Best Font Choices for the Resume

There are 100s of fonts to choose from in most word processing programs such as Microsoft Word and Corel WordPerfect. Even those with a more limited selection, such as Windows WordPad and Microsoft Works' word processor, offer multiple choices. The appearance of a resume is often an overlooked factor, and the font you choose goes a LONG WAY towards having a great-looking vs. an average-looking resume (as well as one that meets the Compatibility criteria which is mentioned below).

The overriding factors to consider when deciding on a font for your resume are:

(1) Compatibility- is your font compatible with Macs and PCs? Is it a font that is only in a newer version of Word and thus not compatible with someone's older version? Compatibility is important in that you want anyone who opens up your resume in their word processing program to see the font you selected, not the one it "translates" from yours.

(2) Originality - let's face it- employers have seen Times New Roman and Arial over and over and over again because they are "default" fonts that almost everyone uses on their resumes. Although compatibility is important, you also want to select a font that is not "overused."

(3) Professionalism - any font that projects anything less than professionalism is not recommended. The exception to this rule is for those in a creative field, such as graphic arts designers. In this case, you can use a creative font- at the same time, you always want to make sure the font you choose is easy on the eyes.

After having written over 10,000 resumes and experimenting with various fonts, I have selected the following 6 fonts as ones that pass the Compatibility, Originality, and Professionalism tests:

1. Book Antiqua

Book Antiqua

The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog.

2. Bookman Old Style

Bookman Old Style

The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog.

3. Georgia

Georgia

The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog.

4. Tahoma

Tahoma

The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog.

5. Verdana

Verdana

The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog.

6. Arial Narrow

Arial Narrow

The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog.