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.
Use Font Features To Differentiate Resume Sections
You can make your name and headings stand out on your resume by using font features such as bolded, italicized, or underlined font. For example, at the top of your resume, you could put your full name in bold with your contact information and address underneath in plain text. Then, you could put each section title, such as Professional Experience and Education, in bold and underline it to clearly separate the title from the body content.
You could also put the name of the company and company address for each previous work position in italics to separate it from your job title and duties. Be sure that the font features you use are cohesive and the same throughout the entirety of your resume. For example, if you bold and underline one section title, be sure to do so for the rest of the section titles on your resume.
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.
Read Also: Where To Put Volunteer Work On Resume
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.
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.
Read Also: How To Put Bls Certification On Resume
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.
Which Fonts Are Best For Resumes
The best fonts to use for resumes are clear and simple. Not only to make it easy-to-read for prospective employers, but also for ATS . ATS are the systems employers use to filter out candidates. They narrow down the selection until there is a more manageable number to be manually read. They, like people, favor readable resumes.
The worst resume fonts are the ones that try to be fun, wacky, weird, or silly. Not only do they give entirely the wrong impression of being unprofessional and sometimes childish, they also tend to be unclear. You may feel like fonts such as Comic Sans, Courier, and Gothic fonts may give your resume a touch of personality. Dont do it.
The three best resume fonts according to job site Monster.com, are Calibri, Arial, and Times New Roman. They are all clear, readable, perfectly good choices which are better than the vast majority.
An employer is unlikely to judge you harshly for using them. However, they will make your resume look similar to other peoples.
There are a number of alternative resume fonts that are just as readable as the top choices but that show you have put thought into choosing your resume font. Fonts such as Avenir, Gill Sans, Verdana, and Cambria are all great options that will give your resume a fresher feel.
Recommended Reading: How Many Professional References Should I Have
Other Resume Typography And Design Tips
Try to avoid long wordy chunks of text as they are off-putting for employers. They simply dont want to wade through wordy paragraphs. Use visual aids such as headings, bullet points, columns, and bold, to break down the text into more digestible pieces. Read this guide on how to write a good resume for more tips.
Whichever font and font size you use for your resume and however you format it, make sure the style is consistent throughout. If the font size, line spacing, margin size, or anything else isnt uniform it looks sloppy and suggests you lack attention to detail.
What are the best colors for your resume? You can use color sparingly one your resume to strategically highlight important parts of your resume and to make it look more attractive. Use a simple color scheme and avoid using inappropriate colors.
Using resume templates is the most time-effective way of ensuring that your resume is easy-on-the eye. They have been professionally designed and there are industry-specific templates which are quick and easy to edit.
Designing a resume which stands out can be difficult for those without design skills and it can be time-consuming. Professional resume templates allow you to spend less working on your resume, and more time applying for jobs.
Ready To Take Your New Font And Write A Resume That Gets Results
Now that you know what font you’re going to use to convey your value, it’s time to make those updates!
Choosing a font is pretty straightforward, but understanding how to write your resume, what content to include, what format you should usethat can get confusing in a hurry.
If you want to understand the simple formula for writing resumes that actually get results, check out our complete guide: How To Write A Job-Winning Resume .
That will give you straightforward answers on what templates to use, how to format your resume, what sections to include, and how to get your value recognized. After you read through that, you should be ready to make those updates!
Head over to our free resume builder to create your resume using one of our proven templates. When you’re done with your resume, compare it to your target job description using ResyMatch.io, our free resume scanner tool!
Don’t Miss: How To Add Cpr Certification To Resume
A Word On Creativity Andstyle When Using Good Resume Fonts
Applicantsin creative fields dont use wacky and cursive fonts just because theyresupposed to be creative. You can add style and creativity in your resume withstandard yet beautiful looking fonts. You can even use colors, and emphasis to make your resume stand out.
For bestresults, pick two to three good resume fonts. Use the same resume font type for allyour headings to give your resume an easy to understand structure as well.Consistent style makes your resume look professional and easy to read.
The resumetemplate below uses the color red for contrast and bold formatting to emphasizekey information.
Lingo What You Say And How You Say It
The other half of a winning CV is the content. Not only is what you say on your CV important, how you say it matters too. When it comes to grabbing the employer’s attention in 30 seconds, the most important part of your CV is the introduction, otherwise known as the personal profile or statement. This is the first part of your content the employer will read so it must be really engaging, but most of all short and to the point. The perfect introduction should in no more than two to three sentences summarise who you are, what you’ve achieved, and what skills you possess, without using any cliches and killer buzzwords. Just like the blurb on the back of a book, an introduction done well will entice the employer to read on to the rest of the CV.
You May Like: How To List Cpr Certification On Resume
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…
Tips For Choosing The Best Font And Font Size
No matter what font and font size you end up choosing, make sure your resume looks polished and professional. Also, there are times when your resume will be checked through an automated Applicant Tracking System which might not understand intricate fonts. As such, avoid using complicated font styles.
Let us go over some tips to help you choose the best font style for your resume.
- Choose a font that is easy to read
You should always choose a clean font that is easy to read. An overly complicated resume font may look fashionable, but will only be hard for the eyes. The words would be difficult to figure out, and no hiring managers have that much time on their hands. In the most probable scenario, they will skip your resume.
Remember, your main goal should be to increase readability, so using a simple font is always a good choice.
- Use an appropriate size for that font
After choosing an appropriate font, make sure to select the font size accordingly. Generally, no matter what the font used, the size should be something between 10 and 12 points for normal text and between 13-16 points for headings and titles.
It is a good practice to start with the smallest font size and then increase it if your resume still has enough space. However, do not make the font smaller just to fit your resume on a single page. Make sure your text is readable.
- Applying styling features to your font
Recommended Reading: Cabin Crew Resume
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.
Print Your Resume Before You Sendit
Therecruiter or hiring manager reviewing your application will probably reviewyour resume on a screen. But they’ll print it just in time for your interviewso its always a good idea to check how your resume looks like in print.
Once youredone with your resume, print a copy and read it for yourself. Do you find iteasy to find information when youre just scanning it instead of reading word forword? If not, you might want to change your resume font to one of the optionslisted above.
You canalso find resume templates that already have legible fonts and great formattingon Envato Elements or Graphic River.
Editorial Note: This content was originally published on April 27, 2019. We’re sharing it again because our editors have determined that this information is still accurate and relevant.
Read Also: What Is A Good Resume Title
Top 10 Best Fonts For Resumes
Calibri, a sans serif font, replaced Times New Roman as the Microsoft Office default font which makes it familar to the eye.
Why it’s a good choice:
- professional- looking
- described as a warm and gentle font by its designer, Lucas de Groot
Calibri works well for most resumes and particularly for jobs in:
- nursing and care-related professions
- teaching
- social work and other support-type jobs
- engineering and jobs that have a lot of technical detail as it is functional and familiar and allows more text on the page while still looking clean.
Consider:
Calibri may be a little too safe and familiar for highly creative jobs or for a more quirky company.
Cambria is a serif font and was designed by Microsoft for easy on-screen reading and to look good when printed at small sizes.
Why it’s a good choice:
- performs well on computer monitors and for on-screen reading including smaller screens
- the sturdy letter construction means it is easy to read in smaller text sizes
- designed to be easy to read when printed out
- slightly less formal and considered more “friendly” than other serif fonts such as Times New Roman
Cambria works well for jobs in:
- management
- banking
Consider:
Although considered less formal than some serif fonts it is still a traditional font and may not be the best font for a resume and job applications in more contemporary and unconventional industries.
Georgia is another serif font that is recommended for its easy on-screen reading and is available on almost all computers.