Choosing the right font can make or break your resume. Here are the 10 best fonts that pass ATS systems, look professional, and help you stand out to recruiters.
Font Size: 10-12pt for body text, 14-16pt for your name, 11-13pt for section headers
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Clean sans-serif with wide letter spacing. Great for digital readability.
Best for: Tech, startups, remote positions
Modern, slightly rounded sans-serif. Approachable yet professional.
Best for: Creative, marketing, communications
Elegant serif with high contrast. Used by Vogue and luxury brands.
Best for: Fashion, luxury, editorial, high-end retail
Modern serif designed for on-screen reading. Microsoft Office default.
Best for: Business, consulting, finance, general use
Compact sans-serif with narrow spacing. Fits more content per line.
Best for: When you need to fit more info, technical roles
Why avoid: Universally considered unprofessional and childish. Using Comic Sans on a resume will get you immediately rejected in 90% of cases. It signals you don't take the application seriously.
Why avoid: While technically readable, Times New Roman screams "I haven't updated this resume since 1995." It's the default font from the pre-digital era and makes your resume look outdated. Modern alternatives like Calibri or Georgia are much better.
Why avoid: ATS systems cannot read decorative fonts, meaning your resume will be automatically rejected before a human even sees it. These fonts also look unprofessional and are extremely hard to read.
Why avoid: This monospaced typewriter font looks outdated and takes up too much space. It makes your resume look like a 1980s computer printout. The only exception is if you're applying for a very specific tech role where code formatting matters.
Why avoid: Impact and similar heavy fonts are designed for headlines, not body text. They're exhausting to read and look aggressive. Similarly, TYPING IN ALL CAPS IS THE RESUME EQUIVALENT OF SHOUTING and will annoy recruiters.
Your name should be the largest text on your resume. Use 14-16pt to make it stand out at the top of the page. This is what recruiters see first.
Headers like "Experience," "Education," "Skills" should be 11-14pt. Make them bold to create visual hierarchy. They should be slightly larger than body text but smaller than your name.
All your job descriptions, bullet points, and content should be 10-12pt. 11pt is the sweet spot for most fonts. Don't go below 10pt or recruiters will strain to read it.
Your email, phone, LinkedIn can be slightly smaller (9-10pt). They don't need to compete for attention with your experience.
Print your resume and hold it arm's length away. If you can't easily read the body text, it's too small. If your name doesn't immediately stand out, make it larger. The "arm's length test" is how recruiters scan resumes.
Arial and Calibri are the safest choices for ATS systems. They're both sans-serif fonts that are universally recognized, have no decorative elements, and are pre-installed on all systems.
ATS (Applicant Tracking Systems) scan resumes by reading the text character by character. Simple, clean fonts without special styling are easiest for these systems to parse correctly. Avoid decorative fonts, script fonts, or anything with unusual spacing.
Sans-serif fonts (like Arial, Calibri, Helvetica) are generally better for resumes because they're cleaner and more modern-looking. They're also easier to read on screens, which is important since most recruiters review resumes digitally.
However, serif fonts like Georgia or Garamond can work well if you're in a traditional field (legal, academic, publishing) or want your resume to stand out slightly while still looking professional.
Rule of thumb: Sans-serif = modern/tech/corporate. Serif = traditional/academic/editorial.
No, stick to one font throughout your entire resume. Using multiple fonts looks unprofessional and cluttered. It signals poor design sense and can confuse ATS systems.
Instead, create visual hierarchy by using:
The only exception is if you want to use a different font for your name only (like Helvetica for name, Arial for body), but even this is risky and usually unnecessary.
Technically acceptable but not recommended. Times New Roman was the standard for resumes in the 1990s and early 2000s, but it now looks outdated. Most recruiters associate it with old, generic resumes that haven't been updated in years.
If you're currently using Times New Roman, switch to:
The only time Times New Roman is still okay is if you're applying to a very traditional organization (like government or certain academic institutions) that explicitly requests it.
Use 10-12pt for body text, with 11pt being the ideal size. Here's the complete breakdown:
Never go below 10pt for body text. If your content doesn't fit, don't shrink the font—instead, remove less relevant information or tighten your writing.
Yes, but with caution. If you're applying for roles in graphic design, branding, advertising, or other creative fields, you have slightly more flexibility to use unique fonts—but they still need to be professional and readable.
Safe creative fonts:
Even in creative fields, avoid: overly decorative fonts, script/handwriting fonts, anything that sacrifices readability for style. Remember: your portfolio shows your creativity, your resume shows your professionalism.
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