The styles, fonts, and sizes of your text will portray you in a certain way so it is imperative that you are aware of the guidelines set forth.
Choosing fonts for a resume seems to be a simple task, there are several scenarios which you may find yourself in a bit of trouble with the selection and formatting of text.
Sticky Situations (And How to Avoid Them)
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Sparse Information: Maybe your resume isn't filled to the brim with details, which is not the end of the world. There are tricks that you can use to make your document more bountiful.
What you should not do, is use a huge font that is difficult to read. Also it would appear unsightly if you bumped up the size to a ridiculously large size.
How you can fix a resume that is lacking information is to use types such as Verdana, Tahoma or Georgia. They are more widely spaced and are not too bold or difficult to read. You may increase the size by no more than 0.5pt or 1px. -
Abundant Information: The opposite end of the spectrum is that you wrote so much data that it appears crowded when you try to squeeze everything in.
You can condense your information by using a more compact font like Arial or Times New Roman and again, can adjust to a smaller size by 0.5pt or 1px. These tricks often help the situation, but beware: the best way to solve this problem is to actually go through your writing and edit it down to less text.
Include the most important and relevant experiences, education and skills to deliver the most impact. Use keywords and action verbs to add to the impact. - Unconventional Fonts: This situation can be easily avoided by simply staying away from different and non-standard fonts. When in doubt, just don't use it.
- Blank Space: Although the most important aspect of your resume is the text, don't forget that the blank spaces on the page are almost just as vital. Don't ignore the need for blank space! An average recruiter doesn't spend a generous amount of time surveying your resume. You need to make it easy to read so that everything is evenly spaced out.
Now that you know the most common resume font mistakes, you can avoid them, but you are still required to know the proper formatting procedures for resume fonts. Luckily for you the free resume creator will automatically include all these guidelines. But it is good to know how it is supposed to appear.
- The size should be 10-12pt or 12-14px depending upon which one you choose
- Use basic types like Arial, Times New Roman, Georgia, and Verdana
- Make headers bold or italic, but remain consistent throughout the entire document
- Use bolding, capitalization, and underlining sparingly
- Again, consistency is KEY only use one type of font and keep the size the same for each element (e.g. headings, descriptions, etc.) on all of your documents including your cover letter and reference page.
