Mrs. Margarella, a consultant for a placement firm in Manhattan, admits the lineup may seem a bit far-fetched, but says she is absolutely certain she has her man.

Before you spend money responding to placement firms or completing placement contracts:

Now more than a dozen placement firms are operating in Chicago, Detroit, Los Angeles, Miami, San Francisco and other cities.

The placement firms charge from $25 and to $125 an hour, depending upon their location and the skills required.

Along with his recruiting newsletter, Mr. Kennedy publishes a recruiting directory and information about management consultants and placement firms.

His mother, Alice Anne Clifton, and father own Clifton Associates, a placement firm for teachers, in Bridgehampton.

She said that when she joined the placement firm to organize its paralegal unit in 1980, she found jobs for people at the rate of about one a week.

It is at the confluence of two business trends: the unquenchable need for high-technology specialists in all areas and the rise of temporary- placement firms.

Her mother is the president of Business Solutions Providers, an information technology consultant and placement firm in Madison.

Her mother is a recruiter at Hank-Kross, a placement firm in Manhattan.