What is a Purple Squirrel?
What is a purple squirrel?
Instead of hiding an unhideable fact, make something of it with context and without fear.
As if you didn’t have enough to think about during your job search, here comes the concept of the purple squirrel; a metaphor that raised its purple head when I was still recruiting in the early 2000s.
In short, a purple squirrel—as beautifully described by ERE.net—is “that impossibly hard to find perfect candidate that our client asks for.”
Google "what is a purple squirrel" and you'll get a range of definitions. From Harvard Business Review telling companies why not to wait for a purple squirrel ("Don't Hire the Perfect Candidate") to Urban Dictionary doing what Urban Dictionary does.
View these definitions in context.
Every author has their own experience and audience, so take every recommendation—even mine—simply as an opportunity to know more than you knew before.
What you do or don’t do with new knowledge is up to you.
Here’s an example of a purple squirrel
When working with a client, I bring up the purple squirrel archetype when they’re concerned about an unchangeable data point in their background. Or when they feel like they’ve kind of been all over the place. (SIDEBAR: There are ways to package an all-over-the-place career, but it takes work.)
Instead of hiding an unhideable fact, I often suggest embracing it and making something of it with strategic context but without fear. It often helps me position the unique parts of a client’s story as a benefit to the right audience.
I frequently use the following example to illustrate the purple squirrel concept in action.
The candidate:
A pianist earns a doctorate in music.
Within four years of their post-doc work, they decide that teaching and performing isn’t fulfilling.
So they get a law degree.
As a fifth year law firm associate, they realize that they want to move to the business side.
So they take an in-house deal-making role.
After five years, they move from deal-maker to partnership management executive.
As a partnership management executive, they build several-hundred company relationships around the world, including suppliers.
The company:
A company retains a search firm to conduct a global executive search for an SVP of Global Partnerships.
The company would like someone with strong global supplier relationships.
The position will also play a significant role in deal structuring and, ideally, legal negotiation.
And since the company is Steinway & Sons, they think it would be nice if the candidate understood the classical music business.
That’s how a purple squirrels is born.
When to embrace the idea if think you might be a purple squirrel
Purple squirrels can’t be architected in advance because there’s no way of knowing when a company will need its own unique set of purple squirrel-ey requirements. A company’s leadership needs ten or twenty years ago differ from its needs today. All the while, you’ve been out there building your own potentially purple squirrel-ey story.
Or not. Because a purple squirrel is only a purple squirrel when a company decides it needs a specific set of skills, experiences, and expertise. Only then do they begin looking globally for someone who fits the bill. Which is one reason retained executive search firms are hired in the first place.
But it’s helpful to understand the concept because while you’re busy trying to fit your square peg into square holes, there are times when something interesting in your background may land you among only a handful of people in the world who could take on such a unique role.
And even if you never encounter a purple squirrel moment, you can still use the concept to embrace and position the more unique aspects of your background. Within reason, of course!
About Jared
Jared Redick is a San Francisco-based career transition coach, executive résumé writer, and brand development consultant—helping professionals and professional services firms position themselves for what's next.