The Best Font Styles to Use For Your Resume in 2025

Fonts on your resume can have a significant impact — they can actually make or break your chances. Choosing the right font depends on the type of job you’re applying for and who will be reviewing your resume.

Let’s look at different best practices that you should follow when choosing a font for your resume!

Importance of fonts on your resume

Many people underestimate the importance of font choice, yet it plays a crucial role in how professional and organized your resume appears. Fonts are not just about how your words are presented—they influence the overall impression you make. Fonts emit things like:

• Tone
• Messaging
• Readability
• Personality

A readable font can make your resume more eye-catching, grabbing the attention of a hiring manager and highlighting the tone you are trying to give off.

A font that is too tricky to read can convey a lack of organization and attention to detail, both of which could translate into how successfully you can execute a task in the eyes of a hiring manager. A flashier, harder-to-read font may draw attention away from what matters in a resume: your skills and experience that benefit someone recruiting you for company.

Too often, experienced professionals find that their resumes are getting overlooked because of the fonts used. That is why it is essential to choose the right font for your resume.

How to choose the best resume font

The best font for your resume is the one that will make it easy to read. You want a clear and easy font to read, no matter its size. Some fonts are more challenging to read when they are small, while others are difficult to read when they are large.

The most common font used on resumes is called a serif font. Serif fonts have small strokes at the end of each letter. (Those strokes are the serifs.) As Adobe Creative Cloud points out, serif fonts are viewed as more “authoritative” and “professional.” They “are suggestive of typewriters’ old style,” they say,

Sans-serif fonts, on the other hand, are fonts that don’t have those strokes at the end of the letters and are generally easier to read on smaller screens.

In either sense, a serif or sans serif font may work for you! Either one of these styles of font can help make your resume more polished and professional while still personal. But now, we’ll look at what specific fonts are best (and worst) for your resume.

Best fonts for a resume

Because we talked about serif fonts and sans serif fonts individually, we feel it’s fair to take a look at the best resume fonts in each of these categories, followed by what they look like against white backgrounds to show you just how many good options you have.

Best Serif Fonts for a Resume:

• Times New Roman
• Garamond
• Book Antiqua
• Cambria
• Georgia

Best San Serif Fonts for a Resume:

• Arial
• Calibri
• Helvetica
• Veranda
• Tahoma

Each of these fonts may be better for different situations. Since you may also have a few different sections on your resume, you might not use the same font for each one. These different sections include:

• Headers
• Body of your resume (bulleted experience,
• Dates worked at a company/attended school
• Contact information

At the same juncture, you still want some level of consistency across your resume. We don’t suggest using different fonts for each job you’ve worked– try to keep the same fonts across all body copy.

Types of fonts to avoid

The 10 fonts mentioned above are only a few of the many options you can use for your resume. There are, however, certain styles of fonts we  advise you avoid on your resume. These include any fonts that are:

• Illegible
• In cursive
• Novelties

Though these fonts have their own personalities and are appropriate for other types of documents, they’re not suggested for resumes.

Resume Font Size

While there’s no rulebook that says headers should be one size, your name should be one, and all of your descriptions should be another. Your name and section headers should stand out the most. They will typically sit between 14pt and 20pt font size.

For the rest of the information on your resume, you don’t want your font size too big or too small (12pt minimum is the standard for most) Using anything bigger than 12pt or 13pt font could take up too much space and push your resume to more than one page (which is not suggested).

When you’re done, do an overview of the resume to see if making the font slightly bigger reduces the amount of white space you have. Similarly, reducing font size by a point or two will trim down a line or so of text without having to cut down on the content and keeping the resume legible.

Italics, bolding, and underlines on your resume

Italics, bolded words, and underlines throughout your resume are great when used correctly. They can be great for emphasis and have the power to spotlight important information on your resume.

The bulk of your body copy should not be bolded, italicized, or underlined. Leave these tools for significant mentions like job titles, certification(s), names of educational institutions, and accolades. Just as bolding words can help make certain main parts of your resume stand out, leaving larger groups of text unbolded can stand out from what is bolded.

Font colors

In most cases, the primary text color on your resume should be black for maximum readability. If you’d like to use different colors for headers or your name, feel free to experiment. However, be mindful that these colors should complement, not overpower, the most important part of your resume: the story you’re telling to hiring managers and recruiters

Tips for using the right fonts

Once you’ve chosen a font—or even if you’re still weighing your options—here are a few important tips to keep in mind:

1. Prioritize readability and professionalism: Choose a font that’s easy to read and projects a professional image.
2. Stick to conservative styles: When in doubt, opt for a more traditional font. It’s always safer to go with something classic if you’re unsure.
3. Limit font variation: Stick to one primary typeface throughout your resume. Avoid using four or five different fonts. At most, use two—one for headers and one for the body text. You can vary things like font size, boldness, and italics, but keep the typefaces consistent.
4. Err on the side of caution: If you’re torn between creative fonts, it’s better to play it safe with something more neutral. You want the content of your resume to shine, not the font.
5. Test across settings: A font that looks good on your screen might not appear the same when printed or emailed. Always test your resume in different formats to ensure it remains clear and professional.
6. Print with care: Use a high-quality printer, and select the “print as image” option in your settings for a cleaner, more polished look.
7. Stick to white paper: If a font doesn’t stand out on white paper, it’s time to reconsider. Avoid fancy colors or patterns that distract from your content.
8. Maintain consistent formatting: As we’ve emphasized, consistency is key. Headers should have the same font, size, and color, just like the body text.
9. Proofread—again and again: While this isn’t about fonts, it’s essential. Typos can make it seem like you didn’t take the time to properly review your resume. A small mistake could cost you an opportunity.”

All in all…

Less Is more

The content of your resume can easily become overshadowed by the font(s) you choose to use. It’s essential for you to keep this document as clean and organized as possible, if not, you run the risk of ending up in the “no” pile.

There are many factors to consider when writing your resume, and font is one of the most important. Choosing the right font is key to presenting yourself professionally while ensuring your resume is both legible and easy to read.

We hope this article has helped guide you in selecting the best fonts for your resume. If you’re interested in joining Insight Global’s premier talent pool, visit our job board. Our recruiters, as mentioned in this post, are always on the lookout for resumes that stand out!