One of my roles at work is helping with hiring. For the last two months I have been looking for talent to fill a number of positions in my department, and I really haven’t had the best luck. Maybe it is the time of year. Maybe it is the job market. Who knows.

In the last two days I estimate I looked at 100 resumes – and after looking at that many resumes, some patterns begin to emerge. The thing that is freaking me out is that almost every resume and cover letter I look at seems to be similar to the one that comes before it. And I’m not saying they are all bad, because they are not.

The freaky thing is they are all written exactly like we were taught to write a resume and cover letter – and they’re just not cutting it. They are all very formulaic and dry. They all tend to regurgitate the things I am looking for – and everyone is a “good/perfect/great fit” for the job…even though they may lack any relevant experience.

It actually reminds me of Google AdWords a bit. See, when you attend a PPC class or conference they tell you that the best thing to do for the click-through rate of your advertisement is to use the keyword in the title of your advertisement (dynamic keyword insertion). It seems that over the last couple of years, everyone took this advice to heart and started to use the keyword for the title to their ad – and as a result they all have the same damn title in their ads. Now the ads that really draw attention are the ones that aren’t using the industry best practice.

I think this same lesson can be applied to writing a cover letter or resume these days. We all know what the best practices are for a resume and cover letter – which is great. As you are writing up yours, think about what you are “supposed to do” and then do something different.

Don’t get me wrong. Don’t write anything that will make you look bad. Use good judgement and common sense. Don’t come off too cocky or strange or random. But make sure you do stand out.

When you are putting together that cover letter and resume, think of ways to be a purple cow in the job market. Remember that you are in charge of promoting brand you – and the best promotions are the ones that stand out and get noticed.

I’ll let you know if I find any purple cows out there.