Actually, I'd see agents as a replacement for most recruiters, so it wouldn't add an additional gatekeeper the way I see it. Now you have candidate - recruiter

Actually, I'd see agents as a replacement for most recruiters, so it wouldn't add an additional gatekeeper the way I see it. Now you have candidate - recruiter - perhaps HR or company recruiter - manager, whereas you would simply replace the recruiter with an agent. In my vision, the agent would have a relationship with the candidate and often the hiring manager (that is true in my case, but I may be unique), so it would only be one degree of separation. You would be able to choose an agent to represent you, so if you don't want to choose the ones you hate, choose the one that you actually might like! (There has to be one, no?) I agree with your comments about portfolio, and clients are asking for GitHub info and such. I think that is where it is heading as well, but many engineers would still like someone else to do the job search legwork, negotiating, resumes, etc, which is where an agent comes in.