Hey DevForum, in my personal experience, I’ve got plenty of people direct message me asking if I am hireable, or what kind of developer I am. I’ve found that there is some sort of “trend” if you want to call it, where developers try and get into contact with another developer, and they completely ruin their first impression. I wanted to share my thoughts on the matter and give some pointers/tips that I think would be useful to some newcomers trying to find developers on their projects.
Before You Reply…
Whenever I get a message, I look around their profile to just get to know the person a bit better and just to get some background on the person, so I know who I’m getting hired by.
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If its on Discord I usually pay attention to their username and profile picture and any social integrations.
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If it’s on Roblox I will take a look at their Roblox character to make sure they “look the part” of what they are saying.
I suggest that you make these aspects look professional and legit as possible because it will be the very first thing they will see and register in their mind.
Your Introduction
This is the first few words of your first message. Make them count. If it sounds unprofessional or too long, I guarantee they will just ignore you. Do not just say “Hello” or “Hi”, especially if you do not know their timezone. It could take hours on end to explain your full proposition.
What you want to do is briefly introduce yourself, the task at hand, and the payment in the first message. If they are interested, they will reply asking about more on the project. If your first post is an essay or is a short message with grammatical errors, it will turn people away. Your conversation should go something as follows:
Hey JaneTheBuilder!
I’m John Doe or “JohnProgrammer” on Roblox, and I’m the lead programmer on the game “Munching Madness”, a simulator that has amassed over two-million plays and has earned over ten-million robux. I’m planning a huge update for the game and it includes needing a new map. We are willing to pay the range of 100k - 500k Robux for the map. My team and I are all currently from the Eastern Standard Timezone, so I would like to know what zone your in so we can communicate more efficiently
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I’d love to hear back from you,
John
Notes
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Describing the job very briefly allows the developer to decide if they want the job or not, because it’s their time and effort that goes into the project. Its also very time efficient, especially if you want the developer to start immediately instead of waiting for a reply because of timezones.
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Bolding the most enticing/important aspects about your post is a great way catch to the developer’s attention.
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Using emojis lighten up the mood and make your post dynamic! Use them, business is boring…
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You may have noticed that it sounded just like an email, which is because it almost is. It isn’t too much of a direct message if you both are not on at the same time.
Continuing The Conversation
This is when you go further in-depth, showing off what the game looks like so far and exactly the task at hand.
Thank you for your interest in the project
. If you don’t already know what “Munching Madness” is, it’s a game where players eat as much as they can, and they can sell their weight at the shop to get better upgrades and new foods. If you want to play the game you can here : [roblox link].
Heres some gameplay if you can’t access the game right now:
[gameplay]
For this update we want to redesign the whole map of “Munch World”, which offers a whole load of new things to the game. We will be providing you with assets and game art and work with you every day to make sure you have no problems
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Here’s a quick list of what you would be expected to do:
[List of what is expected here]
Thanks for letting me know what your timezone is!
Notes
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Overall, this message is just to make sure the person you’re trying to hire doesn’t have to actively research your game too much or having to do much. Although it’s more work for you now, that investment of time can turn out positive for you because you don’t have to find another developer that you like.
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At least for me, I work so much better with lists, giving a short and brief list will give the developer exactly what they need to come up with a final verdict if they want a position on the project or not.
On A Side Note…
When you do write your second message, do not copy and paste it to other developers, it’s very obvious when you do so. It doesn’t seem like your talking to your developer one on one. The purpose of these messages is to establish a good line of communication with your developers.
After That…
At this point, they will most likely tell you if they want to be on the team or not, it all depends on that developer’s style and what they want to do. You never want to hire an unmotivated developer. Keep on stay polite and professional throughout your messages and you should be pretty good.
Summary
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Stay polite and professional. Use grammar to the best of your ability, and talk in their language. Without this, you will get nowhere. Remember that you need them, they don’t need you.
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Stay on a person to person level. If the developer feels they are just talking to a machine they will turn away. Do not copy and paste your messages to other developers, it’s very obvious.
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Use emojis to convey tone.
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Stay short and sweet at the start then get into the details. If the developer is immediately uninterested don’t try and force them into your project. You never want to hire an unmotivated developer.
If you have any tips that I haven’t mentioned, I’d appreciate it if you replied.
Good luck 
