Top 8 Commonly Used Good Resume Fonts
These fonts are widely considered good resume fonts.
Arial: A popular and safe choice for a modern sans serif font, Arial is applauded for clean lines and good legibility. But some say Arial is little more than a modification of Helvetica and may soon become a victim of its own success by virtue of being too common.
Calibri: Microsoft Words default font, Calibri is a highly readable sans serif font to use for a resume not as popular as Arial but with few minuses except that its increasing use may not give your resume a distinctive look.
Cambria: A serif font commissioned by Microsoft and designed for computer monitors, Cambria works well in small sizes and yet, while created in 2004, is described as somewhat traditional.
Garamond: Whether you call it timeless or just old, Garamond is a classic serif font with 500-year-old roots that still manages to look distinctive and interesting.
Georgia: This attractive serif font, an alternative to Times New Roman, reads well even in small sizes, though its popularity will not make your resume stand out from the crowd.
Lato: A modern font designed by Google for the web, Lato was designed to be a serious but friendly sans serif font. Its found in the Google Font library but is not a standard Microsoft Word typeface.
Trebuchet MS: Commissioned by Microsoft, this elegant sans serif font was designed to look good on a computer, though if you want to use all its features, youll have to purchase Trebuchet Pro.
Recruiters Reveal The 7 Best Fonts For Your Resume In 2021
Studies have shown recruiters typically scan a resume for only about six seconds before making a decision on whether an applicant is fit for a role.
With only six seconds to demonstrate your qualifications for a position, every detail counts. To evoke a sense of style, professionalism, and uniqueness, it’s critical you put effort and consideration into your font choice.
But, besides Times New Roman, which fonts pass the six-second resume scan? Additionally, which fonts should you avoid to ensure your typeface isn’t distracting the recruiter from the content itself?
Here, we’ve asked HubSpot recruiters to reveal the seven best fonts for your resume in 2019, as well as what they consider in terms of design in general, so your resume can stand out in the pile.
Which Fonts To Use In A Resume: Summary Of Rules To Follow
Clean and legible: Make sure your chosen font does not look too noisy once the resume page is populated by text. Serif fonts can often overburden a resume describing a robust career, but your mileage may vary. Just make sure your own eyes dont hurt when trying to read a dense paragraph or bullet point list. If you find it difficult to focus due to the noisiness of the text, chances are the hiring manager will too.
Appropriate for the medium: Pay attention to how your font of choice looks on a digital screen or on paper. Handing over a paper document is becoming increasingly rare these days, but if you plan to bring the resume with you to an interview or share during a networking event, make sure your chosen font actually works on a physical page.
Appropriate for the industry and profession: If youre sending your resume to a forward-thinking IT or web development company, you might want to consider some of the industry staples, like Googles pet font, Roboto, or web developer favorites like Open Sans or Ubuntu. If your resume is heading to a more traditional business, consider more widely accepted fonts, often found in Windows or iOS systems, like Arial, Calibri or Georgia. In some cases, even creative fonts like Futura or Montserrat may work, as visual designers favor them, but you have to be purposeful and thoughtful in your choices.
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Which Font Style And Size Is Best For Resume
- Times New Roman, in black and size 12 points, is the most common style to use.
- If you want to read it easy, consider the following: Bell, Bell, Bell, Bell, Bell, Bell, Bell, Bell, Bell, Bell, Bell, Bell, Bell, Bell, Bell, Bell, Bell, Bell, Bell, Bell, Bell, Bell.
- Arial, Tahoma, Century Gothic, and Lucida Sans are some of the popular sans serif fonts.
When entering the workforce, you should let your skills shine and be unique. While most people know not to use scented paper, graphics, colors, or Comic Sans fonts, here are a few additional tips on how to write an effective resume from our friends atResumeTemplates101. If you want to read it easy, consider the following: Bell, Bell, Bell, Bell, Bell, Bell, Bell, Bell, Bell, Bell, Bell, Bell, Bell, Bell, Bell, Bell, Bell, Bell, Bell, Bell, Bell, Bell, Bell, Think of your resume as a newspaper article and make your headings and names stand out.
If education isnt the strongest part of your resume, list your experience first, starting with your most current job and all your responsibilities. If education isnt the strongest component of your resume, list your experience first, starting with your current job and all your responsibilities. All dates, locations, and certifications received, clearly state your schooling from the most recent institution you attended.
All dates, locations, and certifications received, state your schooling from the most recent institution you attended.
How To Choose The Best Font For Your Resume
The two most important factors when selecting a font for your resume are readability and professionalism.
The last thing you want to do is to make a recruiter or employers life harder, so when building your resume, your font should always be straightforward and highly readable. They shouldnt have to squint to read overly light, thin fonts, or struggle to make out complex symbols or typefaces.
Professionalism, meanwhile, is all about tone. Just as we discussed in the previous section, even silent choices like font and formatting can convey tone as easily as your word choice. The tone of your font should match the tone of your workplace personality and your level of professionalism.
In terms of both readability and professionalism, there are a few broad font families that we commonly associate with the workplace and with professional settings. Lets go over each of the five main font families, or broad categories, from which you have to choose when youre writing your resume, cover letter, or references.
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The Best Font Size And Style For Resumes
Theresa Chiechi / The Balance
When youre writing your resume, your font choice does matter. It’s important to opt for a basic fontchoose one that both hiring managers and applicant management systems can easily read. Your resume is no place to use difficult-to-read cursive, handwriting-style, or calligraphy fonts.
Resume Font Size Options
Make it easy for hiring managers and potential interviewers to read through your entire resume. Choose a font size that’s between 10 and 12. This will ensure that no one has to squint to read through all the information on this important document.
It’s fine to use a larger font size for your name in the heading section of your resume at the top of the page.
Hiring managers and recruiters typically spend seconds glancing at each resume before moving it to the yes or no pile. Make your resume difficult to read, and you might wind up losing out on an opportunity that would have been perfect for you.
Also Check: Should You Post Your Resume On Indeed
How To Choose The Right Font For Your Resume
Choosing what font to use for a resume can be a bit tricky. While all of the best resume fonts will offer a solid dose of readability, they can also do much more.
Think of it this way your resume is essentially a marketing document. If you make the content of your resume and your stylistic choices align, your overall message is stronger.
Different fonts for resumes may be interpreted different ways. Some are seen as classic and mature, while others feel modern and sleek. By capturing the right feeling with your font style, youre taking your resume up a notch.
So, before you default to using a good resume font, why not go for greatness? Really dial into fonts that convey the right message. That way, your resume has that extra little bit of oomph.
But how do you do that? Well, start with deciding between serif and sans serif. Generally, serif feels a bit more formal and traditional due to those extra flourishes. Sans serif tends to lean toward modern and sleek since its fairly unembellished.
After that, consider how much space you have. Some of the easiest to read fonts are relatively wide, while others are surprisingly narrow. If you need to cram a lot into your resume without crossing over the two-page mark and going with a small font size, then youll want to opt for a narrower option thats still easy on the eyes.
MIKE’S TIP:
Beat The Ats Robots Reach The Humans
Simple details like typeface, font size, and where to bold your resume might initially seem like they arent worth focusing on. But today ATS robots scan through hundreds of resumes, recruiters only spend seconds on a flood of applications, and hiring managers need to choose between highly competitive candidates.
Correct typography and formatting put you a step above other candidates and give you a much better chance to get your resume past an ATS and into the hands of a real person. Why not take any advantage you can get?
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The Best Fonts For Your Resume In 2021
What makes a great resume font? Readability and ATS-friendliness. Of course your resumes content counts for much more than your font choice, but choosing a clean font thats easy to read on any screen is a great way to make your resume more accessible to recruiters and hiring managers.
Choosing a font thats easy to read on any screen is a great way to make your resume more accessible to recruiters and hiring managers. Of course, the content counts for much more than your font choice, but this is still something you should think about when writing your resume.
So, what is the best font to use for a resume?
Below, well dive in deeper with why these 10 fonts are safe choices for your resume and friendly to applicant tracking systems.
Lets get started!
What Category Of Fonts To Use For A Resume: Serif Or Sans Serif
This is a question that often comes up when considering fonts: what are serif fonts and should you use them in your resume? Lets break it down.Serif fonts are those that have decorative little strokes added to the letters of the alphabet. For example, in most serif fonts the letter l as in lemon has a little horizontal line at the bottom, like a base the letter rests on, and a little horizontal stroke at the top jutting toward the left.
Sans serif fonts: The French sans means without, so sans serif fonts do not contain serifs. Sans serif fonts tend to render letters as we were taught to do in grade school, free of artistic flourishes.
Pros and cons: Sans serif fonts are often considered cleaner and less cluttered. Some psychology and marketing experts like Nick Kolenda say that sans serif fonts are more readable on computer screens, while serif fonts are more readable in print. However, agreement on this is by no means universal. On balance, probably a majority of experts recommend sans serif fonts for resumes.
However, studies from 2005 to 2011 show that serif fonts are seen as more credible and authoritative, while readers may be more skeptical of information contained in more informal sans serif fonts.
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How About Font Combinations & Pairs
Now that you know which fonts should play best on your resume, you may be wondering if combining a few will get you even better results.
When it comes to leveraging combinations or pairs of multiple fonts, my recommendation is to avoid it completely. The rule of thumb should be one font per resume.
Why?
It comes down to efficiency and improving our odds. Using a single font will ensure that things are consistent and that they look good. As soon as we introduce multiple fonts, we have to consider how they pair with one another and, if we’re being honest, the average person doesn’t always have the best eye for design .
You don’t want to end up in a situation where you’re distracting the read with weird font choices. Keep it simple and pick one. You can always personalize it using font weights and formatting.
Keep Your Resume Font Style Simple
There are a few reasons why it’s important to keep the font on your resume simple. First of all, many of them are read by applicant tracking systems and not by people. Those systems work best reading plain and simple text rather than that with fancy formatting.
It’s not just the machines that benefit from easily readable texthuman eyes also find it easier.
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Find Out If Your Resume Font And Formatting Are Ats
Scan your resume with the Jobscan resume checker below. Youll receive a report with optimization tips for any job.
& amp lt span data-mce-type=bookmark style=display: inline-block width: 0px overflow: hidden line-height: 0 class=mce_SELRES_start& amp gt & amp lt /span& amp gt & amp lt span data-mce-type=bookmark style=display: inline-block width: 0px overflow: hidden line-height: 0 class=mce_SELRES_start& amp gt & amp lt /span& amp gt & amp lt span data-mce-type=bookmark style=display: inline-block width: 0px overflow: hidden line-height: 0 class=mce_SELRES_start& amp gt & amp lt /span& amp gt & amp lt span data-mce-type=bookmark style=display: inline-block width: 0px overflow: hidden line-height: 0 class=mce_SELRES_start& amp gt & amp lt span data-mce-type=bookmark style=display: inline-block width: 0px overflow: hidden line-height: 0 class=mce_SELRES_start& amp gt & amp lt /span& amp gt & amp lt /span& amp gt
Once youve got your resume curated for the specific role youre applying for, itll be much easier to fit your text in at the optimal resume font size.
For even more help, take a look at our free resume templates.
The Best Font Size For A Resume
The best font size for a resume, in most cases, is somewhere between 10 and 12 points.
Remember that your goal in choosing both resume font and resume font size is to make your CV as easy to read as possible. Most hiring managers spend just a few seconds scanning a resume, and for a positive first impression, how it looks can be just as important as what it says. If recruiters are able to read other resumes easily, but have to reach for their reading glasses to decipher yours, they may find yours easier to ignore.
On the other hand, if your font size is too large it may look like youre writing for children, or for senior citizens with failing eyesight. One of the main imperatives involving font size is the need to fit your resume on one page.
There are some fonts that are easier to read in smaller sizes than others. So when choosing the font to use for your resume, experiment a bit with the size to see how it affects legibility.
If your resume doesnt fit on one page with a 12-point font size, try a size as low as 10 points, but no smaller. Always try to trim your text before you resort to formatting solutions like reducing font size, downsizing margins or eliminating paragraph breaks. Always leave room for an appropriate amount of white space to avoid a resume thats too dense.
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How Do You Pick A Resume Font
So how do you know which of these more traditional, easy-to-read fonts you should pick? That depends on your personal preference and what you think sends the right message for your resume. The saying, Dress for the job you want applies to font choice too! Yurovsky says.
You might want to consider whether a serif or sans serif font is best for you. If you want to make your resume look more modern you might choose a sans serif font like Arial or Calibri, and avoid serif fonts like Times New Roman and Georgia, says Muse career coach Debra Boggs. But if you work in higher education or the medical field, a serif font like Georgia would be appropriate.
To figure out which type of font youre looking at, check the capital Tsif the top has short lines hanging down on either side, those lines are serifs. But if the top of the T is a single line straight across, you have a sans serif font.
Once youve decided between serif and sans serif, choosing a font comes down to which one looks best to you!
Whats The Best Resume Font
Every job candidate wants to put their best font forward, particularly when it comes to their resume. Here are the best fonts for resume writing see how they weigh in with your favourites.
Before you land the job interview, you have to pique the hiring manager’s interest with a strong resume. And while certain things are always true like the fact that experience, skills and ability trump more superficial aspects like your CV style your resume should still impress across the board. That means keeping look-and-feel in mind, especially when considering resume fonts.
Choose the font strategically, as you would consider how it’s organised or how long it is. Just like you shouldn’t begin your resume with your “Activities and Interests” section or allow it to creep onto five pages, the best resume font is one that covers a few bases.
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Should You Use Different Colored Fonts On Your Resume
As I’ve mentioned above, finding ways to stand out on your resume is key.
Typefaces, font size, and general formatting are subtle ways to inject personality into your resume. Colors are a bit more direct.
Adding a splash of color can make your resume pop! I’ve personally done it on my own resume, check it out:
It’s easy to go overboard and end up with a resume that looks tacky or gimmicky.
Notice how I’ve only injected color into a few areas of my resume and I kept things consistent. If want to do this yourself, I only recommend changing the colors for:
- Your name
- The section headers on your resume
- Any bars/charts in your skills section
- Any lines on your resume
I’d recommend picking three of those four so you don’t go overboard. Also, I’d recommend keeping things to a single color. Adding multiple colors to your resume is distracting and confusing.