Stop Looking for a Unicorn (And Fall in Love with Reality)
- 4 days ago
- 2 min read
Every February, we’re reminded that “perfect” doesn’t exist.
Rom-coms end, Valentine’s chocolates vanish, and most of us accept that relationships, and great hires, require compromise, patience, and investment.
Yet somehow hiring briefs still read like fantasy fiction:
10 years’ experience in a 3-year-old technology
Senior leadership skills on a junior salary
Someone who can “do it all”
Unfortunately, unicorn candidates belong in fairy tales, not your talent pipeline.
The Scottish Hiring Reality
The latest Scottish labour market data paints a clear picture: employer demand is high, but skills and worker shortages are biting hard, not disappearing.
More than a third (34.9%) of Scottish businesses report a shortage of workers, with employers struggling to meet demand with the available talent supply.
Online job adverts in Scotland grew year-on-year, showing sustained demand for talent, yet vacancies still reflect structural gaps between what employers want and what the candidate market currently offers.
Public data shows that skill-shortage vacancies are still highly prevalent in key sectors such as education, health and social care, where employers consistently find it hard to recruit people with the right experience or skill sets.
And the consequence of those gaps isn’t theoretical; it’s financial too. In fact, chronic skills shortfalls are estimated to be costing Scottish organisations around £352 million each year in higher recruitment fees, inflated salaries, temporary staffing and remedial training when roles are filled at a lower level than intended.
In other words: Scottish clients are not short of people, they’re short of the talent they wish existed on paper.
Skills Can Be Developed, Potential Can’t
Vectors of mismatch continue to widen because many briefs still prioritise, perfect histories over real potential, ideal checklists over capability to grow, and exact skills over adaptability and ambition.
Yet the data suggest that many employers are already shifting toward skills-based hiring, recognising that transferable talent and on-the-job progression broaden the talent pool and help address shortages.
The reality is, you can train someone in software frameworks, tools or systems, you can build up industry-specific experience, but you can’t teach attitude, cultural fit, resilience or the will to learn.
Those are the traits that separate hires who survive the honeymoon period from hires who drive long-term success.
The Clients Who Win Talent Think Differently
The most successful employers we work with don’t ask, “Does this candidate tick every box?”
They ask:
Does this person show strong core competencies?
Will they grow into the role with coaching and support?
Do they align with our values and team culture?
That’s how jobs get filled, and how vacancies stop costing money and start delivering value.
Reality > Unicorns
It’s time to stop chasing mythical candidates and start investing in talented people who are real, trainable, and eager.
Because when you fall in love with potential instead of perfection, you don’t just fill roles, you build teams that thrive.
And that’s where the real magic happens. Hiring stuck? Let’s reality-check your brief and move things forward, get in touch today.
