Results tagged “font” from Quintessential Resumes and Cover Letters Tips Blog

The most important design elements for a resume?

• Use a mix of bold type, italics, bold italics, varying font sizes, small caps, and upper-case lettering for emphasis and to control the reader’s eye — but don’t go overboard with typographic variations.
• Type should be between 10 and 12 point. 11-point type is ideal.
• Balance the material on your page.
• Allow sufficient white space with margins of .75” to 1”. Note that Microsoft Word’s default margins of 1.25” are generally wider than needed.
• Bulleted lists are extremely reader-friendly.
• Be consistent with headings so the eye can follow a pattern.
• Do not use justified text blocks. Type should be flush left with occasional centering.
• Do NOT italicize your entire resume or large blocks of type as italics are hard on the eye.
• Don’t use more than two fonts.
• Underlining tends to add clutter.

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Ensure that the appearance of your resume holds up when you transmit it electronically. If you are regularly sending your resume as an e-mail attachment, you may want to experiment with sending it to friends’ computers to ensure that the formatting appears consistently from computer to computer.

Display your name boldly and in a large font at the top of your resume to project confidence; a small name makes the job-seeker look timid.

We recommend a resume body font no smaller than 10.5 points and no larger than 12 points. Type at 11 points is often the best choice for resumes. Don’t use justified text blocks; they put odd little spaces between words. Instead, make your type flush left. Employ some typographic variety — judicious use of bold and italics. You can use up to two different fonts on your resume, and make sure they are readable. Avoid underlining because it adds clutter to your resume.

Include pleasing white space on your resume, but don’t go overboard. The default margin setting in Microsoft Word is 1.25”, but you’ll have an easier time fitting everything in if you set your margins at .75” to 1”.

Need help with your resume, cover letter, or other career-marketing document? Order today from Quintessential Resumes and Cover Letters, powered by About Jobs Resume Writing Service.