Don’t be a unicorn

What is an unicorn?

You may have heard the term unicorn or perhaps seen it in a different form. “Graphic UI/UX Designer” and “Graphic Designer and Front-end Web Developer” are just examples of positions you might see on job posting sites like Indeed. A unicorn is essentially someone who is a jack of all trades and master of none. Although this may not sound like a bad idea on paper since you might think having wider skills may attract more employees, it’s actually a detriment and counterproductive to your career growth. In this article, I will share my personal experience and insights on unicorns and why I think you shouldn’t be one.

How are unicorns created?

The most common unicorns you may find are fresh graduates out of their college classes or bootcamps in design. I could cover an entire article why I don’t recommend going to school or bootcamp for design but right now I want to explain how it turns most students into unicorns.

Most schools and bootcamps overpromise their students and claim they are job-ready upon graduation however that simply isn’t the case based on my experience. Many schools and boot camps are typically structured very broadly as there can be collective disciplines taught including graphic design, web development, UI/UX, photo editing. etc The main issue is that all these courses are typically crammed and taught in 6–12 months which is not enough to even cover 1 discipline. Many of the students in those courses are often indecisive on what they want to do for their career so they end up dipping their feet wet in every field. Upon graduation, they often put their best works on their portfolio which can be from a variety of different disciplines from brand identities, UX case studies, and websites they created. The issue is that hiring managers would not know what you want to pursue as your portfolio is all over the place and most likely you haven’t gone in-depth with any of them.

My experience as a unicorn

I used to be a unicorn upon graduating from school. I remember I had graphic design, UX design, and some web development projects and I thought that would help with my job search. Turns out it didn’t help at all and slowed down my learning process as I was spending only an hour or two on each discipline a day. I found out that after I narrowed down my focus to strictly UX it became much easier for me to grasp concepts and I optimized my workflow to UI design. From there I was able to prioritize all my focus in UI design and it made the overall learning process more enjoyable and less of a chore as I am actually passionate about this field.

Why are unicorns bad?

As a unicorn, you are advertising yourself as a junior since your portfolio would make it clear to hiring managers that you don’t have a clear focus or specialty. How this might slow down your career growth is you could be spending an equal amount of time on discipline and learn much more than if you focus on multiple disciplines. When you apply to companies you want to tailor your portfolio towards one but as a unicorn since your work is all over the place even if you tailor towards graphic design it won’t be your best work since you focused on many other disciplines.

Do good unicorns exist?

Yes, but good unicorns are quite rare and typically you may find them if they have years of experience as a full-stack designer. You can’t be a good unicorn upon graduating because you won’t have real-world experience in any field. Typically even good unicorns have one area they emphasize more than another area, they just happen to have so much industry experience they may seem like they know everything.

How to find your niche or specialty

Just ask yourself this, “What role would you be most willing to do for free and genuinely would dedicate your life to doing.” Now there’s your answer.

Final thoughts

Although good unicorns do exist, it is ideal that you pick a niche and specialty you are most passionate about and stick to it as it will benefit you in the long run. Although at first, it may seem like you’re limiting yourself to other opportunities and maybe spreading yourself too thin, it’s better off knowing where you want to go than trying to grow in many directions at once.