Sometimes the most effective way to get the “large scale” word out to the certain talent populations we covet is still via email.
Egads! Levy didn’t say Twitter! He didn’t say text messages! What’s the old man smoking these day?
The old man’s smoking “reality” because he knows how his target population thinks, acts, and communicates. Do you? Really?
I’m presently recruiting for several senior Ruby Developers. One thing to know about Ruby (Perl and Java too) is that as open source languages there are public repositories where authors contribute new and refactored code. These are goldmines for talent scouts. However, these are also places where the quicksands of conceit lie – as in recruiters who believe that the mere utterance of their melodious voices or short messages where the word “love” is used multiple times are sufficient to turn even the busiest technical talent into putty in the recruiters’ hands.
Such arrogance! Passives and actives are not here to serve us, we are here to work with them. Respect the people and not only will they respect you but they’ll also help you. You want a mantra for social recruiting? Repeat the last sentence.
So here you have it; here’s the email I sent to a large number of Ruby-esque Developers. I’m interested in your thoughts…
<name>,
Apologies in advance if you hate recruiters (or just emails from recruiters) but the top end of the Ruby world is very closed and I sure could use your assistance.
I’m helping the head of engineering to expand his team of expert Ruby developers in their new Tribeca office; we have the A-OK to identify and hire several developers with a craftmanship level commitment to quality software (as well as a SQA engineer). In a nutshell, the new folks will be part of the agile team, working with innovative tools, processes and people to engineer web applications that are distributed and consumed on a massive scale. There’s a real work/life balance: Office closes 5:30- 6 leaving people free to have a life.
Responsibilities
- Web application programming within a SOA to build SaaS solutions
- Daily pair programming with vocal participation in code reviews and retrospectives
- Aggressive refactoring (of both Ruby to Ruby, and Java to Ruby)
- Test-driven development
- Collaboration with other functional groups
- Active contributions to the continual improvement of process and product
Requirements
- Ability to jump in and contribute throughout the stack: client-side through the persistence layer
- Experience with Ruby-based test frameworks: RSpec, Shoulda, Test::Unit, Cucumber
- Javascript: The “Good Parts”
- Relational database knowledge and experience with alternative data store knowledge
- Ability to optimize and tune for performance
- Actively experimenting with new technologies
- Experience working with and/or designing external APIs
Incidentally, I’m an engineer (LISP, PROLOG, C) who crossed over to the dark side but who stays active in most of the major coding communities (Java, Ruby, Perl, .NET); I’m also the co-Founder of the Long Island .NET User Group (there really is no such thing as a former engineer).
So here’s how I came to know about you and your Ruby prowess: I wrote and Googled this Boolean…
site:github.com rails name email company location intitle:profile (~NY|~NJ|”, CT”) -inurl:jobs -follower
With this all in mind, is there someone I should be speaking with who might be interested in this opportunity? I’ll meet anyone anywhere, any time…
I’ve been receiving an incredible response (I’ll let ya’ll know what the final metrics look like next week). But what tickled me the most was this comment:
BTW – good work on that email… giving insight to the process makes recruiting seem less of a dark art.
Is your recruiting as dark art?
If it is, maybe it’s because you’re trapped in the quicksand of conceit…
The Recruiting Inferno 
Good post Steve and a great email message!
Couldn’t help but get this thought run across my brain: Build relationships and they will come.
Obviously, when you establish contact with people, you are in it for the long haul. The contacts you make today are an investment in the future. These contacts are nuggets of gold so you revere them for the value they bring and to that I say… bravo to you!
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Nice example of a well executed component of what I am sure is a well constructed comprehensive strategic assault on the Ruby community =)
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Excellent approach. I like the way you structured you email. It disarms, and also qualifies you as an expert. I agree with you sentiment Steve. Well written, well put.
My best,
Margo
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You point out an important thing to sourcers and recruiters who have been swayed to new technology as a replacement rather than a supplement to their art. There is often a knee-jerk reaction toward new media rather than the tried and true. Most of us still live in an email world so it makes sense to go there. And another “old fashioned” methodology is also often forgotten: the phone. The job isn’t done until somebody picks up the phone.
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Hi Steve,
I think the email is spot-on and solid.
Why?
You’re a recruiter/developer yourself, so you can IDENTIFY and ALIGN with the issues and concerns Ruby programmers looking at the post. You align with the programmers twice in your email:
-In the first sentence, where you casually ask for the help of the Ruby developer community
-In the last three paragraphs of the email, where you simultaneously acknowledge their programming wizardry, while also asking prospective applicants for a in-person meeting.
Now, imagine a world where all recruiters were this meticulous and thorough when looking for candidates to solve company problems . . .
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