Generally what I've found to be true is that connections are the most important, unless you're already established in the field. If you have no experience as an employee, then the best thing to do is find a way to establish connections through meetup.com or maybe through independent consultant work from mom & pop shops or small businesses; both require that you put yourself out there in one way or another, though the latter might require that you have work samples to convince the person you can do what you're selling them on.
From what I've experienced, recruiters only exist for interns, those about to graduate (but haven't already), and those who have plenty of experience, as it seems like the recruitment process is generally broken pretty badly, though recruiters will disagree strongly.