20 Best Fonts To Use On Your

Resume
Before you even walk into a job interview youve made a first
impression on the interviewer.
How? Through your resume.

According to a study conducted by the job search site TheLadders.com, recruiters

spend only about six seconds scanning a resume.
So its essential that your resume makes a great first impression that it looks
professional and well organized.

How do you do that?

You start by using a resume font people can actually read (thats what this post is
for), then you design a resume that stands out from the rest (heres how you do
that).
When you have both these things you go into Canva and design the thing for free
in no time (heres how you upload fonts from this article into Canva and heres
where you go in Canva to start your new resume design right now).

The Best Resume Fonts

01. Garamond
Times New Roman is probably the most commonly chosen fonts for resumes
the very reason you should avoid it, and why it appears on our Worst list. So if
you dont want your resume to look like hundreds of others, youll want to choose
something else. And Garamond is a great alternative. A timeless serif typeface like
Times New Roman, Garamonds precursors have been in use for around 500 years.
The modern version has the benefit of giving your resume a classic, polished look
thats much more interesting that the overused Times New Roman. As a bonus, if
youre struggling to condense your resume to one to two pages (which is a good
idea), Garamond can help you fit more text on a page without sacrificing
readability by lowering the font size or crowding your design by tightening up the
spacing.

02. Gill Sans

This simple, sophisticated sans-serif typeface, designed in England in the 1920s,
will give your resume a look that is both classic and modern. Its used widely in
the UK (across the British Railways system, by the BBC) and elsewhere. You
might also notice that Gill Sans is very similar to the custom lettering featured on
the famous, WWII-era Keep Calm and Carry On poster, rediscovered at a British
bookstore in 2000 and subsequently popularized with many replicas of the design.
Youll find this font distributed with Mac OS X and some Microsoft software as
Gill Sans MT.

03. Cambria
Cambria, a serif font, is part of a suite of typefaces called the ClearType Font
Collection, which has been widely distributed with Microsoft Office programs.
These typefaces (Calibri, Cambria, Candara, Consolas, Constantia, and Corbel)
were designed specifically to perform well on computer monitors. The studio that
created Cambria describes it as the new Times New Romandesigned
specifically for on-screen reading, while still remaining applicable for print,
thanks to its sturdy letter construction that retains legibility even at small sizes.
This makes Cambria a good choice for both online and printed resumes.

04. Calibri
Although it has been the default Microsoft Word font since 2007, Calibri is still not
used as often as Arial, which landed on our Worst list for that reason. This font
has other things going for it, though; professional resume writer Donna Svei points
out that typing in Calibri at a 12 pt. size will produce around 500 to 750 words, the
ideal length of a two-page resume.
05. Constantia
Our third and last selection from Microsofts ClearType Font Collection,
Constantias rounder letterforms make it look more friendly and less stuffy than
many serif typefaces. Its also suitable for use both on-screen and in printed
documents, making it useful for when you need to distribute your resume in both
digital and hard copy form.
06. Lato
Originally designed for corporate use, Lato is sans-serif font created to look neutral
in body copy but have some unique traits at larger sizes. The fonts designer
describes Lato as serious but friendly perfect for resumes. It comes in a wide
range of weights and styles, though the hairline, thin, and light weights will
be too hard to see at small sizes. Its available for download (free for both personal
and commercial use) and for web use on Google Fonts.
07. Didot
Didot is a distinctive serif font with an upscale look (perhaps a product of its
Parisian roots). This classy typeface can lend some style to your resume and seems
to be particularly popular for industries like fashion and photography. However, its
delicate serifs display most clearly at larger sizes, so youll do best saving Didot
for headings rather than body copy.
08. Helvetica
This Swiss sans-serif typeface is considered by many designers and typographers
to be the king of fonts. It even has its own self-titled documentary film. Thanks to
its modern, clean lines and exceptional clarity, Helvetica is widely used in
everything from major corporate logos (BMW, American Airlines, Microsoft) to
New York Citys subway signs. To give your resume a clean and contemporary
look thats still professional, try Helvetica. Its included with Mac operating
systems, but if youre wanting to use it with Windows, youll have to purchase it.
09. Georgia
Georgia is another alternative to Times New Roman. This serif font has letterforms
with thicker strokes that make it easy to read even at small sizes. Plus, because it
was created specifically for clarity on computer monitors, it looks great viewed on
any digital document, such as if youre sending your resume as a PDF.
10. Avenir
This versatile sans-serif font has a very clean, crisp appearance that will give any
resume an updated look. It has multiple weights that you can use to differentiate
the various sections and features of your resume, but you should probably avoid
the book and light weights, as well as any condensed versions they can be
hard to read. Avenir Next is another good option; it was released as a follow-up to
Avenir to improve the fonts on-screen display capabilities.