I agree that it is possible for a recruiter who knew the job well enough and that had multiple clients looking for people in the same field to more efficiently sort the resumes, but even if you could find a sufficiently skilled recruiter, I don't think there is 1/3rd of a year's salary worth of value in that alone. I mean, maybe if the recruiter charged me a week's salary, it'd be worth it for the time I'm saving, but 1/3rd of a year is a lot of money; that's a lot of time I or my people could spend sorting resumes.
I mean, if the recruiter knew more about the position than I did, that'd be different. I mean, this would be very unlikely if I was hiring someone in my own field, but hey, sometimes you need to hire outside your field. I can see using a consulting recruiter for that, but most of that value is teaching me what to look for in an accountant (or whatever I'm hiring for) and they'd need to sit in on the interview. Really, in that case, I'd be looking more for a consultant than a recruiter.
I mean, if the recruiter knew more about the position than I did, that'd be different. I mean, this would be very unlikely if I was hiring someone in my own field, but hey, sometimes you need to hire outside your field. I can see using a consulting recruiter for that, but most of that value is teaching me what to look for in an accountant (or whatever I'm hiring for) and they'd need to sit in on the interview. Really, in that case, I'd be looking more for a consultant than a recruiter.