Getting developers to read — let alone answer — your recruiting emails is a difficult task. The language is often too generic, the descriptions too vague, and the whole process really lacks that human touch. I recently went back and looked at all the recruiter emails I’ve received over the years and pinpointed the good ones, figuring out what makes them great.

Here are some of the things that grab my attention and have the best chance at getting a response.

1. Be Personal

The first sentence is the most important line in your email, so start off strong and keep your recipient from throwing that sucker in the trash. Try your best to differentiate yourself from the ordinary fill-in-the-blank recruiter email. Say something a robot would never say.

2. Compliment Them

By this point, you have your recipient’s attention — use it carefully. We now want to establish a close bond with our subject, something that sets the tone for the remainder of our professional relationship. There’s nothing developers appreciate more than a good compliment.

3. Be Specific

Our recipient is engaged, flattered, but is now probably extremely skeptical. That’s to be expected, though. Afterall, how can he or she know that this email was sent to the right person? We need to be specific. Show your candidate that this recruitment email is for them, and that we are not mixing them up with someone else.

Look into their projects, check out their twitter feeds. Use whatever you can to make this the most awesome, personally-tailored recruiter email the world has ever seen.

4. Get Down to Business

Now is where we include the really important stuff, the details. Explain what we need from our candidate, and offer a concrete next-step for them to pursue the role you are offering. This is extremely important because we don’t want to confuse our candidate or send them mixed signals.

5. Don’t Use the R-Word!

The very word “recruiter” is an immediate red flag to some developers — seeing it may undo all the work we’ve done in our previous steps, and instead reduce your email to a placeholder in the trash bin. Be creative with your job title, or just lie. Either one.

Closing Notes

Beyond these simple steps, it’s important to write recruiter emails from the bottom of your heart. This is a real person you are writing to, with real feelings, and real things to do besides read your email. So be sincere, be specific, and above all, make them feel like the most beautiful developer in the whole wide world.

—

Jordan Scales is a door-to-door accessibility salesman. Check out his new product, Shade — the greatest contrast tool in the galaxy 🚀