1. Location. Since I moved to SF the job offers have increased substantially.
2. Skill set. Fortunately I'm skilled in some "popular" languages.
3. Years of experience. I'm in the "hot spot" - not too old, and not too young (sorry - it does seem to be a factor...)
What I find however that recruiters don't necessarily look for anything BUT the above things. I've been approached for the weirdest jobs (considering my experience) from what I believe as a simple keyword search. When it comes to interviewing, the recruiters typically have no idea what they're talking about. This means that they're more interested in forwarding the resume from a brief "do you know this, have you had experience in this" as opposed to really understanding the position. Fortunately, I have had enough experience to interview the recruiters as opposed to them interviewing me.
My advice for developers struggling to get jobs (from how I hire...):
1. Have experience - whether professional or hobby. If it is a hobby: open source it.
2. Show initiative. You need to show you have the ability to actually think.
3. You don't need to know the answers. It's all about the approach to the problem.
4. Try to stand out amongst the resumes. I feel bad to say this: but unfortunately it's true. Given 100 resumes, you're probably only going to really look at 10.
5. Show charisma
I'd recommend other's to add to this: it's just a list I made from what is off the top of my head. But in regards to the article I disagree with:
1. Startup experience. It depends on what type of job you're going for - some will admire the drive, some will fear it (will you leave after a year)
2. School. I don't give a flying f* if they're from MIT or the University of Waikato. However I would give SOME preference to them studying at a school which includes algorithms and memory management (but that is me). Believe me: that (unfortunately) isn't a given...
I'm sure I'll probably get down votes for this; but please comment if you do disagree :) I'm only speaking from my experience as both a student (always) and as an employer.