Resume fast fact: Font is a critical element

 

One has to love Microsoft Word. It's so... standard.

You can open a document, start typing, and voila! You're using Times New Roman without even trying.

The trouble with standard, built-in fonts is that they're so... standard.

Are YOU a standard candidate? I'll bet not.

This is precisely why you'll want to pay attention to the font on your resume! The hiring audience will form an immediate impression of your background, based on the style you choose.

I recommend looking at your industry--and your desired reader--BEFORE picking a resume font or defaulting to Times New Roman.

For example, conservative fields dictate the use of a closed, trim font.  Fast-paced, technology-focused careers need a streamlined, sans serif font.

Creative fields beg for the use of a fancy, innovative font (at least for your headings).

There are 2 major caveats to font selection:

1) your selection must  be common enough to be readable on every computer screen and in every word processing program; and 2) font size/spacing will differ greatly--meaning that you'll have to make point size adjustments if you change your mind.

Here are my overall recommendations by industry:

• Accounting: Arial 10
• Operations: Book Antiqua 10 or 10.5
• Information Technology: Arial 10 or Tahoma 10
• Sales (VP or above): Garamond 11.5
• Technical Sales: Tahoma 10 with Arial Narrow 11 Headings
• CIOs or CTOs: Arial or Book Antiqua 10
• CFO: Arial Narrow 11.5 and Arial 10

If you ask professional resume writers about their choices in fonts, you'll hear many variations. Keep in mind that this list of fonts will be READABLE in nearly every application, and therefore may be a bit "boring" to those who are very familiar with font choices.

I personally find Palatino to be too gray-looking, Georgia too heavy for all-over use (although great for headings), Century Gothic too wide, Calibri fantastic (but not convertible in many applications), and Franklin Gothic Book too narrow for readability.

Don't be afraid to switch out heading fonts; for example, Garamond has limited readability in italic format, but italicized Book Antiqua (which resembles it) and offers much more style.

See my resume samples for an idea of how to blend heading and body fonts in a resume--with striking results.

So take a look at your resume with fresh eyes, click on Select All, and try out a font change (or 2). You might be surprised at the effect.
 
Laura Smith-Proulx, CCMC, CPRW, CIC is a published resume expert that holds master-level credentials placing her among the top 40 resume writers worldwide.

The principal of An Expert Resume and a former corporate recruiter, her resumes are branded to open doors to top jobs at Fortune-ranked corporations. For more information on resume and job search trends, follow Laura on Twitter (@resumeexpert).