Every hiring manager has a dream candidate: the magical professional who has five years of experience in an industry that has only existed for three, someone who can juggle three job descriptions at once, who never needs training, communicates flawlessly, thrives under pressure, and politely asks for a salary below market rate.
In staffing terms, we call this hiring unicorns (or rockstars). You’ve seen those job descriptions (maybe you’ve even written one).
The truth is, those “unicorn” candidates are not just rare. They’re often impossible to find. More importantly, chasing them slows down your hiring, frustrates your team, and costs your business real money.
At That’s Good HR, we work with Indianapolis employers every day who think they need the perfect candidate, when in reality, they need someone who is skilled, coachable, aligned with their culture, and ready to grow.
Why Chasing Unicorn Candidates Doesn’t Work
Most unrealistic job descriptions often happen because a company is trying to solve several problems with one hire.
Need someone to fix a broken process, support understaffed departments, master three platforms, and charm customers? It is tempting to wrap all of that into one job posting.
But here is what often happens next:
- The job sits open for months
- Strong candidates self-select out
- Teams burn out covering the workload
- Productivity drops
- Hiring managers get frustrated
By the time someone finally gets hired, the team is exhausted. And more often than not, the person you end up bringing on doesn’t even match the original impossible criteria.
Unicorn hunting wastes time, drains morale, and delays the help you actually need.
Hiring Unicorns vs Hiring the Right People
The truth is that high-performing teams are rarely built by one singular, perfect person. They are built by several strong, well-supported people with the right mix of skills and personalities.
In other words, hiring the right people matters more than chasing the one ideal employee.
So instead of asking, “Who can do everything?” try asking, “Who can do the most important things well?”
That shift alone can transform your entire hiring process.
What Overstuffed Job Descriptions Usually Look Like
If you are unsure whether your job post is unintentionally calling for a “unicorn” and scaring off strong candidates, here are a few key indicators:
Role Creep Before Day One
If your job posting reads like you combined three positions into one, candidates can spot it instantly.
When responsibilities balloon beyond what’s realistic, the strongest applicants tend to bow out rather than bet on potential burnout. People want clarity, not a guessing game about what their actual day-to-day will look like.
Keeping the role focused helps you attract people who can actually excel.
A Laundry List of Requirements
Long lists of requirements may feel like you are being thorough, but they often come across as impractical
When a job post demands in-depth knowledge of eight software platforms, ten personality traits, four certifications, and a love of “fast-paced environments,” candidates assume it is a mismatch.
The longer the list, the more likely qualified applicants will talk themselves out of applying. Hiring works best when you separate what is essential from what is simply wishful thinking.
Asking for Immediate Impact Without Training
Everyone wants a quick learner, but expecting someone to walk in and perform perfectly without any support is not always realistic.
Training is not optional if you want long-term success.
When companies skip this step, new hires feel set up to fail before they even get started.
In fact, Glassdoor reports that organizations with strong onboarding processes improve new-hire retention by up to 82 percent.
Clear onboarding and time to learn your systems will help the right person succeed and stay longer (and That’s Good HR can help with that🙋🏼♀️).
Saying “We’re Like a Family” Instead of Describing Your Culture
Most candidates do not want a workplace that feels like a family. They want one that feels professional, supportive, and stable.
Without a clear description of your team culture, candidates may assume the work environment comes with surprises they didn’t sign up for.
Sharing real values, team norms, or communication styles is a much better way to attract people who will thrive with you.
How to Stop Hiring Unicorns and Start Hiring the Right People
Here is how employers can shift from unrealistic expectations to strategic, efficient hiring.
Rank the Role’s Top Priorities
A job cannot be everything at once. Start by identifying the top three priorities this role must accomplish.
For example:
- Support executive leadership with scheduling and communication
- Improve customer response times
Manage reporting for internal teams
Once you define the core responsibilities, you can stop stuffing the job description with “nice to have” but unnecessary extras.
Hiring becomes clearer. Candidates self-assess more accurately. And your team knows exactly what success looks like.
Separate Must-Have Skills From Teachable Skills
This is where most unicorn hunting begins. Many employers list skills they want, but not skills that truly matter.
Ask yourself:
- What must the candidate already know on day one?
- What could be learned in the first 30, 60, or 90 days?
In the Indianapolis market, some skills are easier to train than others. Software platforms? Teach them. Communication, organization, and reliability? Much harder to train.
When you focus on the skills that genuinely matter, your talent pool expands instantly.
Improve the Candidate Experience
Slow hiring processes kill good candidates.
Hire smarter by:
- Cutting unnecessary interview rounds
- Providing clear communication
- Making decisions quickly
- Sharing realistic expectations
Indianapolis job seekers consistently tell us that responsiveness makes all the difference. Want to remain competitive without raising salaries? Simply moving faster and keeping your candidates in the loop can be the difference between securing top talent or losing them to a competitor.
In fact, Addison Group reports that 70% of job seekers say they lose interest in a role if they haven’t heard back within a week of the interview.
That’s Good HR Will Help You Hire Real People – Fast
At That’s Good HR, we focus on hiring the right people.
We know the Indianapolis job market inside and out and have helped employers build strong teams for more than two decades. We understand what makes candidates thrive, what makes teams click, and how to match people to the environments where they perform best.
Whether you need temporary help, temp-to-hire candidates, or direct hire placements, we will help you hire smarter, faster, and more realistically.
Ready to stop looking for a needle in a haystack? Visit our website to get help hiring the people who can move your business forward.
