10 Best Fonts for Resumes

What is the best font for resume? 

Many people would say that the best font to use is one that is easy to read and pleasing to the eye. Additionally, our resume needs to stand out and catch the hiring manager’s attention. Remember job seekers only have 6 seconds to pass the ATS and make a lasting first impression to a hiring manager. That means your choice of type and size of font may break or make your application.

As different industries and employers have different preferences, there is no one best resume font to use. To choose an appropriate font for your resume, you must consider 1) your industry and profession, and 2) the level of formality a company requires.

You can choose the best font for your resume by reviewing these 10 best fonts. Each group has been categorized according to its unique characteristics and industry fit.

The 10 Best Professional Fonts for your Resume:

1. Serif Fonts

They have a distinctive curl at the end of each letter:

• Times New Roman
• Cambria
• Georgia
• Garamond
• Didot

Characteristics

• Stylish, classic, and traditional
• Easier to read on paper
• Best choice for formal industries

2. Sans Serif Fonts

They lack a distinctive curl or decoration at the end of each letter:

• Helvetica
• Calibri
• Arial
• Trebuchet MS
• Lato

Characteristics

• Sleek and modern
• Easier to read on a computer
• Best used for casual industries

Here is the list of the 10 best fonts for resumes, including a brief description of each one to help you choose a font:

1. Times New Roman

Time New Roman is probably the most popular serif font commonly used. It was once the default font of Microsoft Word.

Pros:

• Classic, timeless, and highly professional – which makes it one of the safest choices for resume fonts.
• Widely recognized and accepted across all industries.
• Electronically readable and fits into the brick-and-mortar feel related to these  industries

Cons:

• Your resume may not stand out because this font is too common, recruiters and hiring managers see this font all the time.
• Times New Roman may be difficult to read if you choose a smaller resume font size.

Best used for – Legal, operations, and corporate jobs.

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2. Cambria

Another classic serif font for Microsoft Word is Cambria. It’s considered one of the most basic and traditional options for fonts- so you can’t possibly go wrong with it.

Highly legible, this font choice is perfect for resumes of any kind. This serif typeface is less formal but just as reliable as Times New Roman.

Pros: 

• Easy to read even at small sizes.
• Designed to look good on a monitor for easy reading and on print.

Cons:

• It’s one popular and default-type font recruiters are too familiar with, so your resume is unlikely to stand out.

Best used for: Careers in traditional fields and formal industries such as law, academia, banking, and accounting.

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3. Georgia

You might consider using Georgia if you prefer a traditional-looking alternative to the cliched Times New Roman.

Georgia is a classic and refined serif font that will do wonders for your resume. It’s one of the timeless, professional fonts but with a fun side compared to Times New Roman.

 Pros: 

• Easily readable – The font was created for screen reading and is available on all computers.
• Several major companies, including the New York Times and Amazon, use it so readers are familiar with it.

Cons:

• Georgia is thicker than other good resume fonts, so it may take up more space.

Best used for: Creative jobs such as graphic design, publishing, or photography.

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4. Garamond

Named after the French type designer Claude Garamont, it dates back to the 15th or 16th century. Garamond is an old-style font with over 500 hundred years of history under its belt.

It’s like a fine wine that has aged well and continues to compete on par with modern fonts. It boasts a timeless, classic, and readable style that’s more graceful than some serif types.

Garamond is a great alternative to Times New Roman if you want a more modern font. The neat and polished appearance of this resume font will impress potential employers.

Pros:

• Garamond is rarely used as a resume font, which makes it an excellent option if you want to stand out.
• Garamond is compact and can help you save space on your resume – without sacrificing readability by reducing the letter spacing.
• It’s recognizable and easy to read

Best Used for: Majority of industries but would be more suitable for artists than bankers and executives. Perfect for academic resumes and professional resumes with years of experience.

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5. Helvetica

Typographers and designers love this clean, modern sans-serif font. It’s stylish and easy to read with its clear lines.

No wonder Helvetica is a favorite of recruiters and hiring managers everywhere.

If you use this font, your resume will look polished, clear, and exudes a professional, business-like appeal that is sure to impress anyone who receives it.

 Pros:

• It has a neat, clean appearance and outstanding legibility, much like Arial, perfect for businesses and professionals.
• Its popularity makes Helvetica a good resume font, owing to its professional appearance.
• It appears in some of the world’s biggest brand logos like BMW, Microsoft, Jeep, Panasonic, Lufthansa, and even on New York City subway signs.

Best Used For:  Jobs in modern industries or fields, such as sales, office work, or customer service.

Tip: 

It is preinstalled on Macs, but you need to download it separately for Windows.

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6. Calibri

Calibri font is warm and soft in character making it an excellent font choice. for a safe, easily- readable sans-serif font. It has replaced Times New Roman as the default Microsoft Word font.

Most professionals refer to it as their “font of choice” when working with clients and businesses. This font is familiar to the eye since many email programs use it as a default font.

Pros:

• It looks neat and legible on computer screens.
• It can be read easily even if you select a smaller font size.
• It’s a popular resume typeface because it’s stylish and modern.
• Microsoft Word and Gmail both use this font by default, so hiring managers are already familiar when they read your resume.

Best Used For: Positions that require you to care for others, such as teaching, hospitality, and nursing.

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7. Didot

With this modern resume font, your name or resume heading will literally pop off the page. Its contemporary and upscale look made Canva Blogpost refer to it as “distinctive and classy”.

Its artistic font style and flair are eye-catching, yet professional enough to use on your resume.

Pros:

• Makes your name and resume headline stand out.

Cons:

• Didot has delicate displays best at large sizes, so you might want to use it only for headings.
• Didot’s thin strokes make it difficult to read at smaller sizes.

Best Used For: Creative industries like fashion or photography showcasing your style and sophistication.

Tips:

• Didot looks better as a header paired with Garamond or Book Antiqua for your body of text.
• You can download Didot Font from UFonts.

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8. Arial Narrow

Arial is one of the best fonts because of its high readability and minimalist design.

Like Times New Roman typeface, it remains a popular font choice among job seekers.

Arial is often considered the simpler version of the popular Times New Roman.

Pros:

• It has clean lines making it easy to read.
• It’s modern and still legible despite its narrow form.
• It’s the ideal choice if you are tight on resume space.

Cons:

• Arial is so common that some hiring managers find it boring.

Best Used For: One-page Resume and for job positions in the marketing field.

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9. Trebuchet MS

This font has high readability and appears well on a screen because of its thickness. Its friendly appearance, round and modern looks make it more appealing to recruiters across many industries.

Its thicker font is helpful to entry-level job seekers trying to fill up a single page.

Best Used For: Positions in creative fields, sales, marketing, and social media roles.

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10. Lato

Lato joined the world of fonts in 2015 and has a serious but friendly style. This modern sans serif font was created specifically for corporate use. It’s now one of the standard fonts for a resume in 2023.

Pros:

• It’s easy to read and is sure to draw the eyes of an employer going through a stack of resumes.

Cons:

• It’s not yet pre-installed on many computers, since it is a recent addition.
• If you send your application as a Word file or include it in your email body text, it might not appear properly.

Best Used For: Corporate jobs or technical roles, such as IT or web development.

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Choosing the Right Resume Font Size

Font sizes usually range from 10 to 12, depending on the font and the amount of space available.

The most important consideration when choosing a font size for your resume is readability. In many font styles, 11-point fonts are aesthetically pleasing, however, each style is unique.

There really isn’t a standard resume font size. The rule of thumb is to make it easy to read.

To achieve the right balance, you should select a font style, then adjust its size.

Tips:

• Don’t let the length of the page dictate the font size. Don’t make your font bigger than size 12 points just to fill empty space. You should also avoid making the text so small that the reader has to squint.
• Keep your application consistent by using the same font on your resume and matching cover letters.
• Save (or “print”) your resume in PDF format through Microsoft Word to preserve your font choices. Follow these steps to embed your font choices into the PDF file so that the font will appear the way it’s supposed to ATS.
• Make your resume fit a single page by shortening sentences, using synonyms, or adjusting the margins.