[totalZero]

I wouldn't want to hire someone who goes behind the back of the recruiter who did the work to connect the company with a prospective employee. It seems demonstrative of a lack of ethics.

[andrewxdiamond]

Seems obvious in isolation like that, but the employer probably wouldn’t know you skipped past the recruiter. All they would know is that you came to them direct, and direct hires are a lot cheaper

[totalZero]

Depends on the industry, I guess. Recruiters in my industry tend to interact directly with the hiring managers and it would be pretty obvious.