What Size Font Should My Resume Be

Best Font for a Resume: How To Choose Blazon and Size

Past Hanne Keiling

October eleven, 2021

Hanne was a senior content manager at Indeed.

With then many options bachelor, determining the best font for a resume tin sometimes be a difficult decision. When an employer first reads your resume, they will typically scan for a cursory twenty–30 seconds. Recruiters and hiring managers spend countless hours every week skimming through a constant catamenia of resumes sent to them. Selecting a font and size that's elementary and easy to read is key to making a expert first impression. A practiced font shows your professionalism and increases readability, giving your resume a chance to make it to the peak of the pile.

Hither is a list of the best fonts for resumes:

Arial
Cambria
Calibri
Didot
Garamond
Times New Roman
Helvetica

Related: Resume Examples and Samples Resumes for 2020

How to choose the best resume font and size

With thousands of fonts to cull from, it can be overwhelming to decide on the font that will get out the best impression on an employer and increase your chances of moving forward in the interview process. It may exist tempting to cull a font that showcases your personality, only keep in mind that recruiters will be put-off if a font makes it harder for them to practise their job of reading your resume.

Many employers also use software called an applicant tracking organisation (ATS) to record and sort job applications. These programs don't always read and interpret intricate fonts well, so complicated or overly detailed font options can sometimes be turned into bare boxes or other illegible characters.

If you're creating a resume for a creative field similar graphic design or advert, yous have more than flexibility when it comes to style. Often, artistic 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 meridian priority.

Here, nosotros'll become over some tips to aid you lot choose the right font and size for your resume.

Use a professional and easy-to-read font

Complex fonts can brand your resume hard to read, which could encourage employers to overlook it. Instead, choose a clean, simple resume font that makes your words clear to the employer.

There are two general buckets fonts autumn into: Serif and Sans Serif. These hateful with and without intricacies like "tails," respectively. Sans Serif fonts (or fonts without tails) are generally good fonts for resumes due to their high readability. There are a few Serif fonts, however, that are notwithstanding accepted amidst employers as uncomplicated and professional person—Cambria, Garamond, Times New Roman and Didot.

Avert "sparse" or "light" fonts

As the goal in picking a font should be information technology's readability, you want to avoid "thin" or "lite" fonts equally these can sometimes exist difficult to read on a screen.

Related: How to Make a Resume (With Examples)

Select the correct resume font size

The optimal font size for your resume is annihilation between ten and 12 points. The size you choose volition be largely adamant by how the font size impacts your resume layout. Considering it is best exercise to keep your resume to one or two pages, begin with size 10 font and experiment with sizing up if yous think you lot have space.

While it may be tempting to proceed your entire resume on one page, avert dropping your font size below 10 points. This volition brand your certificate hard on the reader'south optics. If your resume is two pages or longer at a 10 bespeak font, edit your resume content to create more concise ideas by removing any unnecessary words or phrases. Only the about relevant content that best displays your skills and experiences consistent to the chore should remain.

For case, here'due south a resume sentence that can be shortened:

"Performed inventory audits on a monthly basis and discovered issues with over-ordering—executed an organization solution beyond all teams which resulted in a 10% increment in revenue over the next two quarters."

Brand your ideas concise and remove filler words to include only the cadre value of your statement:

"Performed regular inventory audits, identifying and solving over-ordering problem to achieve 10% revenue increase."

Here are a few other ways yous tin consolidate your resume:

Consider removing filler words such as "like", "with", "a", "and" and "that."
Instead of listing each function of every chore you lot've held, pick 2-three cardinal impacts you lot made in those roles.
If you have two points that are similar, consider combining them into one brief statement.
Include but your most recent 10-15 years of feel.
Use succinct bullet points instead of paragraphs.

Read more: How to Make up one's mind the Length of Your Resume

Add style to your resume font

You tin also add personality or definition by selecting font styles for your name and section headers, including bolding, underlining and italicizing. While your entire resume should simply exist one font, you tin can stylize or increase the size of your name and important sections like "Educational activity" or "Professional Experience". Be consistent with stylization, and just select one or two to ensure your resume appears professional and easy to read.

Here'due south an instance:

####Jon Mendez

555-555-5555
jmendez@email.com

Summary

Conscientious Counselor with 3+ years of experience staying circumspect to the needs of children, students, and parents, while ensuring a welcoming, trusting environment. Enjoys creating customized plans and programs to spur educational and emotional growth.

Experience

CRANE & JENKINS | Counselor
Aug '14 – Jan '18

Develop comprehensive guidance and counseling programs in collaboration with faculty and staff for 1,200+ students
Bear career sensation sessions and meet individually with parents and students to explore education options based on career goals
Pioneered and coordinated Career & Higher 24-hour interval, introducing 800 students and parents to 60 universities, colleges, and companies

CLOUD CLEARWATER | Army camp Advisor
Mar '14 – Aug '15

Supervised children aged 8-12 with special needs, including down's syndrome and autism
Recognized and tended to needs regarding diet, medication, and beliefs
Planned and coordinated daily indoor and outdoor activities, encouraging participation, engagement, and teamwork

If you're creating a resume for a creative field like graphic design or advertizing, you lot have more flexibility when it comes to mode. Often, creative interviewers view the resume every bit a showcase of artistic skills and abilities and is expected to be representative of your work. Even so, ensuring your resume is like shooting fish in a barrel to read is a superlative priority.

Related: How to Choose Cover Letter Font and Font Size

Last steps

After yous've selected your font, font style and polished your resume accordingly, accept time to review and get feedback. Since the employers looking at your resume may print it out to share with stakeholders or bring to your interview, impress out a test copy to brand sure the font is readable and stylization is consequent and doesn't backbite from the resume content.

Resume Format

Image description

Resume Format

Name and contact information
Summary or objective
Professional history
a. Company name
b. Dates of tenure
c. Description of role and accomplishment
Didactics
Skills
Optional (Awards & Achievements, Hobbies & Interests)

Inquire trusted friends or colleagues to review both your digital and printed versions for whatsoever feedback. Getting a fresh perspective can be helpful—tertiary parties can give you an unbiased stance, not having looked at and criticized the resume for hours like yourself.

You have several options when information technology comes to selecting a font size and fashion. The central idea to keep in listen when selecting one is simplicity. A clean font that is easy to read gives your resume preference over those with circuitous or otherwise illegible fonts. In improver, a highly readable and neat font tin can communicate professionalism to employers.