Hi all - Valuable input for you to consider. Recruiters that work on retainer, paid in advance, and in three ongoing monthly installments as the search is being conducted for hiring firm. They work for the firm's best hiring interests, not yours, as they guarantee their work to the firm for at least a year minimun and theur rep, and dignity are always at stake. So, if you are head trader at XYX Corp. and get a call, and job pitched to you at PPP Corp., the recruiter is working on a set of job specifications mutually agreed upon by both recruiter, and hiring firm that you either meet or don't. Not much leaway here unless you are an undiscovered genuis level talent that the intuitive recruiter picks up during initial phone conversation. ... Recruiters that work on contingency are whores interested in fees, and would "place" their mother in a bad situation if they could turn a few $$. Might guarantee their work for 30 days if pressed, and if they fail, just start process all over. Retainer with name firms is only way to go. As job seeker, let a guy like me find you. If you are good, great, or a comer, my digging skills will surface you, place you on my list of possibilities, and I'll take it from there. Just keep doing what you love, I/we'll find you, and your passion will carry you to the next level in the interview process. Doesn't matter what the job is, passion rules, and if you don't get job, probably means employer was threaten by you, and eventually hires "yes" men like Ronald Rumsfeld did. You know, the, "go along to get along" kind of guys. Not independent thinkers, like true traders are.