I got my current position through a recruiter, and I was really impressed. Dropped him an email on a Saturday morning letting him know I was looking for a new p

I got my current position through a recruiter, and I was really impressed. Dropped him an email on a Saturday morning letting him know I was looking for a new position, and by the afternoon he'd come back with four potential employers who he figured were a good fit, and followed through with the interviews. Also negotiated salary, which was great. On the other hand, I've had some really bad experiences, especially from the employer's perspective. Loads of totally unsuitable candidates, lies about their experience (like the one with "10 years of Rails experience")… I think that you probably need to build up a relationship with a good recruiter, and I'm not convinced there are many of them.