Working with an external recruiter who I assume charges a contingency fee of 25% of your first year salary is really important, actually, and may be undermining

Working with an external recruiter who I assume charges a contingency fee of 25% of your first year salary is really important, actually, and may be undermining your relations with these companies. If they hire someone who costs $200K/year, they pay the recruiter $50K. Just to get someone to sign and stay for a month. Since hiring someone is so costly to them, they must be extremely certain that it's worth it. So by choosing to work through a recruiter, you are, in a sense, inviting some of these demands on yourself. There are lots of other ways to find work and be found by potential employers.