The Best Fonts for a Resume (and Ones to Avoid)

Font choice feels like a tiny detail. But it's the first thing a recruiter's eye lands on — before they read a single word. The right font says "professional and easy to read." The wrong one says "hard work" (and not the good kind).

What makes a good resume font

• Readable at 10–11pt, on screen and in print.
• Boring, in a good way — it shouldn't draw attention to itself.
• ATS-safe — a standard, well-supported font so parsers read it cleanly.

The safe, professional picks

• Sans-serif (modern, clean): Calibri, Arial, Helvetica, Lato, Inter.
• Serif (classic, traditional): Georgia, Cambria, Garamond, Times New Roman.

Any of these will look sharp. Pick one, use it consistently, and move on — the words matter more than the typeface.

Fonts to avoid

• Comic Sans — instant credibility killer.
• Papyrus, Brush Script, Impact — decorative fonts are hard to read and scream "amateur".
• Ultra-thin "cool" fonts — they look nice on a designer's screen and vanish when printed.
• Multiple fonts — one font (maybe two: one for headings, one for body) is plenty.

Size and spacing matter more than the font itself

• Body text: 10–11pt. Never shrink to 8pt to cram everything in — cut content instead. (See [how long a resume should be](/blog/how-long-should-a-resume-be).)
• Give it breathing room. Tight, cramped text is harder to read than any font choice.

"Cool" fonts for creative roles?

If you're a designer, a little personality in the headings is fine — but keep the body text clean and readable, and always keep an ATS-friendly version for online applications.

Don't overthink it

Every [GetResuMaker template](/templates) already uses a clean, ATS-safe font at the right size — so you can stop fiddling with typography and focus on the content. [Build](/build) or [improve](/improve) yours and it's handled.