[mtsmith85]

Yes, there are a lot of things that I think good, solid recruiters bring to the table.

Here's why: I have a great relationship with a couple recruiters that have a) introduced me to opportunities, and b) helped me fill roles as I was hiring. In my past four roles I've worked with a small number of recruiters to place engineers with my team — they know I'm respectful of their time, clear about my expectations, etc. and therefore they work hard to deliver good candidates, filter out the resume "chaff", and communicate realistically about what candidates they see being available. And when it was time for me to move on, besides my own meeting people and talking with different companies, this same set of recruiters supported me through introductions and potential roles. They've helped me as much as I've helped them. Mutual respect is abundantly required when working with recruiters.

I think, though, this requires a willingness to ignore the recruiters that tend towards being ambulance chasers (your cybercoders level), and not-insignificant amount of time "interviewing" and building up relationship with any recruiter I work with (on both sides of the table.)