Your resume should be flawless. It is a representation of you, therefore

You must:
(a) Avoid spelling mistakes.
(b) Use good quality paper.
(c) Do not send curriculum vitae with spelling errors corrected by whitening fluid or by hand.
(d) Use proper margins and spend time formatting it properly.
(e) Send the printed laser outputs instead of photocopying. It may cost you more but it says a lot about you.

It should be brief - preferably one page; two pages only if your experience warrants it.

Make your resume visually attractive by using proper spacing and adequate margins; content should be balanced and centered on the page. It should look like an original copy.

A resume is a formal business document, not an essay. Do not use the pronoun, “I”.

Use quality bond paper, size 8 1/2″ x 11″ with letter-quality print.

A resume should include specifics, i.e. Earned 75% of college expenses, elected Resident Assistant of a 50-student residence hall.

If using a job objective, the content should be related to it.

Your resume should be done honestly - do not exaggerate or lie.

Use action verbs or skill words to describe your experience and emphasize important action verbs with adverbs.

When mailing your resume, always accompany it with a cover letter.

Presentation: Make sure your resume looks good. Presentation is of utmost importance.

References
You may include references at the end of your CV. These are names, addresses and phone numbers of two or three people who could vouch for your character, competence and commitment. Ideally, these should be people who have worked with you, or your college professors. Many job seekers starting out in their careers feel that important people’s references will impress prospective employers. Nothing could be further from the truth. A big name will communicate that you are a name-dropper who gets by on his father’s contacts rather than achievements. An experienced interviewer will be far more impressed with the references of people who know you professionally. In any case, your prospective employer will check with referees, so make sure you ask your referees’ permission before putting their names in your CV.

Use one or at best not more than two typefaces while preparing your CV. If you are looking for visual relief and highlighting then you can use block capitals, italics, bold type, underlining, varying font sizes, or any combinations of these. Choose a font that is simple and easy to read. Do not go in for a fancy typeface. It will take away legibility of your CV.

Don’t leave gaps in your CV. If you have lost some years between your +2 and graduation or after your graduation, explain the gap.

Special Tips for the Fresher

Even if you have a professional degree from a prestigious institution and are looking for a position at entry level, you need to market yourself effectively to get a plum offer. If you are not from a coveted institution your task becomes that much harder because a number of top recruiters may not even visit your campus.Even if you have a professional degree from a prestigious institution and are looking for a position at entry level, you need to market yourself effectively to get a plum offer. If you are not from a coveted institution your task becomes that much harder because a number of top recruiters may not even visit your campus.Your basic task is of communicating the fact that your skills, school and college education work experience, achievements, projects and extracurricular activities - all add up to make you the right person for the job.Even if you have a professional degree from a prestigious institution and are looking for a position at entry level, you need to market yourself effectively to get a plum offer. If you are not from a coveted institution your task becomes that much harder because a number of top recruiters may not even visit your campus.Even if you have a professional degree from a prestigious institution and are looking for a position at entry level, you need to market yourself effectively to get a plum offer. If you are not from a coveted institution your task becomes that much harder because a number of top recruiters may not even visit your campus.Your basic task is of communicating the fact that your skills, school and college education work experience, achievements, projects and extracurricular activities - all add up to make you the right person for the job.Don’t underestimate the value of your summer jobs, and your extra curricular activities. These are opportunities to use skills related to the job. They are often more job related than the academic qualification itself. The skills that you can demonstrate through any project or extracurricular activity include leadership skills, an ability to negotiate, plan and organize. In the absence of any direct organizational experience these add real meat to your CV. In other words, they help to differentiate you from the crowd and are often the most interesting part in your CV. Be sure to include all projects that you were in either alone or as a team and anything ‘extra’ you did.