If you met a recruiter in person and then they ghosted you, that means you failed the "sniff test." That's not literal, I'm not suggesting you literally smell, but it means you failed to present well socially. If recruiters place bad candidates they stop getting business and they go broke. Recruiters are totally technically illiterate, so they are all about that social "feel." Something you did put them off and made them not feel comfortable betting their income on you.

No that isn't it - the recruiters don't care about you so why should they reply? It's just a waste of time. Their job is about treating people as things.

I've had several recruiters ghost me, then months later contact me with potential gigs.

Yes, recruiters see you as a thing, a thing they have to try to sell. They have no clue how to determine your technical chops. So how do you think they determine whether you will be easy to sell or difficult to sell? Why do you think they have face to face meets?

That doesn't matter if the other side of the equation doesn't work out. If they can't convince the client to do an interview they will usually ghost you, regardless of your smell.

It's funny because most of them said the opposite socially, specifically saying how they thought I was quite personable compared to other candidates.

I think more likely it was experience as I was in the midst of changing careers. The unfortunate part is they could have seen that on my resume and from our phone calls (not that they pay much attention).

I actually suspect a lot of my meetings were a case where my preference level was low but they were meeting with me to sort of bank a contact they might use in the future.... but not likely now. I suspect this as after I got a job, several have suddenly followed up with me after ignoring me in the meantime....

> recruiters ... I met in person.

That was your first mistake. Recruiters provide little to no value for potential hires.

Refusing to meet them also would seem to close a door when you're looking for any option you can.

My recruiter, who found me on LinkedIn, roughly doubled my compensation.

That means you may have been able to triple it by going directly.

I wouldn't have been able to even get in the door without the recruiter; that's simply how the org operates.