When they decide to change firms, brokers traditionally have relied on word of mouth and executive recruiters. Now there is another option: Web sites designed to match brokers and employers.

The sites -- BrokerHunter.com (www.brokerhunter.com), Brokersbullpen LLC (www.bro-kersbullpen.com), WallStJobs.com (www.wallstjobs.com) and Private-Clientpro (www.privateclientpro.net) -- claim to provide an easy, anonymous way to find a job, with safeguards such as blind email accounts that protect broker identity.

Don't expect electronic services to provide the high-intensity matchmaking of executive recruiters. Evan Sadowski of Brokersbullpen calculates his site's success rate at about 3 percent of listed candidates. By contrast, traditional executive recruiters -- who admittedly work with a more select group of brokers -- say they find matches for about 80 percent of candidates.

"You're not going to find big high-net-worth teams shopping themselves on Web sites," says New York executive recruiter Mark Elzweig.

For those interested in taking a look, the following is a firm-by-firm profile:

Brokersbullpen LLC is a year-old broker job site that has helped arrange 28 job changes, according to founder Evan Sadowski. He says his Neptune, N.J.-based service usually lists 65 reps at any one time and that a hiring deal typically occurs in less than a month. In one case, he arranged a hire within four hours.

A former brokerage firm tech executive, Sadowski says he interviewed retail managers before creating the site and its job-search model, in which employers pay $500 to list their minimum requirements. Responding reps receive a pre-qualification phone interview. If a candidate meets an employer's specifications, Brokersbullpen notifies the manager and keeps tabs on the process. If a candidate and a potential employer haven't come closer after a month, Sadowski may suggest moving on.

According to Sadowski, the typical broker listing on Brokersbullpen has eight years of experience, less than $8 million in assets and $143,000 in production.

Launched in 2000, Broker-Hunter.com is the oldest broker Web site. It is also the best securities industry niche job site (as well as the tenth-best niche job site overall), according to topjobsites.com.

BrokerHunter, which charges employing firms $295 to post a job for 60 days, was created by Steve Testerman, formerly a broker with Interstate/Johnson Lane and J.C. Bradford. Based on his own experience in changing firms, Testerman asks brokers 74 questions covering their gross production, assets under management, U-4 compliance record and specific registrations. He also asks brokers to document the amount of assets that would follow a move.

Testerman says BrokerHunter's defining feature is technology that emails a rep whenever an employing firm posts a new ad that matches a candidate's qualifications -- or emails a branch manager when a new candidate meets the manager's criteria.

According to Testerman, the average rep on BrokerHunter has five years of experience, $24 million in assets and $240,000 in trailing 12-month commissions.

WallStJobs.com, a three-year-old offering for all securities industry jobs, plans to expand beyond its current New York and Boston base to cover the eastern U.S. by the end of the year. Co-founder Robert Graber says that about one-quarter of the site's listings are for retail reps, ranging from junior-level brokers to high-end producers. The average job seeker has five- to 10-years' experience -- usually at a major wirehouse -- and between $10 million and $40 million under management. Job hunters post a minimum acceptable salary on the site, which is designed to show all jobs listed. Candidates contact the employer directly.

PrivateClientpro is a "free" resource for brokers begun this past September by recruiter Eric Gershman of Consultants Period and several partners. Gershman notes that more than 3,100 reps have listed on the service.

He says the site is unique because it contains hard-to-get information about branch offices of every major firm in the nation. Managers pay to receive inquiries from brokers and to expand their branch office listing. Brokers post information anonymously at no cost and can send free queries to managers, who may only respond if brokers authorize contact. The site also features a calculator to determine the size of the recruiting bonus and whatever upfront cash might accompany a change of firm.

According to Gershman, the average ClientPro-listed broker has seven years of experience, $30 million in assets and $275,000 in trailing 12-month commissions.

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Tony Chapelle