What Is the Best Font for a Resume
What Is the Best Font for a Resume
The best resume font is the one a recruiter can read quickly without noticing the font at all. A resume is not the place to prove your taste in typography. It is the place to make your experience easy to scan.
For a related Working Nomads article, read why a one-page remote resume usually works best examples before you decide your next step.
Yale Office of Career Strategy recommends a standard, easy-to-read font and a 10 to 12 point font size on its resume formatting guide. That is the rule to keep in mind before you test anything more creative.
The problem with creative fonts
Decorative fonts can look interesting, but they often make resumes harder to read. Some may also create formatting problems when the file moves between systems. Use a standard font that holds up in PDF and still looks clean on a small screen.
Most resume fonts fall into two groups.
| Font Category | Characteristics | Best Use Case |
|---|---|---|
| **Serif** | Features small structural lines at the end of strokes. | Academic, legal, and traditional corporate resumes. |
| **Sans-serif** | Has cleaner letter shapes without end strokes. | Tech, design, operations, and general business resumes. |
Top serif fonts for traditional resumes
Serif fonts can work well when you want a more classic resume.
- Garamond: A compact, polished option for academic or traditional fields.
- Georgia: A readable serif font that works well on screens.
- Cambria: A practical Microsoft font that feels formal without being hard to read.
- Times New Roman: Acceptable, but very common. Use it only if the rest of the resume is especially clean.
Top sans-serif fonts for clean resumes
Sans-serif fonts are usually the safest choice for a simple, readable resume.
- Calibri: Familiar, clean, and easy to read in Microsoft documents.
- Arial: A safe choice when compatibility matters most.
- Verdana: Wider letters can help readability on screens.
- Helvetica: Clean and professional when it is available on your system.
- Aptos: A current Microsoft default font that works well for simple resumes.
- Lato: Clean and readable, but check the exported PDF before sending.
Font size and formatting rules
A good font still fails if the size is too small or the spacing is too tight.
- Body text: Use 10 to 12 points.
- Dates and locations: Use 10 points only if it stays readable.
- Section headings: Use 12 to 14 points with bold text.
- Name: Use a larger size, but keep it professional.
- Spacing: Leave enough space that sections do not blur together.
Before you send the resume, open the PDF on your phone and laptop. If you have to squint, the font is too small or too busy. Make the resume easier to read before you try to make it stand out.
What to Read Next
Read what is a resume summary statement if you want a related next step on resume writing.
Use references on your remote resume and when to share them examples when you need more context before your next decision.