I don’t get why it’s so hard to find good recruiters. I’ve had relationships with reputable recruiters for 20 years.

I think for some of us it is just our only recruiter experience are the folks who talk to you and never call back who work for a specific company, and the folks who want to spam your resume or something. It's hard to know who is who.

When a recruiter reaches out to you on LinkedIn, check to see whether the company they work for is local to the area.

I just picked a random city -Boston - and Google’d “Boston software recruiters”. I found two or three just now.

Even with the job boards, recruiters post jobs thier and instead of sending your resume, talk to them. If you have the skills, and interview well, they will be more than happy to work with you. They get a 20% finders fee from the company you are eventually hired through and it doesn’t affect your salary.

If they won’t give you the information for the hiring company when you ask - don’t deal with them. Also, don’t be shady. Don’t go behind the recruiters back, make sure you aren’t being submitted by more than one company and make sure they always ask before they submit your resume.

The general rule of thumb is not to tell them your current salary. I’ve never gone by that rule. I always tell them the minimum salary I want - and no “target compensation” and bonuses don’t count - and don’t waste my time discussing any company that can’t meet my requirements.

I’ve had them negotiate on my behalf after a company was interested for more than the salary the company offered. The more I make the more they make.