1. Understand Attention Spans
  Keep in mind that people read  resumes about halfway down the page/screen before deciding if they are  going to continue reading, save it for later or hit the delete button.  Anything marketable about you should be in the top third of the resume.
  2. Make It an Appropriate Length
  The  optimal length of the resume will depend on your experience. A person  with a single year’s experience and a four-page resume is in trouble, as  is a person with 10 years experience and a one-page resume. Be concise  and try to fit your resume into three pages. Need to cut down? You don’t  need an objective — it’s a waste of precious space, unless you are a  career changer.
  3. General Summaries Bad, Technical Summaries Good
  General  summaries can help if used sparingly and appropriately. Technical  summaries are more helpful, because the first person reading your resume  could be non-technical and only knowledgeable enough to look for  keywords. However, there should not be a laundry list of every  technology you have ever heard about.
  4. Dates Matter
  Be  clear about your dates of employment. Most companies want to see  months, not just years — especially if you have some jumps or if you are  currently unemployed (i.e. they want to see how long you have been  out). It’s better to be upfront than to make them guess.
  5. Highlight Accomplishments, Not Just Job Functions
  
 The  descriptions of your positions should ideally be a mix of a broad  overview and specific accomplishments. That way, recruiters will know  what you did day-to-day, but also what effect your activities had on the  overall company or department.
  6. Quality Writing Still Matters
  Long-winded  paragraphs or bullets are mind numbing, but short choppy sentences can  appear simplistic. The ideal resume should have a combination of short  paragraphs and bullets — or even just bullets. If you opt for bullets,  combine related activities into one bullet where appropriate to save  room.
  7. Use Action Verbs
  The most overused phrases on  resumes are “responsible for” or “participated in.” It’s hard to know  if you were just a bystander or a true contributor or even a leader on a  project. It’s okay to use these terms once or twice, but it’s much  better to use something like “managed,” “completed,” “administered,”  “developed,” etc. If you are having trouble coming up with action verbs,  Thesaurus.com should be your new best friend.
  8. There Are No Rules About Education Placement
  Education  placement is variable. If you went to a particularly good school, have  an advanced degree or have a very relevant degree to the types of roles  you are pursuing, then it might be worth putting at the top, but it’s  okay for education to be at the bottom, too. 
 The same applies  for certifications — but if you have many, then it might consume too  much space at the top. Assuming your resume has the experience to back  up the certifications, your prospective employer will be intrigued  enough to get to them at the end.
  9. People are Not That Interested in Interests
  The  ubiquitous “Interests” section isn’t really necessary; however, if  there’s something you are particularly proud of and it’s short, then  feel free to include it at the end of your resume. There is always the  possibility that when you put “competitive running” on your resume that  the person reading your resume is a marathoner and gives you an  interview for that reason. However, you should exclude any activities  that could be seen as overly political or offensive.
  10. Be Prepared With A Versatile Resume Template
  Sometimes  it’s valuable to have more than one version of your resume. For  example, if your background could be applicable to manager or individual  contributor positions, you don’t want to scare someone off with a heavy  manager resume for a contributor role or vice versa. However, you  should not make yourself crazy writing a new resume for every position  that comes up (an especially tempting habit if you are unemployed). 
 You  should develop a resume template you feel comfortable with, and then  make minor tweaks if necessary. Also, be sure to update your resume  annually to avoid having to revamp it in a panic when you really need  it.