This does not mean that all your files need to be covered–I’m currently trying to figure out how to exclude classes that are nothing more than property-bags, but having the go/no-go is pretty nice.

I had forgotten about this post until I saw your comment come in. It’s been three and a half years so I think an update is in order.

I still think what I said is true for body/bullpen shops. That being said, I do think that there are recruiters and recruitment firms that do offer a valid and valuable service. I have since had the pleasure of working with a few recruitment companies that do take the time to learn my company’s business and really try to find good fits for my teams. I also am now at a point in my career where I have control over which recruiters I use so that I can avoid working with the ones that I disparage above.

I’ve also worked with some more professional recruiters from the job seeking standpoint that have had the experience to offer good career and interviewing advice. I was pretty surprised (pleasantly of course) when this happened. It didn’t end up as a good fit in that case but it wasn’t the fault of the recruiter.

So yes, this original posting was one-sided in a sense and not all firms fall into the above critique. Maybe a better title now would be “Why use a bullpen recruiter?”

While searching for information in support of my chosen field, I am disappointed with the outlook that you’ve given here, and can only assume it is based on overall bad experiences. I would guess that at some point in your illustrious career that you have dealt with someone that fulfills the duties of a “professional” recruiter, and it’s sad to say that you make no mention of the positives that can come from working with a recruiting service.