[hackercomplex]

In my view the entire problem is that developers in general have been brainwashed into beliving that they are better off dealing with recruiters when in fact the best thing they could do for themselves would be to do their homework, that is, research companies that are hiring, figure out who to contact, and write a personalized introduction email.

If you do that then you have two things in your favor already..

1. you are cheaper to hire because there are no recruitment feeds associated with you.

2. you showed some initiative to zero them out, and you demonstrated that you have creative writing skills which are an important trait in software development

[city41]

These are the bread and butter tactics of What Color Is Your Parachute. Still a relevant book, even in the tech industry IMO.