Purple Unicorns

In the hiring world, Purple Unicorns are the imaginary creatures that are even more scarce and amazingly qualified than the candidate who meets all the job requirements in an ideal manner. A Purple Unicorn candidate can be an equally tricky entity to locate as the unicorn itself due to the niche and specific nature of their skill set and the competitive recruitment landscape in the current job markets. Sometimes recruiters will say that the candidates are "Purple Unicorn" people who not only meet the job requirements but also have additional qualities or experience that make them stand out from other candidates.

Example

Consider an example of a tech company AlphaTech which needs a software engineer with AI, ML, and QC skills that is difficult to find and is highly valued on the market. Through an elaborate recruitment campaign, the recruiters at AlphaTech firm come across a candidate, Sarah, whose resume is not only loaded with AI, ML, and quantum computing proficiencies, but it also displays innovative research projects, publications in leading journals, and experience with cutting-edge technologies. Sarah's outstanding technical skills, academic qualifications, and hands-on experience put her in a class of her own regarding a software engineering position at AlphaTech. Understanding that Sarah could be a great asset to the company’s research and development initiatives, AlphaTech fastened the hiring process to ensure that her skills were successfully captured before other competing companies did.