How to get adminstrative/secretarial jobs that are NOT through a recruitment agency?

I've had it with them, they really are scum! I've spend literally circa �400 now travelling to registrations and interviews and then never hearing back from them, they are useless for candidates. How to get a job through a company direct and not through these outsourced scumbags? It seems like everyone nowadays is using them, how can you avoid them?!