What's sad, is that people like me used to be represented by a certain kind of recruiter, more akin to a literary agent. They'd beat the bush, and get a portion of the take from that.

Apparently, this type of job no longer exists. I suspect that the big aggregator sites, like monster.com and Hired are responsible for that.

It's been a rather sobering experience. At one time, I had to fight off people trying to hire me away from my employer, to whom I gave a great deal of loyalty. When they finally rolled up my team, I completely understood it, and supported their decision; even though it cost my team and I our jobs. They treated us well, and with great respect. I had issues with the way they did things, in many cases, but in the aggregate, it was a great experience that I don't regret in the slightest.

I've been shocked at how standard recruiters haven't shown much enthusiasm. They are the ones that get in touch with me, gushing about my résumé, then quickly backtrack, for...reasons. I know why.

I've had to concede defeat, eat a huge platter of crow and egg-on-face, followed by a dessert of humble pie. I hadn't planned on early retirement, but there you have it.

Edited to add: One other thing. I tried sites like Hired and Upwork, and the contacts I got were 100% (not 95% -100%. Not one single legit contact). scams -some, rather scary. I have heard numerous people praise these sites, but they were all people looking to hire folks; not be hired.

To be fair, many of the scams weren't predatory. They assumed that I would be fronting as an American programmer, and shopping my work out to Indian programmers (who were the ones contacting me). I suspect that some of the contractors out there may not exactly be what they say.