Guidelines: what are the best fonts for a CV?

When deciding on a font for your CV you should always keep in mind two words;

• Professionalism
• Mainstream (used by many people)

Professionalism: let’s face it; you are not looking for the prettiest, cutest, or most amazing font that exists to use on your CV. There are many fonts that are amazing on their own but when used on a CV it will destroy all the chances you have of securing an interview!

What you are looking for is a font which conveys professionalism.

Mainstream: besides looking professional it should also be conventional; you do not want to stand out above the crowd with a sign over your head stating ‘I am a loner!’

CV font examples

Let us look at the following six examples of lines written with different fonts:

The first two are commonly used and accepted fonts for CV writing. You can’t go wrong with Times New Romans (12 pt) or Arial (11 pt).

The third font is not too bad but the last three – and any other font that might look similar to it – are obviously fonts that you want to steer clear from if you’re writing a conventional CV.

Note: these font guidelines do not apply on unconventional, creative or artistic CVs.