"I can go onto LinkedIn myself and harvest profiles (as agency recs have to). I can "touch base" with 100+ developers myself if I need to. If that's all the agency recs are doing, they're not adding value"
Exactly. I still don't understand (after 9 years of being in industry and consulting the last 5) why it is too much for a hiring manager to spend some time himeself to vet a candidate esepcially if they will be critical to the team,project and company's success. As much as I hate to work with thetse agency recruiters, the underlying issue is not them. The issue is the employers who depend on these recruiters even though they rant about how bad the quality is etc.
Employers: it is simple. To hire the best, you need to do a lot more than asking agency/vendors to send u resumes/cvs. Interview your recruiter first. Test them if they know and understand what and who you really need. Just saying "PHP developer" doesn't cut it. Provide more specifics. Any good candidate will be more inclined to talk to you.
Exactly. I still don't understand (after 9 years of being in industry and consulting the last 5) why it is too much for a hiring manager to spend some time himeself to vet a candidate esepcially if they will be critical to the team,project and company's success. As much as I hate to work with thetse agency recruiters, the underlying issue is not them. The issue is the employers who depend on these recruiters even though they rant about how bad the quality is etc.
Employers: it is simple. To hire the best, you need to do a lot more than asking agency/vendors to send u resumes/cvs. Interview your recruiter first. Test them if they know and understand what and who you really need. Just saying "PHP developer" doesn't cut it. Provide more specifics. Any good candidate will be more inclined to talk to you.