Your Resume
Applying for a job involves selling yourself, by which I mean that you are the product to be marketed, and the process starts even with the envelope in which you send your details. It's surprising how many people fail to use the resume and covering letter (they are, after all, a first introduction) as properly as they should be. I have seen very badly handwritten resumes with no idea of spacing on ragged paper that would disgrace a fish and chip shop. This introduction says little for your self-image and is likely to go straight into the bin – if it doesn’t, it will be a permanent reminder of what you were like long after the interview.

Having said all that, in a lot of aviation companies the atmosphere is relatively informal, and, although you need a resume, hardly anyone ever reads it, at least not till you make them do so by turning up on their doorstep, so take the following remarks with as large a pinch of salt as you feel able. You may only be required to fill in an application form, which will also involve a breakdown of hours—usually First Pilot and Grand Totals. The initial contact could well be a faxed one-page letter, with everything relevant on it, and full details later when asked.
Tip: Keep a running breakdown of your hours, separate from your logbook and updated monthly, say, in a spreadsheet, which will help you extract these figures when required. It will also be a back-up should the original get lost, but a logbook must fulfil certain requirements. Keep columns for specialized stuff.
However, a large company with a personnel department (which therefore deals with several other professions) will expect to get the full treatment. Like flying, the more preparation that goes into your resume, the better the results you will get. Remember, you're trying to beat the opposition, in an environment where the best person for the job frequently gets eliminated early on, and the person who plays the application/interview game best wins. Unfair? Yes, but life's like that, so here's a couple of points to note before we go any further – the resume is not meant to get you a job, but an interview. Secondly, it actually consists of two parts - the resume itself, which contains the usual stuff, and a covering letter, which, being a business document, should be neatly typed or wordprocessed on white letter-sized paper, unless you are specifically told to do otherwise (you might be asked to fill in a form) - it looks more professional anyway. The letter is a focussing device, that should include information that might not belong in the resume, or to highlight anything that might be particularly relevant and to get it in front of the right person (ring up to make sure you spell their name right). "Dear Sir" or "Dear Madam" will often mean consignment to the waste bin immediately. You may also include reasons for wanting to join the company, or, more to the point (salesmanship again), how useful you will be to them, because that’s what they’re bothered about. You could, for example, cover specific points mentioned in the advert, or you know that they’re concerned about. This is your sales pitch.