Work with recruiters and agencies

By Justina Lydia · Reviewed 30 Oct 2026 · 3-minute read

A good recruiter can put you in front of roles you'd never find alone. It helps to know who they work for and how they're paid, because that explains most of how they behave.

Three kinds of recruiter

1. In-house recruiters work for one company and fill its roles. If you've applied to a company, this is usually the person who runs the process.
2. Contingency agencies fill roles for many employers and are paid only when a candidate they put forward is hired. An employer may use several agencies for the same role⁠^[1].
3. Retained search firms, often called executive search or headhunters, focus on senior roles. They're paid a fee from the start and usually work on a search exclusively⁠^[1].

That definition of the last two comes from the professional body for executive search firms, so it isn't neutral about which is better. For you, the practical point is that agencies want candidates they can place quickly, and retained firms mostly approach the people they want, in my experience, so a cold application to one tends to do less than a warm introduction.

Recruiters are paid by the employer, never by you

In the US, the Federal Trade Commission says honest placement firms don't typically charge job candidates, because the hiring company pays them, and it advises walking away if a firm asks you for a fee, especially in advance⁠^[2]. In the UK, GOV.UK says recruitment agencies can't charge you a fee for finding or trying to find you work. They can charge for optional extras such as CV writing, but they can't make those a condition of finding you work⁠^[3].

Paid "job placement" or "guaranteed interview" services are different from recruiters. If someone asks for money to get you a job, read spotting job scams before you pay anything.

Make yourself easy to place

Recruiters juggle many roles. Make it easy for them to say "I have someone for this" by having these ready, in your LinkedIn profile and in your first message:

1. A one-line target, such as "Operations manager, healthcare or logistics, 50 to 500 people."
2. Your location, whether you'd relocate, and your right to work there.
3. Your pay range.
4. Your notice period or earliest start date.

A short note to an agency recruiter might read:

Hi [name], I see you place operations roles in healthcare. I'm an operations manager with nine years in software and logistics, most recently cutting onboarding time from 14 days to 6. I'm based in Denver, can start in four weeks, and I'm looking for operations manager roles at [range]. Are you the right person to talk to?

Stay in control of where you're submitted

Before you agree to be put forward, ask which company it is and what the role is. Don't let two agencies submit you for the same role, and don't let an agency submit you somewhere you've already applied. In my experience, a duplicate submission can create a fee dispute that the employer would rather avoid by passing on you. Keep a list of where each agency has sent you, in your tracker.

Reply quickly, even to say no

Reply to recruiter messages within a day or so, even to decline: "Thanks for thinking of me. This one isn't right for me, but I'm looking for [target] and would like to stay in touch." Recruiters remember people who reply, in my experience.

Some recruiter messages are now drafted or sent with AI help. LinkedIn says its Hiring Assistant helps recruiters draft messages and "pre-screens interested candidates"⁠^[4]. Answer screening questions accurately even if they feel automated, because they may decide whether a person looks at your profile.