What Is the Best Font for a Resume? (Professional Size & Proper Type for 2019)

Your resume
shows who you are as a professional. It should tell a great story about your
accomplishments and growth as an employee because it’s often the first thing a
recruiter will read about you.

It should
catch their attention, and by that, I mean it should catch their attention in
the right way. Using job-related keywords, quantifiable accomplishments, and power
words often does the trick.

Poor spacing,
spelling typos, and unreadable resume font, on the other hand, leave a bad
impression on recruiters and hiring managers.

This
article will show you some resumes with good resume fonts. It'll also explain what fonts you should avoid so your
application doesn’t get trashed.

Who’s Going to Read Your
Resume?

The first
question you should answer is who will read your resume?

For most
entry-level and experienced (but not management-level) professionals, your resume
will be read by a recruiter who scans hundreds of applications a week. These
people don’t have time to go over your resume line by line.

Senior-management
and executive-level applicants, however, have a bit of leeway but perhaps not
so much. Fewer candidates qualify for senior level roles, plus the experience
required for such roles are often very specific and stringent, so the executive
recruiter handling their application is more likely to read their resumes
carefully.

Either way,
the font you use should be legible enough to read without squinting.

You'll find some good examples of professional resumes in this article:

• 
  Resumes
  
  
  20 Best Contemporary (New Styles) Resume Templates (For 2019)
  
  
  Andrew Childress

7 Factors to Consider When
Deciding What Font to Use for Resume

Not all
fonts are created equal, as some are better for creative uses while others tend
to occupy a lot of space. This section explains the different factors you
should consider when deciding on a resume font.

1. Style: Serif vs
Non-Serif

A serif
refers to the little line or tail you sometimes see at the end of a font. Font
types with this tail are classified as serifed typeface or just ‘serif’

These
little ‘tails’ are said to date back to the Roman ages and make letters easier
to distinguish from one another.

Sans-serif
fonts are fonts without those little tails and are called as such because ‘sans’
means without in French. Sans-serif fonts are considered modern and fresh
looking compared to their serifed counterparts.

There’s no
right or wrong answer to this because each font type has its own pros and cons.
If your resume is squeezed tight into one page with a 10-point font, however,
it might be better to use a serifed font to make it more readable.

This quick
tutorial with video from Design Tuts+ shows the difference between serif and
sans-serif fonts and will hopefully help you decide the best resume font.

• 
  Fonts
  
  
  Design in 60 Seconds: Serif vs. Sans Serif Fonts
  
  
  Melody Nieves

2. Avoid Thin Fonts

Thin or light
font types have thin brushstrokes that sometimes make them harder to read on
screen.

Examples of
thin fonts include:

• Agency FB


• Arial
  Unicode

3. Resume Font Size

The best
font size for resume, especially for the main text, falls between 10 and 12
points. If you’re not sure what the best size is, start with font size 10 then increase
it if your resume has extra space at the end.

If you look
at the resume template below, it’s obvious what the section headers are because
the resume font size used is bigger than the text used for the body of each
section. 

Don’t use a
9-point font just to squeeze your resume into one page. That'll make your
application hard to read and besides, there are better ways to make your resume
shorter without giving the recruiter a hard time.

Check out the articles below for more information on making your resume shorter without sacrificing resume font size:

• 
  Resumes
  
  
  How to Make Your Resume Fit on One Single Page (15 Quick Tips)
  
  
  Charley Mendoza


• 
  Careers
  
  
  How to Make Your Resume the Perfect Length (+To the Point)
  
  
  Charley Mendoza

4. Font Kerning and
Spacing between Lines

Vladimir Gendelman, Founder and CEO
of Company Folders, an expert on print typography because of his presentation
folder printing business, shared his thoughts about font Kerning – the space
between letters— and how it affects your resume font on screen and print.

Gendelman
says, “The best font uses an equal amount of spacing
between each letter. In most cases,
you won’t have to worry about kerning unless you’re designing a logo but
certain letters are harder to read when put together such as ‘v’ and ‘w’ (vw)
and ‘i’ and ‘l,’ which is why use of legible fonts are important.”

Line
spacing is also important, especially if your bullet points are long and you’re
using a 10-point font.

“In addition, you have to be mindful of the leading or
space between lines. If your lines are too close together, your text won’t
be legible. Set your leading level to 1.5 pt. for the greatest readability,”
adds Gendelman.

The tutorial below explains more about kerning and other related topics:

• 
  Vector
  
  
  Kerning, Spacing, and Other Text Tricks in Inkscape
  
  
  Aaron Nieze

5. Cursive Fonts

Resist the
urge to use a cursive resume font even in your resume’s headers. You're writing
a resume, not a scrap book or journal. Plus, cursive fonts are harder to read
the longer the text is. Good resume fonts don’t have to look fancy; it just has
to be readable.

Resume Fonts to Avoid

There’s no
one specific answer to the question, ‘what is a good font for a resume?’

But it’s
absolutely true that not all fonts are created equal so it goes without saying
that there are fonts you must absolutely avoid. You probably have an idea of
what some of these fonts are, but here’s a list just in case.

1. Comic Sans

People automatically
associate this font with childishness or jokes. To be viewed as a
professional, don’t use it.

2. Courier

The Courier
font was designed to mimic the font you’d see using a typewriter. Unless you
want to give recruiters the impression that you’re old and not used to working
on computers, don’t use this font.

Courier is
also a mono-spaced font, which means the all the letters are equally spaced.
While that looks okay for a few words, it could look unnatural for a whole
page. Not to mention, it'll waste a lot of your precious resume real estate.

3. Wingdings

Wingdings
are not readable because they’re just symbols or icons. The recruiter will just
throw your resume after seeing this font.

4. Papyrus

The Papyrus
font reminds me of old scrolls you’d probably read if you went to a museum. It’s
a cliché font meant only for history-related school projects.

7 Professional Fonts for
Resume Use

Below are
seven good resume fonts to choose from.

1. Calibri

It was
created by Dutch designer Lucas de Groot after he was commissioned by Microsoft
to create a font that would replace Times New Roman as the default font for the
Office suite of programs.

It’s a modern
typeface that’s easy to read even when you use it as a 10-point font. Since it’s
the default font for Microsoft Word, you can be sure that your resume will not
have formatting, spacing or font-related problems when the recruiter reads it.

2. Roboto

Roboto is
an open-source serifed font created by Google. Unlike other serifs, though,
Roboto is still easy to read when using a smaller resume font size because the
letters are a bit rounded and have good spacing. 

3. Verdana

Verdana was
designed to back in 1996 to appear well in small, low-resolution screens, which
was common at the time. It was created by Mathew Carter, who worked for
Microsoft at the time. It’s one of the good resume fonts that can be used if
you think your resume will be read on a mobile device.

4. Gill Sans

Gill Sans
was designed around 1920 as a simple yet elegant sans-serif font resume font.
It’s the typeface used by the BBC and he British Railways system.

Gill Sans
is available in Mac computers and in Microsoft as Gill Sans MT.

5. Book Antiqua

Book
Antiqua is a classic looking serifed font that’s also a great option for job
applicants who wish to pursue a career in humanities and arts. It’s said to be
Microsoft’s version of the Palatino font.

Yes, using
this font might make your resume look dated but it does work for some people and
industries.

6. Source Sans Pro

Source Sans
pro is a great font for headlines because its letters are well spaced and
clear-cut. An article on Huffington Post
shares that Designer Jack Harvatt thinks the Source Sans Pro is good for ‘large
bodies of text.’

7. Georgia

Georgia
font is used by New York Times online, Amazon, and Yahoo. It’s not just for online
publications though, it’s one of the best fonts for resume in 2019 because of its
modern design.

As a serif
font that uses thick strokes, it looks great and easily readable on a computer
screen. Best of all, even if it’s a serifed font, it looks contemporary enough
that it won’t make your resume look old.  

Free vs Premium Fonts:
What Font to Use for a Resume?

It’s true,
you don’t need to buy a premium font to write a resume. Resumes that use a
premium font that’s submitted using a word processor or an online job
application form may not render correctly, especially if the recipient doesn’t
have the resume font in their system. This is why most of the resume templates
on Envato Elements use free fonts.

That said, don’t
dismiss premium fonts just yet. You can use them if you’re submitting your
resume 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 recruiter’s attention
when they read your resume.

A Word on Creativity and
Style When Using Good Resume Fonts

Applicants
in creative fields don’t use wacky and cursive fonts just because they’re
supposed to be creative. You can add style and creativity in your resume with
standard yet beautiful looking fonts. You can even use colors, and emphasis
(bold, italic, underline) to make your resume stand out.

For best
results, pick two to three good resume fonts. Use the same resume font type for all
your headings to give your resume an easy to understand structure as well.
Consistent style makes your resume look professional and easy to read.

The resume
template below uses the color red for contrast and bold formatting to emphasize
key information. 

Learn More About Resumes

Your resume is an important part of your job search. Learn more about how to create a professional resume in our ultimate guide to creating great resumes. Or, review one of the resume tutorials below:

• 
  Resumes
  
  
  How to Structure Your Resume to Use in 2019 (Organize it Right)
  
  
  Laura Spencer


• 
  Resumes
  
  
  How to Effectively List Professional Skills on Your Resume
  
  
  Charley Mendoza


• 
  Resumes
  
  
  How to Write the Perfect Executive Resume for Managers and Senior-Level Positions
  
  
  Charley Mendoza

Print Your Resume Before You Send
It

The
recruiter or hiring manager reviewing your application will probably review
your resume on a screen. But they'll print it just in time for your interview
so it’s always a good idea to check how your resume looks like in print.

Once you’re
done with your resume, print a copy and read it for yourself. Do you find it
easy to find information when you’re just scanning it instead of reading word for
word? If not, you might want to change your resume font to one of the options
listed above.

You can
also find resume templates that already have legible fonts and great formatting
on Envato Elements or Graphic River.