How Do You Choose A Font Size
When choosing font sizes, you want to find a balance: Too large a size and your resume is likely to be more than one page without necessarily having the years of experience to back up that resume length, Yurovsky says. But if you go too small, Lucas says, the recruiter will be squinting to read your resume. This is the last thing you want and will likely land you in the no pile.
Your font size doesnt need to be uniform across your resume. You can change it up to help make your important informationlike section headingsstand out. Just be sure to use the same font size for each type of information across your resume and make sure the relative sizes are logical. For example, if youre using Calibri, Boggs recommends 10.5 point font for bullets and 12 or 14 for company names, dates, and past job titles.
I always say to build your resume with the sizes you want and see where you land. Yurovsky says. If youre spilling onto the second page, consider decreasing one or more of the font sizes while still keeping it readable. But be careful, Muse career coach Leto Papadopoulos says: I see a lot of people trying to cram in their info with a small font size. Youre better off looking for other ways to get your resume down to one page.
On the other hand, if you have a lot of white space at the end, you might consider making your fonts a bit bigger. But dont go overboard and set your bullets to size 16 just to take up more of the page. Recruiters will see right through that.
How To Choose The Best Resume Fonts
What Is The Difference Between A Serif And A Sans
The difference between serif and sans-serif fonts is in the names themselvesserif fonts have decorative elements known as a serif, and sans-serif fonts do not.
Serif fonts that you can use on a resume include:
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Garamond
Sans-serif fonts you can use on a resume include:
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Calibri
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Arial
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Helvetica
For resumes, we generally recommend using a sans-serif font, instead of a serif font. Sans-serif fonts are easier to read on digital devices, especially smaller screensand nowadays, many recruiters are reading resumes on the go or on their phones. Sans-serif fonts are not only easy to read when printed, but they also are less taxing to read at smaller sizes on smaller screens. Sans-serif fonts also convey a modern and fresh look that help prevent your resume from looking dated.
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Resume Fonts For Science Applicants
The term sciences covers a broad range of job titles, including physician assistant, pharmacist, and astronomer. Being trustworthy is essential in such positions, so our font recommendation for your science or medical resume is Baskerville, a serif font that science suggests can inspire trust.
For a more modern-looking medical or scientific resume, use the sans serif Helvetica. This classic font is known for portraying neutrality, a quality hiring managers in scientific industries want to see in applicants.
To give you an idea of what your resume will look like when you change the font to Baskerville or Helvetica, heres an example from a lab technicians 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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Wrong On Both Accounts Resume Font Size Matters
If your resume shows your value and accomplishments, it will probably not fit on one page. Additionally, anytime you ask someone to do something extra to read your resume, you risk them moving on to the next candidate.
Dont tell me you have all the credentials for the job and they are in the resume if you created it in 7 point font. No one will read it.
Font Format For Resume
For your resume – our users recommend using a range between 10 – 12 size font. The most common response from our users is to use a 10.5 font. This font size should be uniform throughout.
Regarding fonts – arial, calibri, and times new roman are typically the recommended fonts. Our WSO sample resume utilizes times new roman.
Content Editor Note: Below are five helpful posts on resume fonts, overall resume improvement, and also make sure to check out our …because odds are if you aren’t sure what font to use on your resume…
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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?
Where To Add Color To Your Resume
If you are thinking about adding color to your resume, its important to have some consistency with the places you are adding color.
The purpose of adding color to your resume is to help key sections stand out.
Job titles, company names, headers, and subheaders are the most common places that people add color to their resume.
You might also consider adding color to the bullet points on your resume to match the overall theme .
Take a look at Find My Professions resume samples for more ideas on adding color to your resume.
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The Font Size Matters Too
If your font is too small, hiring managers will have to squint to read your resume. If it’s too large, your resume will look bulky and end up being longer than it needs to be.
To avoid making any mistakes when it comes to font sizes and formatting, here are my three general rules:
You can always utilize font sizes to manipulate the length of your resume. For example, if your resume is sitting at 1.5 pages when using 10-point font, consider increasing the font size to 12 points in order to get your resume closer to a full two pages.
Of course, it’s ultimately your experience and skills that will win over employers. But using a clear font in a size that makes sense will boost your chances of getting your resume the time and attention it deserves.
Peter Yang is a career expert and the CEO of Resume Writing Services, the parent company of ResumeGo. Before that, he worked as a hiring manager and recruiter. Follow him on Twitter .
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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.
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What Are The Best Fonts For Resumes
1. Calibri
Calibri is a modern sans serif font family with subtle rounding on stems and corners. This is a font that has been placed by Microsoft in lieu of old Times New Roman
This is considered as one of the best fonts as far as its readability and professional look is concerned. Yet, theres a possibility that your resume might not stand out from the rest as the other job seekers may use the same font on their resumes.
2. Garamond
Garamond is a classy and elegant font that catches your eyes. They say this is a readable and a timeless font and favorite among most designers and managers. The history of this font roots back to the 15th and 16th-century designs. Later designed and bundled with Microsoft in the 20th century. The font has seen generations passing across and still remains to be in the most popular among the different font families.
3. Arial
Arial is a great choice among most of the San Serif users. Recruiting experts say that the Arial font provides a clear lining and appearance making it so easy to read. However, its worth noting that Arial being a common font that most job seekers easily find to use, may make the reader or the resume picker boring a bit.
4. Verdana
Verdana is considered to be one of the most effective fonts to use especially when you are to take small print on computer screens. This is a humanist San Serif font that is professional and easy to read. This is one of the best fonts to use on CVs, Resumes, Cover letters and so on.
5. Cambria
Here Are Some Of The Best Fonts For Your Resume:
Why arent Times New Roman and Arial on this list?
Its a common misconception that Times New Roman and Arial are great resume fonts. While they are some of the most popular fonts in general, they are not the best for your resume.
Times New Roman is a compact font and can be difficult to read. Arial is overused and wont capture anyones attention!
What about serif vs. sans serif?
There are four major types of fonts: serif, sans serif, script, and decorative.
For purposes of a resume, both serif and sans serif can be used. These fonts are the most professional and easiest to read.
Sans serif fonts are considered modern and simple. Serif fonts are elegant and professional.
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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!
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.
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Worst Resume Fonts You Should Avoid Using
Conversely, there are certain resume fonts that we think you should stay away from:
- Bradley Hand ITC Unprofessional, messy
- Brush Script Difficult-to-read, messy
- Comic Sans Unprofessional, outdated
- Courier New Traditional, outdated
Dont believe us? View these fonts here and youll understand why theyre not suitable to be used in a resume.
Select The Right Resume Font Size
The optimal font size for your resume is anything between 10 and 12 points. The size you choose will be largely determined by how the font size impacts your resume layout. Because it is best practice to keep your resume to one or two pages, begin with size 10 font and experiment with sizing up if you think you have space.
While it may be tempting to keep your entire resume on one page, avoid dropping your font size below 10 points. This will make your document hard on the readers eyes. If your resume is two pages or longer at a 10 point font, edit your resume content to create more concise ideas by removing any unnecessary words or phrases. Only the most relevant content that best displays your skills and experiences consistent to the job should remain.
For example, heres a resume sentence that can be shortened:
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Performed inventory audits on a monthly basis and discovered issues with over-orderingexecuted an organization solution across all teams which resulted in a 10% increase in revenue over the next two quarters.
Make your ideas concise and remove filler words to include only the core value of your statement:
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Performed regular inventory audits, identifying and solving over-ordering problem to achieve 10% revenue increase.
Here are a few other ways you can consolidate your resume:
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What Fonts Should You Avoid On A Resume
Avoid using flowery, themed, or fun fonts, like Comic Sans and Impact or cursive fonts such as Freestyle Script and Segoe Script.
Along with being difficult to read and not compatible with an ATS, artistic fonts tell employers that you don’t know the rules of creating a professional resume, which could potentially lead them to think you don’t take your job search seriously. Remember, no snazzy resume font will showcase your qualifications as clearly as your job experience, talents, and accomplishments.
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.
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Fill Out This Form To Access Your Free Professionally
Ultimately, you’ll want to consider the position for which you’re applying when you’re choosing a font. To Glory’s point, certain more creative roles might benefit from a more unique font than Times New Roman.
Paulina Valdez Franco, a Senior Recruiter at HubSpot, also supports fonts other than Times New Roman. She mentioned, “My two favorite fonts for 2019 are Helvetica, if you’re looking for a clean and classic look, and Georgia, if you’re going after a more modern and fun look. The latter is also designed to read well on screens.”
Additionally, Paulina added, “Arial and Calibri are great choices if you want to play it safe.”
Bridget LeMon, a Technical Campus Recruiter at HubSpot, agrees that “it’s totally acceptable for candidates to stray away from the resume-norms of Times New Roman and Calibri. Avenir Next and Muna are two great options if you are looking to break the status quo.”
However, it’s important to note most recruiters I spoke with were hesitant to even offer a font at all.
For instance, Heta Patel, a HubSpot recruiter, said, “I typically don’t pay too much attention to font. I’m more concerned about whether the resume is formatted in a clean way — submitting a PDF is helpful with this, so your formatting doesn’t shift.”
Ultimately, and as expected, your content still matters most — however, a clean, clear font will help avoid any irritability you might cause a recruiter with a distracting, messy design.
More Resume Style Tips
- Be consistent. Your resume, cover letter, and other application materials should look like theyre part of the same package. Choose the same font throughout, and make consistent choices about font size, margin width, and formatting.
- Dont get fancy. With a few exceptions its best to keep your resume simple. Creative resumes may put off the hiring manager or get stuck in the applicant tracking system and never reach a HR person.
Remember: the goal is to impress the reader with your skills and experience, not your resume style choices.
- Aiming for one page? Dont tweak your font size to meet your goal. Writing a resume isnt like writing an essay in school. You cant squeak in under the wire by making your font larger or smaller. Plus, resume length is less important than resume content. You can always develop a one-page version to hand out at networking events and job fairs, and keep the longer version for other job searching purposes.
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