Resume Font
The typeface used in your resume. The best choices are clean, professional, and ATS-compatible: Calibri, Arial, Garamond, Helvetica, or Georgia. Fancy or decorative fonts reduce ATS compatibility and can look unprofessional.
Font choice affects both ATS parsing (can the system recognize and extract text correctly?) and human readability (does this look professional and clean?). **Best resume fonts:** - **Calibri** (Microsoft's default since 2007 — clean, modern, universally available) - **Arial** (widely recognized, clean sans-serif) - **Garamond** (elegant serif, good for traditional fields) - **Georgia** (screen-optimized serif, works well on screen and in print) - **Helvetica** (professional, but requires the font to be embedded in PDF) - **Times New Roman** (dated but perfectly readable; fine for conservative fields) **Font size:** - Name: 18-24px - Section headings: 12-14px - Body text: 10-12px (10pt is the minimum comfortable reading size) **What to avoid:** - Script or handwriting fonts: completely unparseable by many ATS systems - Decorative fonts (Lobster, Comic Sans, Papyrus): signal poor judgment - Multiple font families in one document: pick one and use sizes/weights for hierarchy **Bold and italic usage:** - Bold: company names, job titles, section headings - Italic: optional for date ranges or location - Never both on the same text element **Color in fonts:** Subtle use of a single accent color (dark navy or dark teal for headings) is generally fine and doesn't affect ATS parsing. Avoid light colors on white — they may be stripped or become invisible.
Why it matters
Font choice is a small detail with outsized signal. Using a clear, standard font tells the recruiter you know professional norms. Using a script font on a finance resume tells them you don't. And practically, non-standard fonts that aren't embedded in your PDF may render as symbols.
Candidate tip
Use one font throughout your resume and vary the hierarchy with size and weight (bold for headings, regular for body) — this is cleaner and more ATS-safe than mixing multiple typefaces.
Put this into practice with the candidate.so Resume Builder.
Learn more →Related terms
ATS-Friendly Resume
Resume & CVA resume formatted so that ATS software can parse it correctly — clean layout, standard fonts, no graphics or text boxes, proper section headings. An ATS-friendly resume passes machine parsing without losing any content.
Resume Template
Resume & CVA pre-built document structure for organizing resume content. Templates speed up formatting but vary widely in ATS compatibility. The right template makes your resume readable by machines and attractive to humans; the wrong one can get your application filtered out.
Resume Margins
Resume & CVThe white space borders around your resume content. Standard margins are 0.5 to 1 inch. Narrower margins increase content density; wider margins improve readability and give the page breathing room. Never go below 0.5 inches.
Resume Format
Resume & CVThe structural layout of your resume — chronological, functional, or combination. Format determines how your experience is organized and how easily an ATS can parse your information. Chronological is the default for most candidates.