What is Purple Squirrel?

Purple squirrel refers to the candidate who perfectly fits the job requirements like skills, qualifications and experience. This phenomenon is described as purple squirrel because it is rare to find such a candidate who fits all the boxes. Purple squirrels are basically mythic creatures in the world of hiring, but when spotted they should be hired immediately.

What are the advantages of hiring purple squirrels?

It is tough for recruiters to come across candidates that are purple squirrels but hiring them has a lot of advantages:

• Perfect fit for the role, so they already have skills that are required to do the jobs.
• Purple squirrels are often smart and require little training to get started on the job.
• They bring the right amount of contribution to the company with their skills, experience and education.
• Other team members are often inspired by the hiring of purple squirrels because they bring more motivation to the team.

FAQs

What is the purple squirrel theory?

Purple squirrel theory suggests that sometimes employers may spend an abnormal amount of time trying to find the perfect candidate (purple squirrel). However, sometimes recruiters need to compromise and be realistic while looking for candidates in a role.

What are pink squirrels?

Pink squirrels are candidates who already have a job but are the perfect fit for a role that the recruiter is searching for. Pink squirrels are not actively looking for a job which makes it hard to hire them.