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. [1] The implication is that over-specification of the requirements makes a perfect candidate as hard to find as a purple squirrel. [2]
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, [3] [4] [5] [6] it is commonly asserted that the effort seeking them is often wasted. [7] [8] In addition, being open to candidates that don't have all the skills or retraining existing employees are each sensible alternatives to an over-long search. [2] [9]
While it is unclear when exactly the term was coined, it was in use by 2000. [10] In 2010, CBS published material using the term, writing that "businesses are looking to do more with fewer workers, so they want [purple squirrels] who are able to take on a wide range of duties." [3] In 2012, Google 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. [11] Elon Musk tweeted in 2012, "Do not search for purple squirrels! Giving them attention only makes them want to be more purple."; this is likely also a reference to this term. [12] [13]
