<i>Disclaimer: I&#x27;ve used recruiters to find every job I&#x27;ve had other than the first one</i><p>So have I. I really don&#x27;t get the whole &quot;I hate recruiters&quot; thing. Sure there are crappy ones. Tell them you found a job if you don&#x27;t want them spamming you any more.<p>To me, a recruiter is a tool: I tell them the kind of work I want to do, the salary I want and where I want my career to go. Then we discuss the leads they have and why I do&#x2F;don&#x27;t want them. If it&#x27;s not working out, we end the relationship. If they aren&#x27;t sending me good leads, I find another recruiter: it&#x27;s not like they&#x27;re hard to find. However, if they can listen and fine tune the leads, I have found that they are a great way to help <i>me</i> understand what I want in a job.<p>Last time I was looking, my recruiter (nice company: took time to understand me, bought me lunch at a nice restaurant, etc.) pointed out that he was finding tons of jobs that my skills matched, but none that paid as much as I wanted. I remembered that my current job was partially technical leadership, and that gave him the insight to look at a slightly different category and he found me a great fitting position shortly afterwards.