There's also the possibility that some candidates actually do have the track record they claim. If your default assumption is that anyone claiming really strong

There's also the possibility that some candidates actually do have the track record they claim. If your default assumption is that anyone claiming really strong experience is obviously exaggerating when you haven't even talked to them then you're going to rule out a lot of the best candidates stupidly. I've been in the bracket where ageism is a factor for a while now and so have many of the best people I know who still work as ICs. Being told that no-one really has that breadth or depth of experience and unicorns don't exist should be surprising for this group but sadly isn't any more. If the person making the silly comment is an important player in a hiring process then that's not a good sign. The worst I've seen is when you're personally invited in as an expert/consultant by someone in your network and then HR insist on treating the gig as if they're hiring some random junior developer applicant. Objectively the professional thing to do if you're getting messed around like that is usually to politely disengage but then you risk making your friend/colleague look bad. Sometimes going via your network is a double-edged sword.