[danielk015]

As a third party executive recruiter, I definitely have to agree with many of the comments and frustrations that have been expressed. Unfortunately, at best the perception of recruiters is that they are a necessary evil sometimes in getting access to job opportunities. No recruiter is perfect and even the best retained ones do some cold calling during the week to establish relationships. However, I do agree the approach should not based on gimmicks and sales tricks, but have the intent to establish good rapport with those that are contacted.

But at the end of the day, a recruiter that is in tune with the market, cold calling should really make up less than 20% of their "deal" flow. Great hires are made through referrals, and great recruiters gets constant networking referrals to keep their pipelines full and their days busy. If the recruiter is doing their job, either they are getting warm leads from their networks when jobs are broadcasted, or their networks is referring strong talent to them.

Like a lawyer or accountant that desires to create a reputable brand in a particular marketplace, recruiters needs to see themselves as resources within this marketplace and not view recruiting as purely a transactional game. From my experience, just because I don't collect a fee does not make a relationship unsuccessful. Providing great customer service and building strong relationships will usually evolve into mutually beneficial interactions in subsequent years.