The best fonts for a CV are clean, widely available faces set between 10 and 12pt: Calibri, Helvetica, Arial, Georgia, Garamond, Lato or Source Sans. The specific choice matters far less than consistency, adequate white space, and a single-column layout that screening software can read.
Fonts that work
| Font | Type | Suits |
|---|---|---|
| Calibri | Sans | Anything. Safe, neutral, on every machine. |
| Helvetica / Arial | Sans | Corporate, technical, general use. |
| Lato | Sans | Slightly warmer than Helvetica without being informal. |
| Source Sans / IBM Plex Sans | Sans | Technical and design roles; excellent on screen. |
| Georgia | Serif | Traditional fields — law, academia, public sector. |
| Garamond / EB Garamond | Serif | Elegant, space-efficient, good for dense CVs. |
| Source Serif / PT Serif | Serif | Long CVs that need to stay readable across pages. |
Fonts to avoid
- Comic Sans — the reason is well known and still applies.
- Papyrus, Brush Script, anything decorative — illegible at 10pt and reads as a misjudgement.
- Ultra-condensed faces — used to cram in more text, which is a content problem wearing a typographic disguise.
- Anything unusual you have not embedded — if you send a .docx using a font the recipient lacks, their machine substitutes something else and your layout shifts. PDF avoids this.
Sizes
- Name: 18–24pt
- Section headings: 12–14pt, bold or letter-spaced
- Job titles: 11–12pt, bold
- Body: 10–11.5pt
- Never below 10pt for anything you want read
Spacing and margins
White space is not wasted space — it is what makes a document scannable in six seconds.
- Margins: 1.5cm to 2cm on all sides. Below 1.2cm looks squeezed and can clip when printed.
- Line spacing: 1.15 to 1.3. Single spacing is dense; 1.5 wastes a page.
- Between sections: a clear gap, larger than the gap between entries within a section. That contrast is what tells the eye where the structure is.
Colour
One accent colour, used on headings or a thin rule, reads as considered. Keep body text near-black — grey at 10pt is genuinely harder to read, and some of your readers are over 50. Avoid coloured backgrounds entirely: they print badly and cost the reader ink and patience.
Layout choices that break parsing
These look professional and cause real damage in screening software: two-column layouts, sidebars, tables, text boxes, contact details in the page header, icons in place of labels, and skill ratings drawn as bars or stars. Full explanation in the ATS guide.
A single column with good typography looks every bit as professional and survives the machine. You are not choosing between attractive and functional.
The squint test
Print it, or step back from the screen until the words blur. You should still see clear blocks: a name, distinct sections, consistent indentation. If it blurs into one grey mass, add space and cut words before touching the font.
Consistency is the real signal
Pick one date format and use it everywhere. Decide whether bullets end in full stops and stick to it. Use the same heading treatment throughout. Inconsistency is what makes a CV feel amateur, more than any individual choice.
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Frequently asked questions
What is the best font for a CV?
A clean, widely available serif or sans-serif at 10 to 12pt: Calibri, Helvetica, Arial, Georgia, Garamond, Lato or Source Sans all work. What matters more than the specific choice is that it is readable and used consistently.
What font size should a CV be?
Body text between 10 and 12pt, headings two to four points larger, and your name around 18 to 24pt. Below 10pt the page reads as cramped and gets skimmed.
Should I use colour on my CV?
One accent colour used sparingly, on headings or a rule, is fine and looks considered. Multiple colours, coloured body text or a coloured background all work against you.
Is Times New Roman outdated for a CV?
It is not wrong, but it reads as a default rather than a decision. Georgia or Garamond give you the same traditional feel and better on-screen readability.