I was contacted by this company for a local role in my city. I thought the recruiter was good enough, personally though I also felt they were too forward in trying to contact me (I have grown to be wary of recruiters who call you directly without asking if that's OK first). I would also mention that the recruiter was pretty nosy and asked borderline illegal questions in my screening (e.g. why did you leave this job 2 jobs ago, how much did they pay you, etc.) Then when it comes time to actually start the interview process, first they have to have references on file before even submitting my name. Anyone who's dealt with these types of agencies or worked for them before will tell you they're mining for resumes or leads, and I consider it pretty scummy/unprofessional to tell me 'it's a standard practice to ask for references before interviewing'. Please, I have worked with quite a few external recruiters (and some pretty bad ones at that) and ALL of them did not ask me for references up front. I'd even go so far to wager that they weren't really hiring in the first place, and that they're just looking for leads to hit quota. Just another example of why working with third party recruiters can be a bad idea.