[softwaredoug]

One conundrum is most companies with mature HR will in-house recruiting. So having your own representation doesn’t help you here, which removes a huge segment of the market.

The hiring manager is the actual buyer in the transaction anyway. The recruiter just gets you in front of the hiring manager. And since the manager can’t juggle inbound from dozens of randos it’s the recruiters job to source people.

In the end the closest you can get to this buyer is through your network or through a different angle entirely: consulting.