Another Purple Squirrel

Picky, picky, picky

The purple squirrel. It’s a term that is very popular in the job-search world anymore. It refers to searches that are given for a job candidate with very specific or very rare combination of qualifications. Of course, the very same thing could be said referring to employers who won’t even consider an applicant who doesn’t meet their stringent criteria.

Can purple squirrels find any nuts?

One can argue that, in this particular job market, the population of purple squirrels is rapidly expanding. With today’s relatively low unemployment rate and constant complaints from employers that they can’t find good workers, one might be tempted to think that employers would be anxious to snap up any candidate who is even close to meeting their needs.

This does not, however, seem to be the case. We continuously hear of open positions that remain unfilled for weeks and even months. It could be that employers are looking for the purple squirrel – those individuals with such a specific set of skills or qualifications that makes finding them almost impossible.

How does this help you? It’s called soul searching. Take a closer, deeper look at yourself. Do a more thorough evaluation of your work past. What is it that you can do, or that you can excel at that very few (if any) candidates can match? If you can zero in on something so specific, you become the purple squirrel and immeasurably increase the likelihood of finding your next position.

Are you having trouble nailing down the purple squirrel in you? Reach out to former supervisors, co-workers, anyone who has experience working with you. Really, you should be talking to these people anyway as part of your normal job search. It should be relatively easy to add “purple squirrel” to your list of conversation topics.

It all comes back to providing value to your new employer. It’s also part of doing your homework so as to put the best possible you out there for potential employers to see.

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