How to Position Yourself as the Unicorn for Your Next Employer or Customer (7 Tips)
If potential recruiters and customers are increasingly on the hunt to find ‘unicorn’ talent, here’s how to position yourself as the unicorn they’re looking for.
As I’ve learned from my five-year-old niece, there’s nothing quite like unicorns. It’s little wonder this children’s favourite creature made its way into recruiters’ rhetoric. Who wouldn’t want to find a spectacular stand-out candidate? Or, if you’re on the hunt for a service provider, it’s likely you also want that person who ticks all the boxes.
Unicorns have become all the buzz. Job ads have transformed into ‘unicorn wanted’ posters. And unicorn-inspired compliments are sprinkled liberally across LinkedIn. But, like with most buzzwords, it’s easy to lose track of what it actually means.
If your next employer or customer is looking for a unicorn, how do you position your personal brand as one? As the unicorn among other potential job candidates. Or, a unicorn compared to all other services.
Here are my top tips to stand out as the unicorn in your marketplace:
1. Develop rare skills
Being a unicorn personal brand isn’t about the skills you bring to your work - it’s about the unique skills you bring. Remember, unicorns are rare.
Compare your skills to the rest of the marketplace. For example, if you’re a marketing professional, consider the marketing skills you usually use to promote your personal brand. Chances are, on paper, they are closer to your counterparts’ than you might care to admit. So, why would you stand out?
Develop skills others aren’t. For example, while everyone focuses on AI, you might supercharge your writing skills - knowing writing will become a rarer skill in the marketplace. And that AI content with human intervention still outperforms AI-only written content.
Whatever your field, ask yourself what skills are rare, yet increasingly valuable to your work in the evolving environments.
2. Create captivating contrast
Creating contrast is one of the most critical aspects of design - both visual and written. It makes the most important elements more compelling. Plus, a juxtaposition of opposing ideas naturally piques our curiosity.
Take a stereotypical technical task or numbers-orientated role - how do you show your exceptional interest in people or creativity that gives you the edge your marketplace craves?
In the book What Makes People Tick, Des Hunt discusses the windows we all view the world through in the big building of life. Some of us are ‘warm’ and others are ‘cool’; some are confident and others are shy; some are people-orientated and others are task-focused. Conflict is most common on the opposite sides of our windows. This is why people who encompass captivating contradictions are almost immediately fascinating.
So, how are you demonstrating an unexpected skill set, interests or aspects of your personality?
3. Become a triple threat
If there’s one career gem I learned from my experience in sports marketing and contracting season, it’s that players who can ‘play both ends’ become sought after. They can quickly elevate their marketplace value. I also love watching the NBA, so to put this another way, players who can play offence and defence well become valuable assets.
Let’s consider public speaking. Research has shown 75 percent of people fear public speaking more than death. So, if you’re in the 25% who aren’t petrified of public speaking, and you build your skills in this space, you’ll stand out. Who wouldn’t want an employee who loves giving presentations? Or, a business coach they’ve already heard speak before?
Ask yourself, what does your next employer or customer need to win? Learn the skills to become at least a triple threat compared to your competitors.
Why not just double up on your skills? As I once heard a child describe simple basketball maths - ‘threes are better than twos’. You can acquire one extra sought-after skill, or you get another extra step ahead of the competition.
4. Dot your I’s and cross your T’s
I careers versus T careers is a concept in career development that defines different career paths and skills.
I careers demonstrate deep expertise in a single area. When it comes to building your personal brand, a focus on a niche is highly valuable. However, it’s likely others still occupy your niche.
If you cross the T in your career, you’ll start to develop more distinct unique career experience. If an I career adds depth to your career, a T career adds breadth. It highlights your versatility - your ability to adapt easily to different environments and personalities.
5. Wear your point of difference on your forehead
No one is as close to your skill set and experience as you are, so don’t assume everyone else understands your value. There’s a reason why kids fall in love with unicorns. They are somewhat the horses they are already familiar with, yet they have an unmissable horn. Their distinguishable point of difference hits you between the eyes. Plus, they bring colour to their environments. They are so good, you can’t ignore them.
This isn’t about being the loudest, brightest personal brand, but simply understanding your unique value proposition in the marketplace. Then, being clear about how it benefits others.
6. Stay ahead of your pack
Unicorns are known for being solitary creatures. So, don’t be afraid to stand out from the crowd. Again, this isn’t about being the over-used ‘strong voice’ catchcry. Compared to their fire-breathing counterparts, unicorns’ majestic place among mythical creatures is underpinned by their gentle manner. It’s simply doing the things other people aren’t willing to do.
Staying ahead of the pack might also be mastering technologies others don’t. For example, as most climb the corporate ladder, managers tend to become more accustomed to pushing papers than pushing buttons or their technical capabilities.
Here’s an easy win. If 90% of people on social media are generally considered lurkers, and that’s the norm among your peers, then use the opportunity to build a platform for your personal brand that others aren’t. Share your expertise on LinkedIn, start a YouTube channel, publish a podcast or write a blog.
Keep your head down, ahead of the pack. Develop new skills ready to take flight when the time’s right.
7. Strengthen your superpowers
It’s likely during some aspects of your work life someone casually asked you to ‘work your magic’. Start to become hyper-aware of what magic they mean. Then, be relentless in supercharging your skills in that space. Start all over again with a student mindset. Or, as Zen practice advocates a ‘beginner’s mind’.
There’s a concept in psychology called the four stages of competence:
Unconscious incompetence: When you don’t know what you don’t know
Conscious incompetence: When you start to acknowledge what you don’t know
Conscious competence: When you start building the skills, but still need to think through steps
Unconscious competence: When you’ve internalised the actions of the skill and don’t have to think as much about execution
Just because you’re in a role, it doesn’t mean you’ve mastered the skills it involves. Titles can bestow assumed capabilities on people rather than actual skills. And, you know what they say about when you assume - we’re aiming to be unicorns, not donkeys. Whatever it is, start with the belief that you’re unconsciously incompetent and rebuild your skills from there. That’s where the real magic happens.
To stand out for your next employer or potential customer, simply transform your personal brand positioning to unleash your unicorn within.
So, how are you acting like the unicorn you know you are?
