"If you're thinking "do I really want whoever is hiring me to have to pay a recruiter?" the answer should actually be yes. Why? People who pay recruiters 1-want

"If you're thinking "do I really want whoever is hiring me to have to pay a recruiter?" the answer should actually be yes. Why? People who pay recruiters 1-want someone badly enough to pay extra for them..." This is a point against applying for jobs through recruiters. The use of a recruiter does indicate a desperation on the part of the employer, and an inability to fill the job through more informal means. To me that usually indicates that the company and/or job just isn't very good. Or otherwise they'd have no problem filling the position some other way. Help wanted ads basically indicate the same thing, except that some companies are required to post such ads by law (even when they've already decided to hire someone else). But if they are seriously considering you based on your response to a job ad, then it's another indicator that the job/company is just not good enough to find applicants through more informal channels. So in both cases, I'd really much rather look somewhere else. Of course, there are some exceptions, for really huge and famous companies like Google or Microsoft, which would really have no problem getting plenty of candidates through informal means, but might still advertise or use recruiters for other reasons. So I wouldn't avoid job ads and recruiters in every single case. But I think it's a good rule of thumb, all other things being equal. Of course if I was so desperate that I couldn't find a job through more informal channels, then it might be worth considering job ads and recruiters. But then I'd probably have to reconcile myself to being employed at screwed up company or job.