First let me start by saying there a number of decent recruiting teams out there who are able to get the job done.  They work on a team of quick action decision makers who have actually built trusting relationships with the hiring managers, therefore they are able to respond in a timely and efficient manner.  BUT, I see many of the larger civil engineering firms' recruiting staffs become so watered down that they are completely irrelevant.  I know this, because I have good relations with the senior managment who are actually in charge of the hiring, and though they are glad that their corporate HR initiative is to free them of the recruiting responsibility, they are very frustrated with with their HR's recruiting operation.  It seems like every week someone else is in charge of this region or that region, and then the next week they have re-structured and are now in charge of a business line instead of a region, and then the next week they are re-structured again.  On top of all of this, the company might have 20 HR team members made up of recruiters, hr managers, talent acquistion managers, VP's of HR, etc.  By the time that the candidate finally gets in front of the person he REALLY needs to get to, the candidate is long gone.  I guess they will realize some day that one too many candidates become long gone and are lost to the competition that they will rethink as to how to best spend their recruiting dollars. 

Hey, you guys asked for someone to vent, you got it 

One of my very best clients has an outstanding policy for all of their hiring managers, and it is very cut and dry.  If you receive a resume you must respond to the candidate, Human Resources, or if I referred them, yours truly  within 4 business days.  That's it, nothing else.  You are interested or you are not.  If you are not, at least the candidate knows.  If you are, then you begin the interview process.  Cut & Dry.  This policy is fantastic as it does not let the outstanding candidates "float" out in no mans land to be picked up by a more aggresively moving competitor.  Certainly they lose out to their competition on occasion, but atleast they are giving themselves a chance, which is something that I cannot say for some of my other clients who just don't get it.