General resume tips
1) Maximum 2 printed sides. Ensure the most of the important stuff is on the 1st side.
2) Name, Contact Details (address, email, phone number)
3) Educational Qualifications
a) Listed in order most recent to oldest. List degree-course/college-university/score/year of completion.
b) More information on relevant stuff. List few relevant mechanical engineering courses that you can answer questions on.
c) Mention software/mechanical engineering skills. Only mention stuff that you can answer question about. DO NOT MENTION STUFF YOU BARELY KNOW.
4) Internships
a) Mention company, duration and role.
b) Short description of the work, your specific contribution.
5) Research Papers
a) Mention title, authors and publication/conference.
b) Describe topic and your contribution.
6) Academic Projects
a) List relevant academic projects.
b) Describe the project and your specific contribution.
7) Academic Achievements
a) Mention notable academic achievements - restrict to high school and college levels only.
b) This includes CET rank, college/university rank, scholarship/academic awards won at college/university. DO NOT MENTION GATE/CAT/GMAT scores.
8) Linguistics
a) If you are applying for a job that might involve travel to various linguistic regions, indicate languages you are fluent with. Expect to have a chat with the interviewer in any of these listed languages.
9) Nobody cares about your hobbies (unless related to job), prizes won in kindergarten poem recitations and street cricket championships.
10) You can provide a 1/2 references if you have space to fill up in the 2nd page.
+1 to all of the above. Very nicely put!
Just want to add that you should take the resume as a representation of all that you have done. This does include hobbies that might be pertinent to your new job. For e.g. when I was applying for the position of a Sys Admin, I made a point to include the fact that I used to handle the LAN and OS installation/maintenance for me and my 9 flat-mates. There was quite an interesting discussion on this - how I decided on the network requirements, how I split the internet connections and general troubleshooting that I had to do. The interviewer was quite impressed (and I did get the job). Whatever is relevant to the job you are applying to; do mention if you have done something even close to the profile.
For a fresher's resume, it is very important not to exaggerate but truthfully include stuff - even if you know very little about it. For e.g. you might be familiar with the basics of MS Office. It is better to mention this as "Basics of MS Office" rather than leaving it altogether.
Make sure you know the minutest details about the projects that you write about in your resume.
Re-iterating pt. 7.b. , please do not mention anything about your grand future plans to do MBA or MS; if you have any. Many recruiters try to force it out of you by seemingly innocent questions like "What are your future plans" or "Where do you see yourself in 5 years?" or even the very direct "When are you planning to do your MBA?". Be firm and say that you want to establish yourself and become technically sound; no plans of MBA.
Again re-iterating from above, your resume should be within 2 pages. No one has the time to read 4 pages of your "achievements". If you really have 4 pages of worthwhile stuff to share, you will not need to apply anywhere; offers will come to you!
Also, if your interview goes on well, they generally ask if you have any questions. This is a good time to ask "What will be my career path like?" This shows that you are interested in the job and see yourself there in the future too.
Best of luck!