A. Recruiters typically earn between 20%-33% of starting salary. Thus, it's in the recruiter's interest to negotiate the highest possible salary. This sounds like a lot, but many companies are willing to pay it to save the cost of reviewing thousands of wrong resumes and spending hundreds of management hours meeting with the wrong candidates.

Often, there is a guarantee period, typically 30 days. If the new employee doesn't work out for whatever reason, the employer gets all or part of their fee back, depending on the contract. A good recruiter will work hard to replace a faulty hire -- in that case the fee is kept.

Many companies refuse to pay third-party recruiters and only hire directly. If you only distribute your resume through recruiters, you will not be hired by them.