate biological anthropology major to instead pursue applied behavior analysis. Further, I would like to thank you for promoting that undergraduate to the behavioral big leagues as a masters student in BATS. You see, it is your fault that a snot-nosed undergrad with little direction got his act together and got into graduate school. I think it is safe to say that without your early intervention, I'd probably be feather-dusting the remains of Australopithecus ramidus in some moldy museum of natural history (oh, the humanity!).
I think, most significantly, I blame you for the development of a behavioral repertoire that made pursuing a PhD in behavior analysis possible. Without said repertoire, I think it would be safe to say that a PhD would not have been a consideration.
Thank you, Dr. Malott, for your considerable contributions to my academic and professional development. Finally, thank you for your service on my dissertation committee. You were responsible for my first steps on this journey, and it was only appropriate that you were there at the end.

Warm Southern California Regards,
Don

Dr.Malott,
It has been long long since I talked to you last time.
I have been a graduate student at UNR and working with several wonderful faculty members and senior students. What I learned in a professional context in BATS has been very valuable to work with other people efficiently... Because I could easily see how others are immature about working with others cooperatively.
Anyhow, before the message gets too long, I am e-mailing you mainly because I decided to take a BACB test in June 2004, and figured that I needed your confirmation signature that I had enough supervised experience (20 hours a week 9 monthes relevant to applied behavior analysis). I could be in Kalamazoo on 27th of Feb if you are on campus since I will be in Michigan around that time.

Thank you,
Yukiko Washio

Dick and Alyce,
I have decided to take a position as a behavior clinician with the Columbus Organization. The director of the psychology area of the treatment center is Dr. Steve Sundby, whom I believe both of you know. The center is the Fort Wayne State Developmental Center in Fort Wayne, Indiana and it provides in-house services for about 272 individuals. Dr. Sundby told me he would hire all of the Western graduates he could.
If you have any students that are interested in employment opportunities, I can direct them to a few different organizations that I interviewed with that have immediate needs. Anyways, I wanted to thank both of you for your support and tutelage over the years and I look forward to seeing you this year in Boston.

Best wishes,
Eric

Dr. Malott,
Hi. I just wanted to send you a quick e-mail, and say that I am having a great time at Headsprout. I thought it would be fun before I came, but I had no idea. And of course, Seattle is perfect. I started last Tuesday and I've already learned an unbelievable amount. How are things going in Kalamazoo?
Have a great day,
Melinda

9-22-03

Hi Dr. Malott,
Things here are going well. Timothy and I just got back from a much needed long weekend up in Traverse City and Mackinac Island for our second anniversary. I am still helping Timothy run the business and really enjoying it. It wasn't something that I had planned on doing long term, but with the rate we are growing, it just kind of happened. My main role is with the project management and the employee management as well. It has its challenges for sure, but it has many rewards. Fortunately, we haven't felt the downturn in the economy as many of the larger businesses in our field. The biggest issue we seem to run into is time, not enough of it.
I'm still teaching dance classes for a studio in Portage as well, mostly ballet but some jazz and tap. That takes up a couple of evenings a week and keeps me sane. I think I told you about the 14 year old girl with Cerebral Palsy that I was teaching tap to. Her goal was to be able to get up on stage and dance for the first time and she did a very cute tap solo, there wasn't a dry eye in the house. She was for sure my hardest working student and I think I learned as much from her as she did from me.
Other than that, not much new here. Hope all is well with you. Keep in touch.

-Christi

Hi Everyone,
Timothy and I wanted to share some exciting news with all of you. We are expecting our first child on July 3rd! I apologize for the mass e-mail. There are so many people dear to us that we wanted to share our news with that e-mail seemed like the best way to let everyone know. We are very excited about this blessing. So far I am feeling fine, a little more tired than usual and hungry all of the time, but other than that, I can't complain.
Thank you for letting us share our excitement with you.

See you all soon!
-Christi and Timothy

Hi Dr. Malott

Dr. Kaye had asked me recently about my job hunting experience and what I thought about the current job market for behavior analysts. I thought I would pass on some of these thoughts to you.

In December, I put my resume up on the ABA job site and applied to about 10 jobs through that site. That was the extent of marketing myself. I had a great response from just about everyone I sent the resume to. There seems to be a very strong demand around the country, particularly in CA, TN, KY, FL, and the northeast US for behavior analysts. Most jobs at the MA level were paying between 45 and 60 thousand per year. I ended up taking a position as a behavior analyst in Florida at the Florida Institute for Neurologic Rehabilitation (FINR). It's a facility that treats people who have had traumatic brain injuries. They didn't seem to mind that I didn't have any experience whatsoever working with that population.

However, the BCBA certification does seem to hold a lot of weight here in FL, and it was a definite asset with many other employers that I talked to. One of the biggest factors working in my favor was the ABA background. Functional assessment, writing, implementing, and monitoring behavior plans is a large part of what I do daily. These are, of course, competencies that I was able to get in the PPP program. Thanks much for that. I had those skills prominently displayed on my resume too.

OBM skills, in my opinion, may have played a lesser role in getting me hired at this particular organization, but are absolutely invaluable in getting things done on a daily basis. There are tons of "disconnects" in the system I am in, as there are in all systems. The BATS program was an excellent training ground for learning how to work through disconnects, implement continuous quality improvement, train staff, and cut through the mentalistic crapola to get to the critical variables controlling behavior. If at all possible, everyone should think about getting a blend of professional psych and OBM skills if they are going to work as a behavior analyst, it may take a little longer, but its worth it.

FINR currently has an opening for another behavior analyst, advertised on the ABA website, starting at 45-55K per year. With BATS/ PPP in your pocket, an MA level person could start at the top of that range and with the certification, the starting salary goes up an additional 5K (60K to start). There were other facilities around the US that were offering starting salaries greater than 60k/year but when I figured in cost of living, weather, etc, I decided on this one. We are just outside of the Sarasota, Bradenton area. Its just gorgeous down here. Cost of living is basically the same as Kazoo. All is good, baby is on the way June 1, can't wait.

Thanks

Daniel D. Knittel, MA, BCBA

Just to respond to Dan's email-He is right on. I interviewed in CA and FL and the PPP/BATS experience is definitely what employers in ABA seem to be looking for. I posted my resume in ABA's START page, and I instantly started getting phone calls and emails. I actually had to take my resume down when I took a job, because the response was so positive. Starting salary is generally right at what Dan said, and you definitely do need to consider the cost of living where you'll be going. I was offered the same salaries in San Francisco, San Diego and Southern Florida. So...you definitely need to know that your money isn't going to get you much in San Fran, will go a little farther in San Diego and probably the farthest in Florida.

I would also like to reiterate something that I didn't learn until I graduated---THERE ARE NO GOOD PAYING PPP TYPE JOBS IN WEST MICHIGAN. You could probably get a job doing client-related stuff, but it isn't going to be ABA, and it isn't going to pay near as well. Another thing to consider is that many jobs are willing to support (with money) getting your PhD. Spectrum in San Fran was actually in the process of getting a PhD extension right in their "campus." Ultimately, after all the job talks, I decided to go back to teaching (and I think it was the right thing for me). But I just thought I would add my thoughts to the pile so that it is obvious that Dan's experience will likely be universal for anyone looking for a PPP type job.

Bottom line: if you want a good paying ABA/PPP job, you'll almost undoubtedly have to leave the state of Michigan for one of the coasts.

Tracy