Work on creating a winning resume: From getting fired to getting hired can be a remarkable journey in one's life. What can help over here is a well presented resume. After all, a simple, well-written and nicely organized resume that is seasoned with essential information can do the trick for a job seeker.
Let your resume be an easy read for the hiring manager. To do so, you should avoid overcrowded information. Your message should be projected in an uncluttered manner. You should make use of short sections and concise writing to achieve this.

Consistency should prevail: There should be uniformity in the use of capital letters, bullets, fonts and underlining. Don't commit the mistake of switching font size throughout the resume. Effective combination and consistency of word usage can drastically improve your chances of getting chosen for an interview.

Stay away from errors: An error free resume gives out a good picture about the job seeker. On the other hand, a resume that contains grammatical and typographic errors hampers the candidate's image.

Don't miss out on key information: A resume would stay incomplete unless you provide vital information about yourself such as your full name, address, contact number and email address. In addition to this, you should also list down your educational qualifications.

Include information about prior work experience: Nothing helps the hiring manager more than short listing candidates with relevant job experience. It makes their task in hand easier. If you include relevant work experience on your resume, the information will work in your favor. It will give you an upper edge over other candidates, especially against those who don't have relevant work experience.

Keep the resume targeted: Your resume should be tailored in accordance to the position you are seeking. To achieve this, you should be well aware about the goals and responsibilities of the ideal position. Accordingly, you need to showcase your skills and expertise to give out a clear message that the vacant position is best fitted for a candidate like you. That's an ideal way to present a winning resume.

Highlight your strengths: Your resume must place emphasis on your strengths. Your weak areas should not be exposed. You need to carefully and strategically include information about your strengths so that they get noticed. There are many impressive ways of highlighting certain texts in a resume. Use of boldface, italics and increased font size can help you draw attention towards a particular section in a resume.

The Resume must be focused: Most resumes only manage to get a glare or two. If the hiring manager is made to hunt for the information he/she is looking for, don't expect a positive outcome. You should include a title and a summary statement that carries brief description about the title. Running around the bush doesn't help over here. All the information should be precise and up to the point.

Make use of power words: Power words can literally create the buzz that you are looking for. Effective use of power words can add to the appeal of the resume. It can help you market yourself well. You should make use of the most active impressive verb to describe your accomplishments and skills. Try to begin your sentence with the most appropriate verb. Also, make sure that there aren't excessive repetitions of power words.

Show that you are a result oriented guy: Your resume must carry information about what your hiring manager is looking out for. A smaller accomplishment that has relevance to the job can have a bigger impact that a large but irrelevant accomplishment. The resume should give out a picture that you have all the necessary qualifications and skills to do justice to the assigned job. Your best bet would be to quantify all your relevant accomplishments. Also, make use of powerful adjectives such as 'proven', 'demonstrated' etc to create a result oriented impact.

Resort to Concise Writing: It's important to stick to the point and be as much direct as possible. Lengthy read can be a real turn off for the hiring managers. Use of repetitive information and unnecessary examples must be avoided to keep the resume short. Ideally, a resume should not be more than two pages. Unless you have remarkable achievements that don't fit into two pages, you can consider three pages for a resume. Also, make use of phrases instead of full sentences, whenever possible. Your best bet would be to begin sentences with verbs instead of pronouns. Lastly, make use of commas to make the text easier to read.

Consulting resume length: A consulting resume is ideally expected to be more detailed than a regular resume. It should contain some added information such as the list of reputable clients, testimonials, past user feedbacks etc. If you are looking for a job with a consulting firm, go all out to include your skills, past projects, experience, list of publications etc to create a stand out impression.

List down your experience before educational qualifications: More than often, it's advisable that you list down your work experience before your educational qualifications. Majority of the companies out there give great importance to relevant work experience. In other words, candidates who highlight relevant work experience in their resume gain an upper edge over other candidates who might hold greater educational degrees.

Break it up: Break your resume into smaller sections so that it doesn't turn off the reader. Experts generally advise candidates to use not more than six lines in a paragraph. One can always start a new paragraph to include more information, wherever it's required.

Make use of proper verb tense: Candidates are advised to make use of first person ('I') or third person ('he', 'she') tense while writing a resume. The chosen tense must be consistently followed throughout the resume.

Make it look impressive: After putting in all your labor and sweat to compose an impressive resume, you should put in some thought into the quality of the prints as well. One is advised to use laser printer for high quality output. After all, one can't afford to compromise on the look of the resume.
A pathetic looking resume will hardly be picked up from the herd of other resumes, in case the hiring manager is flooded with applications. It's also important to use proper font size. Font size of 11 or 12 point is found to be appropriate for a resume. Above all, make use of high quality and clean paper with proper staples and border. Lastly, don't fold the paper at any cost.

Provide an answerable contact number: The whole idea behind the creation of a hallmark resume is to stimulate the hiring manager to dial your digits for an extended discussion. Therefore, it's of paramount importance that you provide a contact number on which you are readily available most of the time. At the very least, have an answering machine attend to all the incoming calls.
After all, you would hate to see your efforts being flushed into the drain due to lack of communication. If the caller gives up after repeated attempts, chances are high that some other candidate may be considered over you. Apart from a reachable telephone number, you are advised to include your email address and fax number as well to ensure smooth communication.
All The Best.