I get a lot of questions about using recruiters in my clients’ job search, so I wanted to dive into this topic and my perspective on the role of recruiters in your job search. First, some definitions are in order. I am talking about a third-party recruiter rather than a person who works in the company you want to work for as a recruiter. Third-party recruiters work for a recruiting firm and find candidates for a large number of employers.  In its most simple form, there are two types of third-party recruitment firms: Retained Search and Contingency.  Retained Search firms are hired with exclusivity by a company to find a candidate for that company. They are paid regardless of the outcome of the search and are often involved in every aspect of the hiring process including market research, evaluating internal bench strength, locating candidates, conducting initial interviews, and bringing 2-3 top candidates forward to the company. They may also negotiate compensation packages. Retained Search firms are typically used for jobs at about $150K and above annual salary.  A retained search recruiter, often called an executive recruiter, will only be reaching out to people to possibly match the criteria laid out by the company they are currently hiring for. Because these searches are highly specialized and labor intensive, an executive recruiter doesn’t have the bandwidth to spend much, if any, time getting potential candidates into a database for possible future positions. They are working on the job search right in front of them – and they will only conduct a handful of these each year.  Contingency firms are one of many – a company may send their job notice out to a half-dozen firms to increase the likelihood of finding the best candidate quickly. Only the firm that puts forth the winning candidate gets paid, so it is a race. Because of this, you may get contacted by contingency recruiter not for a currently available position, but to get you in their database for future roles – so be sure to ask about this if you are contacted.  When I am working with a client to create their customized job search strategy, they are often surprised that I have “reach out to recruiters I already have a relationship with” as a passive job search strategy – they think it should be an active strategy.  The reason I consider reaching out to recruiters as a passive job search strategy is because you have no control over what positions they are hiring for at that time. Recruiters tell me that, for every position they have available, they have 6-10 qualified candidates or more. Also, recruiters don’t make their money from you – they make it from filling roles sent to them by employers. They are not in business to help you.  Note that I said “reach out to recruiters I already have a relationship with” – trying to find a recruiter who is looking for you at the same time you are looking is like looking for a needle in a haystack. If you have existing relationships with recruiters, by all means let them know you’re in the market and send them an updated copy of your resume.  Otherwise, I don’t consider hunting down recruiters to be a good use of your time and job search energy. A better use of your time, in my opinion, is to have a top-notch LinkedIn profile that acts like “recruiter flypaper” – bringing recruiters that are looking for people with your skills, education, and experience TO YOU. While you’re busy engaging in other job search activities.   Now for the “pros” of working with a recruiter: 1.    Access to job opportunities: Recruiters often have access to job openings that may not be publicly advertised, which can increase your chances of finding relevant opportunities. This is particularly true at the executive level, where the only way to find out about an opening is through the executive recruiter.  2.    Industry expertise: Many recruiters specialize in specific industries or types of jobs, giving them in-depth knowledge about trends, companies,