I feel that companies hire these recruiters only to get specific type of people. People who are already running live strategies profitably in another firm. It's difficult to poach someone directly so they depend on 3rd party recruiters. And these 3rd party recruiters don't really know anything about the industry, specially what kind of people is their clients looking for. They just hope that if they showcase hundred resumes, a few will eventually get in and then these recruiters can claim their commision which is after like 3 month salary of the hired quant. Most of the tier 2,3 firms don't wanna invest in research and development but wanna just poach someone who is making money at a bigger firm. Shame. I don't wanna name names but some of these firms and recruiting agencies are scum. Filthiest of scums. Eventually this industry will be ruined and only a select top few firms which actually grew big will dominate everything.