Improve the Look of Your Resume - Part 2

By Angela Cooley

Last week, I listed some of the tools at your disposal when designing your resume. By far the most abused of those elements is the humble font.  PC and Mac users alike have access to a large selection of different typefaces, from the plain and simple to the ornate and decorative.

This week's tip: Use classic fonts, not tired fonts. 

Ah, Times New Roman. A perfectly acceptable choice, to be sure, but its tenure as a default font has rendered it dull through sheer overuse. If you want to switch things up a bit, stick with simple, clearly legible choices like Georgia, Garamond, Cambria, or Verdana. Now is not the time for Curlz MT.  It’s never time for Curlz MT. 

 

This is what you should ABSOLUTELY NEVER DO.

Size also matters when it comes to type, and 10 to 12pt is an acceptable range for your body text.  Anything bigger than 12pt looks too clunky, and going smaller than 10pt gets too hard to read.  If you need to shrink your text that small to fit it all on the page, you have too much text.  Edit it down. Your headings, of course, can be a larger size, but please don't make your name 72pt... you'll look like an egomaniac. 
 
You need not chain yourself to a single font, either:  pairing a serif body text with a sans-serif header creates a pleasing contrast.  If you're feeling adventurous, check out this article for an in-depth look at combining fonts.