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As a software developer, at the beginning of my career, I thought it was more important to learn one more programming language or framework or library. But as years passed by, I realized it is also equally important to learn how to interact with people. Now remote work is becoming new normal and social media platforms like Twitter, LinkedIn, etc. are a common place to interact with people across the globe.

No matter how skilled you are, you will need help from others. It is important to learn how to ask for help in a polite and professional manner so that you may have a better chance of getting help.

I occasionally get emails and DMs on Twitter and LinkedIn asking for some technical help. Most of them are polite and very professional. But once in a while I get requests in such a way that I wonder, don’t they even know how to ask for help??!!! When I receive requests for help, I don’t look for polished English. But I look for the right attitude and some basic manners.

In this article, I would like to share some tips on asking for technical help in a more professional way. If you follow these tips, I cannot guarantee that you will get a reply, but there could be a better chance of getting a reply.

First, let’s look at some examples of how not to ask for help.

Some examples of how NOT to ask for help

Here are some examples of how NOT to ask for help.

Example 1

Subject: hi

Im getting an error in Spring Security. plz help, its urgent.

First, looking at the title “hi” I don’t know whether it is a genuine email or a spam mail trying to sell viagra pills.

Second, nobody has time to come up with a questionnaire asking for more details about what you are working on, what is the usecase, what is the Excception you are getting, etc. You are supposed to provide that.

Example 2

Subject: Urgent

hi bro,
I need urgent help in Spring Boot. Here is my phone no: 988888998. Call me on WhatsApp. Its very urgent.

So, you need help from someone for free, and you are telling him/her to call you urgently. Not gonna happen.

[In Clint Eastwood’s voice]: What is this bro shit anyway.

I know its common using “bro” in this modern generation, but I would refrain from using that when talking to a person for the first time.

Once you get to know each other, you can call bro, dude, buddy, or whatever.

Example 3

Subject: Regarding Spring Security Issue

Hi,
I see you have published some videos on Spring Boot and Testcontainers.
They are good, but I need more in-depth videos. 
Make more in-depth videos and publish them regularly.

This is better than previous examples, but can be improved.

The phrase “I need more in-depth videos” is very vague. Are you looking for something specific? Any specific complex usecase you have in mind. Giving more details might help them plan for the videos covering advanced concepts.

Second, using a simple word “Please” would go a long way.

The sentence “Make more in-depth videos and publish them regularly” sounds like you are passing an order. Instead, write “Could you please make videos covering those advanced usecases. That would be really helpful. Looking forward to more videos in this series”.

Example 4

Subject: DDD + Kafka + MongoDB

hey
whatsup bro?

I suggest you make videos on developing Spring Boot application following DDD using mongodb and kafka.

We are planning to use these technologies in our application.
can you also explain how to deploy this application in kubernetes?

You are not asking for some help. You are asking someone to build a real project, including the deployment process which generally takes a few months for a 5-member team.

It is highly unlikely you are going to get a reply.

Email Template Asking for Technical Help

Imagine a situation I am in:

I am working with a framework, and something is not working. I tried many ways to fix the issue, but I couldn’t figure out how to resolve the issue. I have googled and read through many blogs and watched videos. Still no luck.

I know “John,” who has a blog and a YouTube channel with lots of content about the same framework. I have watched some of his videos and read some of his blog posts. They are very helpful. But I couldn’t find content related to my current problem. Knowing John’s expertise on the subject, I believe he could help me to resolve the issue I am facing.

I found John’s Email address and Twitter handle from his blog.

As Twitter/LinkedIn DMs are not great for sharing code snippets, I would like to write an email to John asking for help.

If I am interacting with someone for the first time asking for help, this is how I would write the email:

This might look too formal, but this also conveys my admiration to John and my professional attitude. As I am giving enough details about the problem, what I have already tried, John understands that I am not asking for help just casually. It conveys that I did my homework before reaching out for help.

Also, as I am giving a minimal reproducer, there is a better chance that John might take a look at the issue and try to help me.

Important things to understand

When we are asking someone for help, we need to understand that they might be busy in their life.

• They might be fully occupied with their official work.
• They might be facing some personal family related issues.
• They might be going through tough times.

So, we shouldn’t expect a reply immediately.

Just because someone is active on social media doesn’t mean they have nothing better to do than solving YOUR problems immediately.

Summary

Modern software development involves using a wide range of technologies. We may not have expert level knowledge on all those technologies. We definitely need help from others who have more expertise in those areas.

Thankfully, with social media platforms, we have the luxury of reaching out to people living anywhere in the world. But knowing how to ask for help is crucial. Asking politely and in a professional manner increases your chances of getting a response.

I hope this article helps you to seek help in a better way.