I don't know how effective it is to go via a recruiter. But it is indeed effective to talk to a technical person directly and establish a rapport. For example,

I don't know how effective it is to go via a recruiter. But it is indeed effective to talk to a technical person directly and establish a rapport. For example, if you wanted a job with Amazon and are qualified, I would say send me a mail. Or go to an Amazon show like RE:Invent and show off your programming skills in a boot camp. You will meet Amazon engineers there. Get their cards and send them a resume. There are github repositories where teams from companies like Amazon (AND twitter/fb/google/ms) actively contribute. Go see how you can improve them and submit a pull request. We not only have systems work happening in AWS - there is work in every aspect from web programming to documentation to distribute systems. IMO, it all comes down to initiative. I have switched about 4 teams now between MS and Amazon and not one of them were via a recruiter. There were extremely talented recruiters who handled the interview logistics, but the jobs themselves happened because people on the ground knew me. Good luck.