Dear all,As you know from my previous posts that I have taken all your advice on board and decided to look for better opportunities elsewhere along with trying to raise my profile internally for the appraisals, I now have some other dilemma..which option is better, directly applying to the companies through their websites or going through recruitment consultants?Reason to ask this is1. I generally get a positive response for my CV from direct HR of companies whenever I apply for matching profiles without being too ambitious (i.e. not the MBB but the other technology consulting firms etc)2. Does it add more weight if we go through recruitment consultants as a. They may help you prepare your application/CV b. They will help with the process and explain key responses etc. c. They may have better connections with the HR where by they can push for you against other direct candidates?Facing this dilemma also because I have got a call directly from one of the top tech. consultancy firms for the same position for which one recruitment consultant wanted to send my CV to and I had discussed with him that I will go through him. He has not yet sent my CV to them. My previous experience with some other recruitment agency has been good throughout the process except for the fact that they convinced me to take a low offer and at much lower grade than my then one.

Well there are advantages and disadvantages to both, but you should distinguish between the two. Consulting companies get recruiters involved usually when they have struggled or expect to struggle to get the right people. They may have advertised the role/s already and might continue to do so, with reduced spend, while recruitment companies work on the role. If a consulting company can get near identical candidates through a recruiter (and owe a fee) or through their website (no fee) then they will naturally favour the no fee candidate (they are good at discounting the cost of advertising etc from their calculations) - but this assumes that someone is behind the website looking at CVs who knows what they are talking about, is invested in the process in some way, and that the role in question is even being actively recruited for. Many companies leave roles up on websites even when they are not actually recruiting those roles, either through poor web admin or to collate CVs against future hiring. A recruitment firm will usually have some relationships with the organisation, will know the prorities (or are in a position to ask), and will only be working live, priority jobs.If you have been convinced by a recruiter to take a lower salary, at a much lower grade, than before then that recruiter has actually done their job - they are there to serve the client not an applicant. And considering you have sent your CV to the same company you agreed to be represented to by a recruiter, I doubt any RC on here will feel any sympathy for you. Treat people with more respect and you might find they reciprocate.A good recruiter can be invaluable in your job search, and when things are going well.

cloudnumbernine4uIn response to your point/question 2.c - "They may have better connections with the HR where by they can push for you against other direct candidates?" let me assure you that whatever a recruitment agency tells you, this is simply not true. If the company has opened a role to recruitment agencies then the company will want to progress the best candidate(s) for the role, whatever the source of that candidate.The truth - not all roles in management consultancy firms will be open to recruitment agencies. Firms are moving more towards a direct sourcing model so you should ALWAYS check directly on your target company website(s) to see what roles are being advertised and on jobboards such as Top Consultant to see which roles are being advertised. Good recruitment agencies do add value and can often guide you to more than one potential role which might be right for you. They might also be prepared to give you some interview tips. However, they are not in a position to make you a more favourable candidate. My advice is - use a recruitment agency but also look on all your target company websites because it is very likely that you'll be missing out on some roles which are not with a recruitment agency. In-house recruitment teams now have targets to recruit directly, so they will very often open the role on their website and on job boards such as Top Consultant, long before going to an agency and they will only go to an agency when they have to.

Dear Mars,Thanks for a detailed response. It really helps.Regarding sending CV to the direct HR and also through the recruiter, let me assure you I am a thorough professional and would not do this on purpose. After deciding on a job change, I went through specific consultancy websites and applied for appropriate positions. As a case would be, some companies responded immediately while some took time. In this particular case I had already applied to the company and did not get any response for 3 weeks. After this I was contacted by a recruiter who asked me whether I would like to apply for this position. I told him that I have already applied at a couple of positions with that company but havent heard anything back from them. He told me that is fine as he would somehow get my CV off their records and then apply for me. He gave me some tips for CV and asked me to send a copy to him so that he can apply on my behalf. Me being busy with routine consultant's job which runs beyond 12 hours a day could not update my CV for a week. And just today I got a call from the company HR directly telling me that they would like to proceed with my application.After this, I told the HR that I would get back to them and then I immediately spoke to my recruitment consultant and told him that I have been contacted directly by the company HR.I feel I was professional enough to inform him about my application before I told him I would like him to represent me and again when I got directly contacted by the HR I informed him immediately.for this specific case, if you still feel I have made any mistakes in this process or have not done justice to the recruitment consultant, I am happy to learn from it. So any feedback is welcome.For all the other points from your post, thanks , really appreciate your help.

Dear inhouserecruiter,Thanks for this information. Its really nice to know that companies are increasingly moving towards in house recruitement and that the HR people would be able to help with the overall application process as well.As Mars has mentioned, I agree to most of the points that the recruitment consultants are also invaluable for the advice that they provide. I feel its really difficult to find a recruitment consultant who would work for your interest as well as for the employer(I understand this is a difficult task due to conflict of interest sometimes)Mars, by any chance if you know of any good recruitment consultants, please do let me know...!Appreciate all your help..