Agreed on most of your points. On recruiters though, I'm on board with finding like 90% of them sleazy, pushy, no knowledge of the industry, don't care about the company or the candidate, just want to complete a placement and make a buck. But I've had mixed at best results trying to find a job without one by applying directly to companies.
For my last job search, I emailed applications to like a dozen companies in my area from the last HN Hiring thread, and heard back from like 2 I think, none of which went anywhere. Maybe they're too slow, didn't like me for some reason, found someone better, etc, I don't know. When I started talking to recruiters, the interviews started coming pretty fast, and I had multiple on-sites and offers in a couple of weeks. It's like, sleazy though they can be, there's a distinct lack of movement in the process without the energy of recruiters.
So I come down more on work with them, but don't trust them too much, know their tricks and watch your back.
And speaking of the author's points - a week-long coding test? A month to complete the "homework project"? Who's doing that? Nope, I'm passing on those companies. A couple of hours is no problem, but pay me if you expect multiple weeks worth of work.
For my last job search, I emailed applications to like a dozen companies in my area from the last HN Hiring thread, and heard back from like 2 I think, none of which went anywhere. Maybe they're too slow, didn't like me for some reason, found someone better, etc, I don't know. When I started talking to recruiters, the interviews started coming pretty fast, and I had multiple on-sites and offers in a couple of weeks. It's like, sleazy though they can be, there's a distinct lack of movement in the process without the energy of recruiters.
So I come down more on work with them, but don't trust them too much, know their tricks and watch your back.
And speaking of the author's points - a week-long coding test? A month to complete the "homework project"? Who's doing that? Nope, I'm passing on those companies. A couple of hours is no problem, but pay me if you expect multiple weeks worth of work.