Hacker News Reader

True, but also consider that you're the product in this case, and the salesman (in many cases) doesn't care who he makes the sale to. It may be better to first research and shortlist companies that you want to target, and then find a recruiter who has them as a client? Never done that myself, so don't know how practical it might be.

View on HN

Ultimately it comes down to how many expectations you're placing on the company you work for. If you're one of those who vets the company harder than the company vets prospects, then by all means cut out the middleman and do the legwork yourself. A hired gun is just going to get in the way.

If your job is just a vehicle to enable your lifestyle, like mine, then you'll be able to establish a set of criteria and only work with a recruiter that respects those criteria.

That's why it's helpful to find and maintain relationships with the good recruiters. Really good recruiters are a very rare extremely valuable thing. They know how to find companies that are a good match and understand the time investment on both sides on the hiring spectrum. They are also good at identifying qualifications and requirements to avoid wasting time when it shouldn't be.

Good recruiters very much care about their reputation, because a sale isn't always a sale when either side ends up unhappy.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com