In looking over Cindy's advice, it occurs to me that most of those points were raised in the "life skills" class that was mandatory for Seniors in my High School. It seems like much of it should be (but clearly is not) common sense. If you cannot follow directions, you are not a prime candidate. If you cannot communicate clearly (including spelling and grammar with a vocabulary appropriate to the job), you are not a prime candidate.
Moreover, in this crappy job market, there are a lot of candidates who likely have all the same skills as you, so you need to be as specific as you can as to what makes you better than them. A lot of people have typing skills, but if you type 65wpm and the next best candidate types 55wpm, that could be the fine point that throws the decision in your favor. (I have no idea what a typical professional typing speed is. I've never needed to know.)
I have also heard that regardless of the format or style you choose for your resume/CV, you should put the most recent and most relevant information early in the document. If you have a PhD, it should be listed before the BS degree, if you even list the BS degree at all. If you are after a software developer position and know C++, it should probably be listed before your knowledge of BASIC...unless the job specifically called for BASIC skills. With so many resumes to examine, the top half of the first page may be all that gets read on the first pass unless you stand out; if you can grab attention there then the rest might actually get read.
On the subject of writing skills, it holds true for would-be authors as well. As I said, my spouse and I run a fledgling small publishing company. She is our editor and handles all submissions and queries. Every now and then, she gets a query letter or book submission that is written in IM-speak or leet-speak. Those letters usually gets tossed without even being read. Her justification is that the query letter is the first example of an author's writing that she sees. If the person cannot even write a query letter using proper spelling and grammar, she has better writers to spend her time on. Even if the book itself is written in leet-speak for stylistic reasons, the letter should be written in proper English to prove that you can communicate clearly and at least understand why you are breaking with convention in your manuscript.
As my HS poetry instructor used to say, "The difference between a good poet breaking the rules and a bad poet breaking the rules is that the good poet understands why she is breaking the rules."
As another anecdote, my own manager at my current day job once received a resume that was written in crayon. He laughed and promptly tossed it in the shred box. When we asked what the joke was, he explained and commented that the person should have "had the resourcefulness to at least borrow a pen."
Finally, never show gaps in your work history. If you have been out of work for a while, think of anything relevant that you have done during that period even if you didn't get paid for it. Dress it up a little if you need to, but don't lie. If you get caught in a lie, you don't get the job. If you get caught in a lie after getting hired, you might lose the job. For computer geeks, get involved in some Open Source projects and you'll always have something you can list during your underemployed periods that shows you have been keeping your skills sharp. Volunteerism is also good. Every industry will have some sort of options like this that you can pursue.
