Best Fonts and Formatting for a Resume

Stick to standard, readable fonts

Fonts like Calibri, Arial, or Garamond at 10-12pt are safe, professional choices that render consistently across systems.

Avoid tables, columns, and graphics

Many ATS systems struggle to parse resumes with complex layouts, which can scramble your information or drop it entirely before a human ever sees it.

Save as a standard file type

Unless a posting specifies otherwise, a PDF (or plain .docx if explicitly requested) is the safest format to preserve formatting.