Buying Guide: How to Choose what is the best font for a resume

Choosing a font isn't about picking your favourite; it's a strategic decision. The goal is to make your resume as easy as possible for someone to read and for software to parse. Here's what to consider before finalising your choice.

Serif vs. Sans-Serif: The Great Debate

The first major choice is between a serif and a sans-serif typeface. There's no single "right" answer, but each style sends a different signal.

• Serif Fonts: These fonts (like Garamond and Georgia) have small decorative strokes (serifs) at the end of their letters. They are traditionally associated with print, books, and academia. They can convey a sense of tradition, authority, and reliability. They are excellent choices for roles in law, finance, government, and higher education.
• Sans-Serif Fonts: These fonts (like Helvetica and Calibri) lack the decorative strokes, giving them a cleaner, more modern look. They are generally considered easier to read on digital screens. They project efficiency, modernity, and straightforwardness. They are the standard choice for tech, marketing, design, and most contemporary corporate roles.

Our advice: When in doubt, a sans-serif font is the safer, more modern choice for most industries in 2026. However, a well-chosen serif can add a touch of class if it aligns with your target industry's culture.

The Applicant Tracking System (ATS) Test

This is the most important technical consideration. Many companies use Applicant Tracking Systems to scan resumes for keywords and filter candidates before a human ever sees the document. These systems are not sophisticated designers; they are text parsers.

If you use a custom, downloaded, or obscure font, the ATS may fail to read it, rendering your carefully crafted text as gibberish or blank spaces. This will almost certainly lead to an automatic rejection.

To ensure your resume is ATS-friendly, you must stick to "system-safe" or "web-safe" fonts. These are the fonts that come pre-installed on the vast majority of Windows and macOS computers. All five fonts recommended in this guide (Helvetica, Calibri, Lato, Georgia, Garamond) are widely recognised and parse cleanly through ATS software.

Readability Is Non-Negotiable

A hiring manager spends, on average, only a few seconds scanning a resume. If your font is difficult to read, they will simply move on. Key factors for readability include:

• Font Size: For body text, stick to a size between 10 and 12 points. Anything smaller is a strain to read; anything larger looks unprofessional and wastes space. Your name and section headings can be slightly larger (e.g., 14-18 points).
• Character Spacing: Avoid fonts that are overly condensed (letters are too close together) or extended (letters are too far apart). The default spacing of a professional font is almost always best.
• Clarity: Ensure that characters are unambiguous. For example, the uppercase 'I' and the lowercase 'l' should be easily distinguishable. All fonts on our list excel in this area.

Consistency and Hierarchy

Professional design relies on consistency. Choose one font for your entire resume. If you feel you must use a second, reserve it only for headings and ensure it pairs well with your body font (e.g., a bold sans-serif heading with a classic serif body). Never use more than two fonts.

Use font styles like bold and italics sparingly and consistently to create a clear visual hierarchy. For example, you might make job titles bold and company names italicised, but you must apply that rule to every entry.

Fonts to Avoid at All Costs

While the list of good fonts is concise, the list of bad fonts is long. As a rule, avoid any font that is decorative, overly casual, or distracting. This includes:

• Comic Sans: The ultimate symbol of unprofessional design.
• Papyrus: Overused and inappropriate for any professional context.
• Brush Script or any cursive font: Illegible and looks unprofessional.
• Times New Roman: While not a terrible font, it is often seen as the default, uninspired choice from a bygone era. It can make your resume look dated. Georgia is a far better serif option.
• Courier or any monospace font: These look like you've written your resume on a typewriter and can be difficult to read in paragraph form.