Why it is important to have a good resume
Whenever you apply for any job, you represent your skills via a resume, it's the only thing that will give you a chance to move forward. So no matter how good you are at coding or any other technical skills required for the job, if your resume does not reflect it , you will not get the chance to give an interview.
So while creating your resume, think of it as a short introduction of yourself and try to figure out the way you can impress the recruiter in 30-40 secs of their reading time. Do not try to make it just another resume in a pile of resumes the recruiter has. The trick to do is to avoid committing common mistakes.
For instance, Do you think the career objective section which you have copied from Google is gonna be different from 100s of people who have already copied it and impressed the recruiter? Well, I don't think so.
So below is a short list of things you should not do on your resume, to make it more effective. This is just a list I have compiled after having gone through numerous resumes.
What not to do on your resume (Personal Suggestions)
Do not add technologies you don't know
Questions will be asked based on your resume so do not write technologies you don't know. People tend to write lots of technologies and words like big data, and machine learning without having gone through them in detail. Though it may have a good impact on the reader, not knowing what you have written will seriously affect your interview. So make sure you write only things you know.
Do not add hobbies related to singing, dancing, playing games
Writing hobbies like singing, dancing, and playing games is not recommended. It just takes up space and does not add any value to your resume, since it's not something that will be helpful to the post you are applying for. Moreover, if you have an HR round, the interviewer cannot ask questions based on these hobbies. Instead of this add more achievements in the field of coding, academics which would add value to your resume.
Do not increase the size of your resume by adding a lot of spaces and line breaks
This is one of the most common things done by people when they do not have enough to cover 2 pages but they want to do it anyways. Well, do not do it. A recruiter has a lot of resumes piled, so it's better to have a 1-page resume. Extra spaces just show you are trying to cover more ground which has a negative impact.
Do not add marital status, religion, other personal information
Try not to include any personal information which is not related to the job. This includes marital status, address, religion, gender, languages known, etc. This information will not add any value to the resume and just fill up the precious space of your resume.
Do not add flashy/random email ids
Please do not use random email addresses like 121xdw13@gmail.com, or lucifer_23@gmail.com. Think in case your name has to be found, and email is the only piece of information. Well, I don't think Lucifer_hell will be a good name. Moreover, these do not show seriousness towards the job.
Certificates vs Achievements
Always give more weightage to accomplishments over certifications. Well, it's as simple as it sounds. The certificates you get by doing paid/free training are much less worth it than the achievements you get by competitive coding, hackathons, etc. In general, try to gain more knowledge by developing apps and solving problems rather than taking a course.
Do not add Soft skills as part of Skills
Do not add soft skills as part of the skills section have it separate from technical skills. It helps the recruiter focus on the required set of skills he/she is looking for.
Do not add tools used
Generally adding tools like Eclipse or Intellij is not recommended. It's the work done on services and applications that matter.
Do not add a Photograph
Keeping it simple. For technical jobs, adding a photograph is of no use to the recruiter or the person reviewing your resume. Try avoiding it, its just another piece of thing that stops you from adding more skills.
Do not write a list of experiences and education in chronological order
Always write a list of experiences and education in reverse chronological order. People will read the resume from top to bottom and generally, everyone is interested in your most recent job or highest education. So it's worth having that always on top, followed by other information in reverse chronological order.
Do not send resume in doc format
Never send resumes in doc format, many people do that, they send resumes in doc format since it's the most updated one after they have made last-minute changes. However, no matter how convenient this is, it's always good to send resumes as pdf or in a format that is not editable and formatting remains constant across devices. Think of it, in case someone opens the doc file on mobile, the formatting will all be disrupted, same goes when the same resume is opened in software different from which it was created. And believe me, nobody likes unformatted docs.
PS: Please feel free to add more recommendations in the comments, which you think are important for an effective resume