THE STOCK MARKETS
may be choppy, but not the hiring markets. The Securities Industry
Association says the number of jobs in the field grew by 2,500 in April, after
expanding by 600 in March and 4,200 in February. As a result, some 787,000
individuals are now employed in the securities industry. This matches the
employment level of May 2000.
This is all good news to the folks at BrokerHunter.com, the
online recruiting site for broker/dealers that's celebrating its fifth anniversary.
The Cumming, Ga.-based site was launched in May 2000 by former
broker and Missouri native Steve Testerman, 56, and his sons David 33 and
Jeff, 31. "We were making money within two months," the senior Testerman
says, "and we were profitable in the first year."
Steve had worked for IBM and other players in the computer
industry for 20 years and then switched paths to become a broker in 1990.
During the dot-com craze, David jumped into recruiting in 1999 from brokerage
work, and then his father and brother became interested in it, too. (Both
Steve and David worked for J.C. Bradford and then Interstate/Johnson Lane,
before it was bought by Wachovia.)
"The online resume-based system seemed ridiculous for
the securities business," Steve says. He decided to work with his son
and figure out what type of job site would best match what the securities
industry needed. "Managers want gross production, assets under management,
years in the business, licenses and Form U4/compliance information,"
he explains.
The Testermans spent a lot of time setting up a database
for these details, which could be sifted through as new job announcements
come in. A good thing, too. The database now covers more than 40,000 advisors
and some 2,500 firms such as Merrill Lynch and Morgan Stanley, both nationally
and at the branch level.
When job candidates match the criteria specified by the hiring
firm, they receive an email stating that they can apply for a specific post.
And hiring firms can limit or block applicants based on their "SmartAd"
criteria.
"Firms love it," Steve says. "It's proactive
on both sides."
"That's why we've been so successful," he adds.
"It saves the recruiting manager a lot of time, because we do the processing
automatically. At other websites, it's so hard to find people among the many,
many names."
The site was picked as one of the best in the recruiting
business by Weddle's Guides, which reviews more than 6,000 online locations,
as well as by HiringAide, TopJobSites.com and WhoToChoose.com.
"We've made money because there's always demand for
a good broker and producer," Steve explains. "And we had a different
model [than existed in the industry at the time we started this business]."
Indeed. Brokerage firms can place a 60-day "SmartAd"
for $345 - or they can pay a recruiter 6 percent of a new hire's 12-month
trailing production.
As Steve admits, "The big hitter isn't our forte."
That's what recruiters focus on best, while BrokerHunter.com helps advisors
[with as little as $50,000 in production and trainees, as well as other securities
industry disciplines]
The most rewarding part of running such as website is getting
feedback from clients. "Thank you for existing," is what one successful
job searcher wrote to Steve.
Over the past five years, BrokerHunter.com has had to change
its technology to "stay ahead" of rivals and maintains its "productivity
advantage," he adds. "Its an expensive proposition, but we must
update."
As for recent industry changes, Steve says, "More and
more, there's a move to low-cost providers via technology that can be used
in the office, in the car, at home and elsewhere." Gone with the Quotron
machines of yesterday, which kept reps behind the desk is [also] the need
for brokers to work in fancy high-rent offices in high-rise towers, he notes.
Today, a small office in a strip mall or office park will do.
"We advise reps to stay where they are," Steve
explains, "but when the time to capitalize on their good name and the
business they've built arrives, they should try us out."
Reproduced from RESEARCH Magazine.
July 2005
