What Are The Best Resume Fonts 2022
Which are the best resume fonts 2022 in serif? Which is the best font for resume in sans serif?
Serif fonts are easier to read. The little brush strokes on each letter help our brain in faster reading.
But, sans-serifs are used as best resume fonts for their contemporary look. They integrate seamlessly with modern resume designs.
The Top 8 Resume Fonts
Font selection is an important part of your resume because it sets a tone for your whole document. You can use different fonts for the body and the headings, but you donât want to use more than two.
The fonts listed aboveâand detailed belowâare all good, clean font choices. Any font with too many flourishes risks being illegible to the ATS . You want your font to come across as professional, not detract from your message.
What Kinds Of Fonts Should You Stay Away From
Now that you have a sense of the classic fonts and basic considerations, you should also know there are a few things you should avoid:
- Heavily stylized fonts: Although pretty and design-oriented, stay away from heavily stylized fonts like modern cursive fonts, since ATSs cant read them, Yurovsky says, and humans might have trouble, too.
- Narrow, condensed, or light fonts or versions of fonts: These fonts can be harder on human eyes, especially when youre reading on a screen.
- Non-standard, downloaded, or custom fonts: Fonts that arent standard to most operating systems may be converted inaccurately by an ATS, says Muse career coach Tina Wascovich.
- Gimmick fonts: Your resume is a professional document, so your font choice should also be professional. Stay away from fonts like Comic Sans, Papyrus, and, of course, Wingdings.
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How To Choose The Best Resume Font And Size
With thousands of fonts to choose from, it can be overwhelming to decide on the font that will leave the best impression on an employer and increase your chances of moving forward in the interview process. It may be tempting to choose a font that showcases your personality, but keep in mind that recruiters will be put-off if a font makes it harder for them to do their job of reading your resume.
Many employers also use software called an applicant tracking system to record and sort job applications. These programs dont always read and interpret intricate fonts well, so complicated or overly detailed font options can sometimes be turned into blank boxes or other illegible characters.
If youre creating a resume for a creative field like graphic design or advertising, you have more flexibility when it comes to style. Often, creative interviewers view the resume as a showcase of creative skills and abilities and is expected to be representative of your work. Even so, ensuring your resume is easy to read is a top priority.
Here, well go over some tips to help you choose the right font and size for your resume.
Resume Fonts For Technology Job Applications
If youre applying to a job in the tech industry software engineer, for example your resume should feature modern skills, such as coding, software engineering, and information technology skills. Present your technical skills in a modern sans serif font like Helvetica Neue, which is included in Microsoft Words modern font grouping.
However, if you want to use a serif font, go for Garamond. Although Garamond was designed in the 1700s, makes it a great choice for technical resume writing.
Heres an example of a tech resume bullet point set in Helvetica Neue, followed by one written in Garamond:
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The Best Fonts And Size To Use On A Resume
Caitlin Proctor, CPRW
9 min read
Finding a job is tough these days, with steep competition and hundreds of applications per open job listing. You want every aspect of your resume and cover letter to convey that youâre the best fit for the job. After youâve considered your experience, skills, education, and qualifications, you have another choice to make: what is the best font to use for your resume?
Your resume font is one of those things that can either support your message or send the wrong message . In this article, weâll give you the 8 best fonts to use on your resume and how you can choose the right fit for your resume.
In addition to the best fonts, this post also includes these sections:
If you prefer, we have the same information in video format.
Before You Submit Another Resume Make Sure Youre Using One Of These Recruiter
A professional font will improve your odds of getting seen.
Would you ever sign a lease that was handwritten in crayon? How about a contract that was put together ransom-note style? Unless you enjoy playing with fire, were going to guess your answers are no and no. In fact, well bet you wouldnt even bother to read them. That’s why it’s important to determine the best font for resume readability. This goes for resume font size too.
Think about it. When it comes to official paperwork, appearancespecifically, the fontcan go a long way in projecting significance. Had crayons been invented in 1776, do you think Thomas Jefferson wouldve considered using them to write the Declaration of Independence? Probably not. Among the many likely reasons he used a quill and ink, Jefferson knew that when people evaluate a documents authority, they look at the design as well as the content itself.
Your resume, which communicates your skills, assets, and hire-ability, also needs to project professionalism. Recruiters take six seconds to decide whether or not to toss your resume, so the right resume font and resume font size make a big difference. If a recruiter cant read your words, or is put off by a funky font, you wont even get a second look.
So whats a surefire way you can hold a recruiters attention for those six precious and precarious seconds?
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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.
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.
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The Differences Between Font Families
Every font belongs to a family of fonts, which have similar characteristics and leave similar impressions. The first decision you have to make in terms of selecting a resume font is which font family is best for your goals.
These are the five broad categories that fonts fall into:
Serif: Serif fonts, like Times New Roman, belong to one of the largest and most common font families. Letters in serif fonts have decorative serifs, or little tails, on certain character strokes.
Sans Serif: Sans serif literally means without serif, so you can guess these typefaces dont havetails! Examples of sans serif typefaces include Arial and Helvetica. Sans serif typefaces have become highly popular in the digital marketplace, partly because of their less formal, more straightforward and minimalist look.
Monospace: Commonly associated with newspapers and typewriters, monospace fonts like Courier and Courier New were designed so that each letter would take up the same amount of space on a given line. Each letter is the same width. This allows for clean, consistent graphic design, as theres no size variability between the characters. Monospace fonts have also become a popular design choice in recent years because theyre a bit nostalgic, calling back to the days of typewriters and telegrams.
Whats The Best Font Option For Your Resume?
Which Fonts To Not Use In A Resume
- Fonts that just look weird: Unusual, avant-garde, over-designed fonts are inappropriate for a resume.
- Fonts that look like cursive: The only cursive in your job application, if any, should be your signature, so avoid fonts that mimic handwriting, or where the plain text looks like italics.
- Anything in all caps or small caps: Fonts with all capital letters are never appropriate for the body text of a resume.
These rules apply to body text, but you have a bit more leeway in headerdesign. For example, the first and largest text on the page will generally be your name, and it may be appropriate to choose a more distinctive font style for this.
Well talk about how a resume writer should choose the right font in a bit, but first lets talk about how big the font should be.
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Best Fonts For A Resume In 2021
Choosing the best fonts for your resume can be tricky. When youre creating your resume, theres a lot to keep in mind. Between writing the content of your resume and choosing from an endless selection of designs, its easy to overlook some of the fundamental aspects. But if theres one thing you dont want to neglect, its choosing the best font for your resume.
Select The Right Font Size
Arial may still be a staple of resume builders everywhere, he said, but making it smaller than 10 points makes it “one of the most difficult fonts to read.” In fact, according to YieldBird, major news organizations donât go smaller than 12pt font. Thatâs because smaller text is harder to read, regardless of what typeface you choose.
How big your text is will also affect other elements on your resume, like the amount of white space, which should be kept to a minimum. And while the body of your text should be a readable and consistent size throughout, your resume headings should be large enough to catch the readers’ eye. By separating each heading with a larger point of reference, you give whoeverâs choosing potential candidates the ability to quickly scan your resume while the meat of your resume containing your job description and other qualities should be 11 point.
Key takeaway: Keep font size in mind when selecting your font and building your resume. If the font is too small, it can be hard to read, which may be off-putting to hiring managers or potential employers.
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Fonts You Should Never Use On A Resume
We hope it goes without saying but absolutely DO NOT use Comic Sans or any similar âfunâ font on your resume. It will make you stand out, but not in a good way. Itâs so childish that it will convey to the employer that youâre out of touch with the professional world.
Just in case youâre not sure what font-type weâre talking about, here are a few examples:
Comic Sans
Do not use these fonts, please!
Not for headings, not for symbols, and definitely not for your name. Keep it professional.
Just for comparisonâs sake, here is the resume we used above with a Comic Sans font.
DO NOT USE COMIC SANS.
It looks childish and doesnât fit on a single page anymore. The work experience is completely overridden by the unprofessional font choice. This will most likely get your resume tossed out of hand. Donât use Comic Sans for your resume, cover letter, or any professional communication!
How To Find & Download Non
You may have noticed that a few of the fonts I recommended don’t show up when you try to find them in Microsoft Word or Google Docs.
Despite being some of the best choices out there for your resume, these fonts aren’t always part of the standard package with Microsoft or Google. The good news is, you can easily download and add them yourself without spending a dime! You can learn more about the difference between OTF, TTF, and Web font files here.
Here’s how to add custom fonts to Microsoft Word:
Adding new fonts to Google Docs is much easier. All you need to do is:
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Free Vs Premium Fonts: What Font To Use For A Resume
Its true,you dont need to buy a premium font to write a resume. Resumes that use apremium font thats submitted using a word processor or an online jobapplication form may not render correctly, especially if the recipient doesnthave the resume font in their system. This is why most of the resume templateson Envato Elements use free fonts.
That said, dontdismiss premium fonts just yet. You can use them if youre submitting yourresume on PDF or on the print version of the resume you’ll carry to an interview.A readable yet unique looking premium font will catch the recruiters attentionwhen they read your resume.
Characteristics Of The Best Fonts For Resume
Fonts come with specific features that can determine and affect the perspective of the reader. A specific font comes in different:
- Sizes
- Visual design
- Whether a font is serif or sans serif
The first three characteristics can be adjusted by the writer for any font. For example, with the font Times New Roman, the writer can elect to use a size 8, bolded, and in blue color. The last two characteristics, however, are inherent to each font and a user cannot change how the font looks in respect to those features.
The only way to change a basic font design is to select a different font. Depending on the type of resume, as well as the job industry and job typeInvestment Banking Job DescriptionThis Investment Banking Job description outlines the main skills, education, and work experience required to become an IB analyst or associate, there are a wide array of fonts to select from.
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Regular Italic Or Bold
- Bold text helps to draw attention to particular words. It helps subtitles stand out without increasing the font size.
- Italic text is useful for supporting the text. It should be specifically used in places like city and state or a company description.
Avoid underlining words or phrases in a resume or cover letter. It makes the document cluttered.
Use A Standard Font Size
Though you may be tempted to make your font size smaller to fit your resume on one page, it’s best to use a size that hiring managers can read easily. Use 10- or 12-point fonts for the body of your resume, including section headers. A larger font size between 16 and 18 points is appropriate for the heading banner at the top of your resume that includes your name. Avoid using smaller fonts that may crowd your resume and larger fonts that use too much space.
If you need more space, try adjusting the line and margin spacing. Single-line spacing and smaller margins can help you fit more on the page without making your font size too small.
Related: How To Choose Cover Letter Font and Font Size
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Breaking Down The 10 Best Resume Fonts
In 2020s marketplace, these are the 10 best resume fonts based on reliability, perception, and style:
For each one, well delve a bit into the fonts history and aesthetic, as well as its pros and cons and when to use each:
Open Sans
Open Sans, released in 2011, is one of Googles signature fonts. Its letters are tall and wide.
Pros: Open Sans is wildly popular for web design for a reason: optimal readability. The wide-open letters are easy to read on any screen, big or small. Because its used as Mozillas default font in many cases, and for many Google pages, its familiar to the eye.
Cons: Open Sans is widely perceived as flat or neutral, which can be a very good thing for a resume. But if you want to stand out a bit or for your resume to have a bit more personality, it might not be the best choice.
Alternatives: Adelle Sans is similar to Open Sans and is a great substitute.
Calibri
Calibri came on the scene in the early 2000s as the Microsoft Word replacement for the classic Times New Roman.
Pros: Calibri can be easily read on any computer and wont mess up the formatting no matter where its sent. Everyone has seen it before, so its not distracting. Its a sans serif font, so its clean and sleek. Its a good choice for a standard resume or for work at a digital-first company.
Helvetica
Helvetica was designed in the 1950s and comes with a little bit of elegance and flourish. Its frequently rated as one of the more attractive typefaces.