My personal opinion is that it's not worthwhile to try to work with recruiters who are unable to evaluate my resume against the requirements of an open position.
But if you want to try anyway, and since this is a company recruiter, just reply with something along the lines of: "Thank you for your interest, but unfortunately I don't think this position is a match for my skills.
However, I would be interested in other opportunities with your company that are more focused on (insert whatever you're looking for).
Please contact me if you have any open positions of this sort."
Finally, it's good to pare down the skillset listed on your resume to match what you would actually feel comfortable and qualified doing.
workplace.stackexchange.com/users/74538/user74538
I also find this a regular problem, however I only consider it game over if the requirement is clearly unrelated to anything I have specified as an experience or skill I possess.
Often, there are skills I have used in a previous job
but I am still interested in going back to them in the future.
Personally, I would say to this recruiter "Thank you for your proposition.
This role sounds very interesting but I notice it focuses on skill A which I have not used in a professional environment since 2011.
I am especially interested in hearing from you about roles where I can utilize skills B, C and D" A final point to consider is that the skill and attitude of recruiters can vary wildly, even within a company.
Burning a bridge with this person could affect relationships with their colleagues who may be far more helpful.
workplace.stackexchange.com/users/53695/Darren H
Did you make sure that expert knowledge in A is really necessary?
It might be that they would like to get an expert, tried to find one for a while, and gradually reduced the requirements (internally - they will still ask for an expert officially) until even someone with at least a bit of experience is acceptable for the job.
Sometimes you just don't find what you want, so you have to take what you can get.
Just make sure that they know that your expertise in A is limited.
If they still accept, fine.
workplace.stackexchange.com/users/69607/Thern
Either this is a very incapable recruiter, or there are no other relevant opportunities for you at that company .
You're better off searching that company's website for opportunities that might be a better match for you, if they exist at all.
I can imagine that the recruiter received an assignment to look for people proficient in a certain Skill A.
He/
she stumbled on your profile on LinkedIn, and (assuming he/
she is capable) didn't find any other matches among your skills, and contacts you in the off chance that you're actually interested in a career 'switch' to a job involving Skill A.
workplace.stackexchange.com/users/33983/Glorfindel
A vast majority of "cold calls" made by recruiters are just bots / scrapers.
They scan your profile or resume for keywords and then email you with a generic canned message.
That is why they cannot / do not differentiate between "a little experience" and "a lot," it's almost always just a positive hit on the keyword match.
So the appropriate response is to just delete the message if you are not interested.
If you are interested, then reach out to them and they will discuss your experience and capabilities at that point and tell you if they think you are a good fit or not.
Most jobs have flexibility (within reason) with regard to the requirements.
You won't know unless you ask.
Even if the recruiter did read your profile and write you a message, he either made a mistake or misread.
I think the rules still apply for a cold call... if you're interested you reply, if not ignore.
There is clearly no match for the current offer
but I would not mind to hear about other relevant opportunities.
Then this sounds like the perfect thing to mention in your reply.
workplace.stackexchange.com/users/43627/James
A recruiter working for a big company contacted me on LinkedIn and asked whether I am interested in a certain position that requires expert level knowledge in A. The thing is that A is mentioned on my LinkedIn profile with a) very little experience b) very long time ago - since then I was doing totally different things.  There is clearly no match for the current offer but I would not mind to hear about other relevant opportunities. How should I respond?
How to reply to recruiter that did not read my resume on LinkedIn
workplace.stackexchange.com
<resume><job-search><recruitment>
workplace.stackexchange.com/questions/95827
workplace.stackexchange.com/users/5254/Asahi
Make sure they know you have limited experience and discuss your capabilities to see if you are a good fit or not. If you are not interested then just delete the message. Just like any cold-calling situation, if you're interested in the job, feel free to reply, and if you're not, then you don't need to respond. However, if you do respond, you may want to just make sure that they understand that your expertise in A is limited.
You should simply reply to them and make sure they understand that your expertise in A is limited. If you're not interested, it's perfectly fine to simply delete the message. Just like a normal cold call, if you're interested, reply, and if you're not, then don't.