Purple squirrel is a term used by employment
recruiters to describe a
job candidate with precisely the right education, set of experience, and range of qualifications that perfectly fits a job's requirements.
The implication is that over-specification of the requirements makes a perfect candidate as hard to find as a purple squirrel.
While in theory, this prized "purple squirrel" could immediately handle all the expansive variety of responsibilities of a job description with no training, and would allow businesses to function with fewer workers,
it is commonly asserted that the effort seeking them is often wasted.
[
] and that being more open to candidates that don't have ''all'' the skills, or retraining existing employees, are sensible alternatives to an over-long search.
[
]
Origin and history
While it is unclear when exactly the term was coined, it was in use by 2000,
and in 2010
CBS published material using the term, writing that "businesses are looking to do more with fewer workers, so they want
urple squirrelswho are able to take on a wide range of duties."
In 2012,
Google
Google LLC () is an American Multinational corporation, multinational technology company focusing on Search Engine, search engine technology, online advertising, cloud computing, software, computer software, quantum computing, e-commerce, ar ...
recruiter Michael B. Junge published a popular job search and career book ''Purple Squirrel: Stand Out, Land Interviews, and Master the Modern Job Market'', which helped popularize the term.
Elon Musk
Elon Reeve Musk ( ; born June 28, 1971) is a business magnate and investor. He is the founder, CEO and chief engineer of SpaceX; angel investor, CEO and product architect of Tesla, Inc.; owner and CEO of Twitter, Inc.; founder of The B ...
tweeted in 2012, "Do not search for purple squirrels! Giving them attention only makes them want to be more purple." which is likely also a reference to this term.
See also
*
Sourcing (personnel)
Sourcing is a talent acquisition discipline which is focused on the identification, assessment and engagement of skilled worker candidates through proactive recruiting techniques. Professionals specializing in sourcing are known primarily as So ...
*
Employee referral
*
Perfect is the enemy of good
*
Reserve army of labour
Reserve army of labour is a concept in Karl Marx's critique of political economy
Political economy is the study of how economic systems (e.g. markets and national economies) and political systems (e.g. law, institutions, government) are l ...
References
{{Reflist, 2, refs=
[{{cite news
, title =Need to fill jobs? Don't hunt the 'purple squirrel'
, first =Mary
, last =Kramer
, url =http://www.crainsdetroit.com/article/20130407/NEWS/304079992/publishers-notebook-need-to-fill-jobs-dont-hunt-the-purple
, newspaper = Crain's Detroit Business
, publisher =
, date =April 7, 2013
, accessdate = 2016-06-10
]
[{{cite news
, title =Purple Squirrels and the Reserve Army of the Unemployed
, first =Paul
, last =Solman
, url =https://www.pbs.org/newshour/making-sense/purple-squirrels-and-the-reser/
, newspaper =
, publisher =]PBS
The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcasting, public broadcaster and Non-commercial activity, non-commercial, Terrestrial television, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly fu ...
, date =August 15, 2012
, accessdate = 2016-06-10
[{{cite news
, title =Don't Hire the Perfect Candidate
, first =Lance
, last =Haun
, url =https://hbr.org/2013/01/dont-hire-the-perfect-candidat/
, newspaper =]Harvard Business Review
''Harvard Business Review'' (''HBR'') is a general management magazine published by Harvard Business Publishing, a wholly owned subsidiary of Harvard University. ''HBR'' is published six times a year and is headquartered in Brighton, Ma ...
, publisher =
, date =January 14, 2013
, accessdate = 2016-06-10
[{{cite news
, title =Sendouts.com Ad Capitalizes on Absentee President; Rodgers Townsend Has A Projected Winner with Its Topical Ad Campaign
, url =http://www.thefreelibrary.com/Sendouts.com+Ad+Capitalizes+on+Absentee+President.-a066896003
, newspaper =
, publisher =PR Newswire
, date =November 13, 2000
, accessdate = 2016-06-10
]
[Richard Perrin, ''Real world project management: beyond conventional wisdom, best practices, and project methodologies'', John Wiley and Sons, 2008 {{ISBN, 0-470-17079-4 page 215]
[{{cite web
, url=http://bloomberg.com/news/2012-04-27/finding-retail-talent-in-twitter-era-adds-to-challenges.html
, title=Finding Retail Talent in Twitter Era Adds to Challenges
, publisher=]Bloomberg Bloomberg may refer to:
People
* Daniel J. Bloomberg (1905–1984), audio engineer
* Georgina Bloomberg (born 1983), professional equestrian
* Michael Bloomberg (born 1942), American businessman and founder of Bloomberg L.P.; politician and m ...
, date=2012-04-27
, accessdate=2013-11-17
[{{cite web
, last1=Junge
, first1=Michael B
, title=Purple Squirrel
, url=http://www.michaelbjunge.com/purple-squirrel/
, website=michaelbjunge.com
, accessdate=29 November 2014]
[{{cite news
, title ='Purple Squirrels' Now In Demand
, first =
, last =
, url =http://newyork.cbslocal.com/2010/10/11/purple-squirrels-now-in-demand/
, newspaper =
, publisher = CBS
, date =October 11, 2010
, accessdate = 2016-06-10
]
[{{cite news
, title =Hiring the purple squirrel - Portland Unemployment
, first =
, last =
, url =
, newspaper =Examiner
, publisher =
, date =July 23, 2009
, accessdate =
]
Neologisms
Recruitment
Metaphors referring to animals