On a national level, management recruiters report good news for managers who change jobs.

Several years ago, these approaches did not exist at most management recruiters.

Many outside top executives are selected with the help of management recruiters.

Some executives make contact with management recruiters early in their careers.

Two recent surveys by leading management recruiters confirm the trend.

"There is no right profile for a management recruiter."

Management recruiters are hired by companies to fill specific jobs, usually in middle and top management.

Reasons for the changing role of human resources executives appear to be allied to business trends, both management recruiters agreed.

The fees are small compared with those of management recruiters, who might charge one-third of an executive's salary.

She is a banking consultant at the Davis Group, management recruiters in Baltimore.

Mr. Kennedy also said management recruiters would work more closely with client companies and do more of their recruiting.

Now, thanks to better research and computerized lists of professionals, management recruiters can afford to take more interest in filling middle-level jobs.

With so many managers losing their jobs, there is less stigma to being dismissed, making it somewhat easier to find jobs through management recruiters.

The role of management recruiters, also known as "headhunters" and "search consultants," seems to confuse many executives, especially those who have suddenly lost their jobs.

Mr. McKeown was selected after a management recruiter firm had interviewed a number of candidates.

And the National Executive Service Corps, a management recruiter, has begun to help middle managers.

Many middle managers who have lost a job now think of turning to management recruiters hired by a company when it has a specific opening to fill.

Management Recruiters International, a Cleveland-based executive recruitment firm, found that bosses were making similar choices.

A 2003 survey by Management Recruiter International stated that fifty percent of executives surveyed didn't have plans to take a vacation.

Management recruiters have long stressed that candidates for middle and top management jobs should be well dressed and have good manners.

With upheavals at companies like Campeau, management recruiters expect to be active this year - especially in filling jobs at the top management levels.

Management recruiters want to refashion themselves along the lines of law firms that collect retainer fees from their clients, promoting a close and enduring relationship.

MOVE over, management recruiters.

Another trend, Mr. Scanlon said, is for client companies to assign low-level managers to deal with management recruiters.

But Mr. Heuerman, the management recruiter, said the technicians, unless they also studied business administration, only rarely moved up into supervisory jobs.