Answer: When you have money to burn, just want bodies in the door by a certain date, and don't really care about quality or fit of candidates you hire. Longer

Answer: When you have money to burn, just want bodies in the door by a certain date, and don't really care about quality or fit of candidates you hire. Longer Answer: Recruiters fuck up. A lot. They work on commission, so it's just a numbers game to them. They screen out good candidates because they look for interviewing skills, or communication / sales skills, or ability to complete LinkedIn profiles... signals that aren't nearly as important to the job as they are to the job application process. Additionally, recruiters don't tend to have the background to know how to screen technical talent. You are the best judge of your company needs and culture. Hiring the wrong person is very costly -- money, time, productivity, and frustration. Hire an incompetent manager, and you may lose the entire team of junior talent under him. With all this in mind, it's always OK to carve out some time for interviews. You know first-hand what really matters and what you're really looking for -- you can make the judgement call on compromises in real-time. What I tell my clients who say they can't find talent is to make sure they have built up their farm system. Budget time for their team members to network and socialize -- as part of work. Make sure it's the sort of place where your current employees want to tell their friends about job openings. Sponsor some Meetup groups, host some public lunch and learns, participate in career fairs, be active on social media... way better use of your company resources than paying recruiter commission.