One of the first things a recruiter might see is your cover letter, which should be accompanying your resume. If you're applying for a job you found via some form of job post, take some time to address all of the individual job requirements, but keep it concise - your cover letter should be no more than a page long. This will help your cover letter stand out, and it'll show the recruiter not only that you are qualified for the job, but you know exactly how you're qualified.
Next, keep your resume clean, and up to date, and most importantly, tailored to the job you are interested in. Just like with your cover letter, try to find ways to indirectly connect your skills and experience to those things outlined in the job post. Put some serious thought into it, because your resume could put you past the "foot in the door" stage. Instead of "Worked as team leader in yard-planning project", get specific and tailor more to the management side. Specify what it is that you did as team leader, in terms of the details of the job you're gunning for. If the job requires experience in conflict management, you really need to emphasize how you resolved some conflict in the yard-planning project.
Continuing with the resume... These days, very few recruiters care that you're fluent in Microsoft Office. Hopefully you put your resume together using Office or some equivalent. Knowing Office is a given, so you can leave it out. You may also be exceptionally skilled with Adobe Photoshop, but if that isn't related to the job description, you should leave that out also. The point is, the skills you have that will help you be good at your jobs are the only important ones. If you put some effort into compiling this list, and keeping it concise, you'll save your recruiter some time and maybe keep their interest.
If your resume is successful in doing its job, you just may get an interview call. Be assertive. Take the earliest available time-slot you can, and work to be prepared for it. The sooner you get in there, the less chance there is that someone else will take the job out from under your nose. Make it work. If you're supposed to have lunch with a close friend, reschedule the lunch... friends will give you a second chance, but not all recruiters will.
Once your interview is scheduled, do some homework. The more you know about the target company, the smoother your interview should go. But don't just leave it at that. Form some questions based around your knowledge of the company. Instead of asking simple questions like "How many people work at this company?", ask something more valuable like "What sort of policies do you have in place to manage your employees?". This is the difference between an ignorant question, and an interested question. If you have some questions lined up that show your interest in how the company works, the recruiter will see that and remember it. And when the next guy with all the same qualifications comes in, that will be the determining factor in choosing who gets the job.
Lastly, put a good outfit together. Actually, before you try to do that, make sure you know what a good outfit for you would be. Your interview will be the site of your "first impression" in most cases, and the things you wear are crucial in keeping that first impression on the green side of the fence.
Don't stop there. If you can find other ways to put in a little extra effort, use them! Your efforts will be seen, and more often than not, they will pay off.
