When the same role is advertised by the employer and by one or more agencies, the route you choose is not neutral. It changes who sees your CV first, how much feedback you get, and occasionally what you are paid.
What an agency actually does
A recruitment agency is paid by the employer, usually a percentage of the first-year salary for a permanent placement, or a margin on top of your rate for contract work. You are not the customer. That is not a criticism — it is the single fact that explains every agency behaviour that confuses candidates.
It explains why a good agency recruiter is genuinely useful: they know what the hiring manager actually wants versus what the advert says, they can push your CV to the top of a pile, they will prep you before an interview, and they chase feedback the employer would otherwise never send. It also explains why some send your CV to roles you did not agree to, or push you to accept quickly.
When going through an agency is better
- You are changing sector or location and have no network in the new one. An agency has the relationships you lack.
- The role is contract or interim. Most contract hiring runs through agencies; going direct is often not an option.
- You want feedback. Employers ghost. Agencies chase, because their fee depends on it.
- You need speed. A recruiter who already has the client's trust can get you in front of them within days.
- The employer is not named. Sometimes the role is genuinely confidential, and the agency is the only way in.
When going direct is better
- The employer advertises it themselves. If both routes exist, direct is usually cleaner and never costs the employer a fee, which can leave a little more room in the salary.
- You have a referral. An internal referral outperforms any agency introduction, in most companies by a wide margin.
- You want to control your own story. Agencies reformat CVs, sometimes badly, and sometimes strip your contact details.
- You are targeting a specific small number of employers. Direct, patient, relationship-led applications beat volume here.
The rules that protect you
These matter more than the route you pick.
Never let anyone send your CV without naming the client and getting your agreement first. Duplicate submissions are the most common own goal in recruitment: two agencies send you to the same employer, the employer sees a fee dispute forming and rejects you to avoid it. One line by email — "please confirm the client name and get my approval before each submission" — prevents it.
Keep a log. Company, role, route, date, recruiter name. This is how you notice you have been submitted twice, and how you answer "have you applied to us before?" honestly.
Never pay a fee to apply for a job. Legitimate agencies are paid by employers. A charge for registration, CV writing as a condition of representation, or "guaranteed placement" is a warning sign, and in several countries it is unlawful.
Ask the agency directly: do you have this role exclusively, and have you placed there before? An honest answer tells you whether they can genuinely open the door or whether they are speculatively sending CVs to a company they have no relationship with.
If you have already applied direct
Tell the agency before they submit you. The employer will treat the earlier direct application as the live one, and the agency will not be owed a fee. Hiding it wastes everyone's time and makes you look careless when it surfaces, which it will.