That may be oversimplifying things just a bit, but if you are good at everything a recruiter does perhaps you don't need one. Some people do their own taxes, some don't.

What if I were to tell you that, in negotiating a job 15 years ago, you left say 10% of your salary on the table (you took 60 but were worth 66). And every raise you have received since was based on that number in some way, resulting in compounded earnings loss for your career in the tens of thousands? You don't have to believe this scenario is possible, but I talk to people every day who are substantially underpaid for what they do, sometimes for years. If they had an agent who knew their value, negotiating on their behalf, with inside information on what that company pays other people in the same job, they wouldn't have lost tens of thousands over the span of a career.

Your point about recruiters taking money out of your pocket is interesting. You would assume then, if this were true, that companies that use recruiters pay their engineers less? Or perhaps don't pay for hiring internal recruiters? I've never seen any evidence of companies that use recruiters paying less to engineers - have you?

I guess the alternate theory is that firms that use agency recruiters do so not at the expense of their own employees' salaries, but simply because they have the luxury (because they can afford both a recruiter fee AND to pay employees a fair market rate). If you believe this alternative to be true, is it a coincidence that firms using recruiters are in a better financial situation than those that can't afford it?

Just playing devil's advocate here. Recruiters often have access to jobs hat may not be in your network. Again, if you don't need them, don't talk to them and perhaps miss out on some jobs you didn't know about.

And I would warn you about bypassing the recruiter after he/she told you about a position. If a recruiter finds out about that (in small companies it is easy to find out), the recruiter could very easily call the company to claim they created your interest in the opportunity yet you applied directly, making you look a bit dishonest to a potential employer and possibly costing you the job. Recruiters have been paid by firms without sending resumes/referrals directly in situations just like the one you mention.

Firms that use agencies value the service and are willing to pay for it. I do list many of my client names on my jobs page, running the risk of people doing exactly what you describe. My model is different (primary services paid up front, usually exclusive searches), so I'm willing to take that risk to help publicize my clients.

My service is such that job seekers come to me, even when they already know who my clients are in advance in many cases, because they understand that I know how to prep them to be successful in interviews, which hiring manager will be good or bad cop, and how to negotiate at the end. I don't care how well networked most job seekers are, info on a wide range of companies only comes with experience with many.

Ever been turned down for a job you really wanted? A recruiter could have helped prep you with all that info you didn't have (you didn't know that white board exercise was coming, and you panicked). Even if you failed a first interview, a recruiter may have been able to revive your candidacy by advocating for you (references are good when that happens). I've done that as well for candidates, where companies get the wrong first impression, and I've had companies and candidates thank me years later.

Thanks for the comments and I'm glad to see dialogue with differing opinions.