What's a Unicorn Job like?
Thoughts about roles where you're paid well to do meaningful work
Believe it or not, not everyone in Biglaw hates their job. I remember meeting with my partner mentor—let’s call him David—many years ago. Now I had met many partners at the firm and found that most were actually glorified associates who were also responsible for shitwork.
Not David though.
Not only was he on the management committee, David was responsible for doing the highest level litigation work at the firm.
He had a Unicorn Job. He was paid well for doing meaningful work.
And most importantly, he really, genuinely seemed like he was having a lot of fun at work. Meeting David showed me that it was possible to win the corporate game. To the Davids of the world, work is fun and engaging. It’s not “a grind” and it definitely doesn’t seem miserable.
Other examples of people with Unicorn Jobs:1
An investor who’s known to produce strong returns year after year;
A turnaround CEO who gets brought in to fix companies;
A movie producer known for making big box office hits
Today I’m going to share three characteristics I’ve learned that are core to these Unicorn Jobs. The concept itself isn’t new—in fact, the whole idea was introduced to me over a decade ago when I first read “So Good They Can’t Ignore You.” The book doesn’t call them Unicorn Jobs—that was just a phrase I came up with as I started to come across these rare individuals who were paid well for doing meaningful work.