I've been C++ the majority of my career, doing simply amazing shit... and a recent recruiter did not recognize anything I was discussing and asked if I even wrote code. I worked on the original PSX OS, I've delivered over 40 commercial products, all written in C++ and that meant nothing.
I wouldn't take that personally. In my experience most recruiters are complete idiots. The vast majority of recruitment agencies in my geography (UK) just employ children for recruitment roles and as such all their understanding of tech is almost entirely cargo cult and buzzword driven.
This is why every tech CV that goes to a recruiter should have a "buzzword page" so they can play pairs, feel like they're adding value and get out of your way.
When a recruiter is like that then their function is simply to forward your CV and arrange an interview. They are not qualified to actually vet your ability in any way.
I get this too. I wrote a number of design/game engines, design applications, and frameworks in C++ and I get recruiters that don’t understand that and start asking me basic C++ questions. One time they were reaching out to me about a design engine I wrote and didn’t even realize.
Indeed they will end up asking you little questions that have zero to do with your engine and ding you for not knowing some particular trick. It drives me crazy.
That is why I think it is never good idea to talk to recruiters. Most of them would not spot a difference between golden laying goose and some mediocre person. There are enough companies out there where one can come and apply without going through a recruiter.
