7 Recruitment Tips to Get Your Invite Accepted

Tech recruitment can be tough, for employers and developers alike. Employers often have to send hundreds of messages and get few responses, while developers have to read through dozens of generic messages. Here at Honeypot, we want to change tech recruitment, for the better, and make sure companies can easily connect with the best tech talents from around the globe.

But in order to be successful on the platform, it is crucial that the interview invites companies send pique the interest of the developers so both sides have a great user experience on Honeypot. Read on for the ultimate guide on how to make sure your Honeypot invites get accepted!

1. Be Transparent!

We pride ourselves in providing the highest possible level of transparency. Talents indicate their salary expectations and provide links to their social media profiles. In return, we ask companies to be open as well. So, tell the talent about the job, your company, the team and projects and fill in all the fields in the form.

We understand that especially the salary range can be tricky since it depends on many different factors and is often only discussed at a later stage in the process. Nonetheless we highly encourage you to indicate a range at least to show the candidate you have taken note of their salary expectations and they have a ballpark idea of what to expect. After all, this is not a binding offer and can save you and the talent time by being clear about it upfront.

2. Be proactive!

Talents on Honeypot don’t know which companies are on the platform and which vacancies they have. That means that unless you reach out to the candidates they will never know that you might be looking for someone with exactly their skills and knowledge. Don’t hesitate to reach out to talents even when they don’t match your requirements by 100% or you have questions on their CV. The talent has had many jobs in a relatively short period of time? Or indicates to speak advanced German and you don’t know if that is good enough? Simply send them an invite and discuss everything in a quick introductory call - always keep in mind that an interview invite is only a first point of contact with the talent and does not necessarily have to lead to a full-fledged onsite interview.

3. Be open-minded!

You increase your chances of finding great developers massively if you include the entire market and open up to English speaking talents. A large chunk of the candidates on Honeypot are from outside of the EU, they all passed our screening process and they include incredibly skilled and experienced engineers. Also, Honeypot takes care of the visa process so all you have to worry about is finding the right match for your team and the product you’re working on!

4. Be Fast

Good developers don’t like to wait around and our talents appreciate a quick turnaround. Ideally the first contact should happen as soon as possible after the invite has been accepted, at least within two working days. We encourage companies to complete the entire interview process within 2 weeks. The fastest Honeypot hire happened within 5 days!

5. Be precise!

Imagine your interview invite as a cover letter in which you want to convince the talent to work at your company. Be direct and to the point. Also, beware of typos and grammatical errors!

6. Be persuasive!

Software developers are in high demand. In your interview invite, you want to pique the talent’s interest - so make clear why you think you have a great opportunity for him or her! Your company profile is a great means for employer branding so make sure it’s always up-to-date and communicates who you are and what your culture is about (think of pictures of the hackathon or demo-day you recently organized in your office, your office pet or your awesome Space Invaders arcade machine). In your text, make sure you leverage whatever strengths you have - be it the tech stack, a super interesting niche product, a laid-back company atmosphere or very attractive salary.

7. Be personal!

This is the most important tip of all.. Engineers are wanted. On other platforms they get approached all the time with impersonal, generic messages. Not on Honeypot. You want to stand out - make clear that you have read their profile carefully and show genuine interest! Tell someone why he or she stood out to you and why you feel he or she could be a great match but also mention why your company is an amazing place to work and what exciting product the developer would be working on. Don’t hesitate to be informal and direct!

So what makes for a well rounded invite?

1. Start off by telling the talent what piqued your interest and why you believe they’d fit into your team. Tell them about your company, your vision and mission and why you are an amazing place to work.
2. Then describe the concrete project they’d be working on and your tech stack.
3. How is your team set up? How do you work?
4. Mention any unique points you want to include and end with a quick outline of the interview process and a direct call for action.

GOOD

“Hi Jennifer,
​​I just came across your profile and I think you would be a great candidate for a new role at [Company].
I saw that you have sound experience as a Team Lead and Java Developer and for us this looks very promising as we are currently looking for a team lead to for one newly founded team.
The idea is to take some projects from existing teams and develop them further. One major project is a Grails application which we plan to gradually rewrite and split into few smaller services. You would pick the technologies you want to use and choose the people you want to work with. You would work in a diverse and international team, with agile processes and an open minded working atmosphere. We are based in a cool office right in the heart of Hamburg.

You can check out our website here: [Link]
We would be happy to organise a first hangouts call with you to get to know you and discuss this opportunity. Please let us know when would be a good time for you. Even if you are not interested, we would highly appreciate any feedback.
All the best,”

“Hey Debbie!
How is it going? I saw your profile, browsed a little in your github repos, checked out your website and I think I might I have an offer for you here - if you’re interested that is.
Who are we? Well, we’re a startup in Munich - but, plot twist - we are part of a larger corporation.

We are trying to build tools that shift the trade business online. I’d like to go forward to a more heterogeneous environment, where other technologies can be pursued by the teams. The teams are mostly autonomous in their decision making, I’ll usually just enforce the rule that any new technology needs to be backed by multiple people.
Anyhow, I think you would really fit to us, as a person and as a professional. So what do you say? If this sounds interesting to you, let me know when would be a good time for you to drop by our office.

Looking forward to hearing from you,”

BAD

“Hi James,
How are you?
Please take a look at our company at [Link] and get back to me if what we’re doing looks interesting to you
Regards,”

“Hi Jane, as polyglot developer you could be a good fit for our company! I’d love to set up a first call with you - when are you free?”

“Hi, we are a small software startup in the heart of Berlin and we are looking for a Java developer to join our team!
Doe’s that sound interesting to you?
If so, please email me your resume and I check with the hiring managers if they are interested in interviewing you via Skype.
Kind regards,”

“Hi Daniel,
We are looking for a PHP developer and I came across your profile.
I would like to invite you to our remote programming test.When would be a good time for you?
The test should take about 3 hours. Please let me know if you would like to continue the process.
Best, ”

Ultimately, interview invites are meant to be simple and informative. By following these seven tips, your invites can attract more eyes and even lead to your next hire.