Best Font for a CV: Top 10 Choices for 2024

You’ll get endless advice when you’re looking for a job. Whether it’s how to structure your work experience section, what hobbies to include or how to write your personal profile, there are lots of ways you can boost your chances of landing an interview.

But there’s one improvement that’s so obvious you probably don’t even see it. And you’re looking at an example of it right now. It’s your choice of font.

It’s easy enough to ask what is the best font for a CV? But it’s a different story when it comes to actually choosing. There are hundreds of thousands of fonts out there. Talk about decision paralysis.

So we’ve done the hard work for you and chosen a selection of the best fonts for your CV. We’ve also got some tips and tricks for font formatting and style that will improve the looks of your CV and make it stand out for all the right reasons.

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Best font for a CV—CV example

Now let’s take a look at which fonts are considered the best fonts for CV in the UK:

1. Garamond

I’ve chosen this as our first pick because of it’s long and distinguished history. It was originally designed by Claude Garamond. Nobody is sure exactly when it was first created, but it is believed to have been some time in the early 16th century. It has pedigree, history, and 500 years after it’s creation it still exudes class and sophistication. Undoubtedly one of the best CV fonts for you to choose.

2. Times New Roman

No list of the best CV fonts would be complete without Times New Roman. So-called because it was commissioned by the Times of London in 1931, it’s easily the most well-known serif font. Serifs being the little lines or strokes you see attached to the main body of the letter, like the horizontal lines on the feet of a capital ‘A’. If it doesn’t have those little lines then it’s a sans serif font. Times New Roman is an excellent choice for adding a conservative and professional feel to your overall CV format.

3. Arial

Arial is easily one of the best-known fonts out there. Packaged with every version of Windows since version 3.1 back in 1992, it’s the default font of choice for many. It’s also the most popular sans serif font, which gives a more modern look to your CV. Some experts have claimed that sans serif fonts are more readable, but a detailed analysis of the science has shown the research is inconclusive. All of the choices on this list are amongst the best fonts for a UK CV, regardless of whether they have serifs.

4. Calibri

Another well-known sans serif font, Calibri has been around since the early 2000s and in 2007 it became the default font for the Microsoft Office suite. It’s creator, Lucas de Groot, describes it as having a ‘warm and soft character’. It’s soft rounded curves are certainly pleasing to the eye, and it’s well-deserving of its place on our list of the best font styles for a CV. Calibri is often regarded as the best font when writing a CV, because it's easy to read and lets you keep the right CV length.

5. Cambria

Cambria is another younger font type, having been first designed in 2004. It’s another example of a serif font and its overall feel is more square and angular than Calibri or Arial. A word of caution with this one though. According to design experts, it’s an excellent font for reading on screen, but doesn’t work so well when it’s printed onto paper. Thankfully though, that’s a rare occurrence these days, so it’s still one of the best fonts for a CV.

6. Helvetica

Back to another font that’s a little older now. Helvetica was created back in 1957 and was specifically designed to have excellent clarity and to be used on signs. So it makes perfect sense that it’s one of the best fonts to use for a CV, because it can be read quickly and easily. And considering the average recruiter takes less than 10 seconds to read your CV, you want them to take in as much as possible as fast as possible.

7. Gill Sans 

Gill Sans is one of the best CV fonts for the UK. It’s uniquely British and was created in 1927 and inspired by the corporate font of the London Underground. It was also used on the covers of Penguin Books and was the official font of the BBC. It’s as iconically British as the Queen herself and its striking sans serif looks will make a fine addition to your CV.

8. Trebuchet MS

Trebuchet MS is a good alternative to Arial so it’s one of the best fonts for a CV if you want a clean, sans serif look while still standing out from the crowd. It was named after the trebuchet, a siege weapon that hurls rocks at the enemy, similar to a catapult. Use this for your CV and it’s sure to launch your career like its medieval namesake.

9. Didot

With Didot we again journey back centuries in the past as it was first developed in late 18th century France. Its use of fine hairline elements give it a style and sophistication that is lacking in some of the more standard fonts, so we’d consider it the best font for a CV for jobs in creative industries.

10. Tahoma

You’re probably already familiar with Tahoma, it’s another font that was popularised by Windows. It’s a sans serif font that’s similar to Verdana, but the letters are narrower and have closer spacing. That’s a real advantage if you’re looking to get more content onto the page. After all, the best CV length is 1–2 pages, so if you’ve overrun by a line, try switching to Tahoma.

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Best font size for a CV in the UK

CV font size is just as important as font type. Too big and you won’t fit in enough content. Too small and you risk making it unreadable. The sweet spot is 10-12 pts for your body text, and you can go 4–6 pts larger for your section headings and your name in the CV header. Just make sure all fonts sizes are consistent throughout the whole document.

The larger size adds emphasis but there are other ways of using fonts to highlight important information, and we’ll take a look at those next.

Font formatting for your CV

Font size and font type aren’t the end of the story when it comes to effectively using fonts in your CV. Here’s how to format your fonts to make your CV even more readable.

1. Bolding

Bolding makes your text appear darker and heavier. It’s a great way of making the most important information stand out. We’d advise you don’t overuse though as it’ll lose its impact. Reserve it for the most important information such as your name and job titles in your work experience section for example.

2. Italicising

Italicising makes your font slant to the right and it’s based on old-fashioned calligraphic handwriting. It’s an old trick that can be traced all the way back to the year 1500 and is an ideal way of emphasising small chunks of text. We’d recommend you use it even more sparingly than bolding. A good place to use it is for the name and location of your employer in your work history.

3. Font pairing

You can actually use two different types of font in your CV, this trick is called font pairing and it’s a favourite of graphic designers. The key is to use fonts that complement each other. A good example is pairing a sans serif font with a serif font to create balance. You could have your name and section headings in one font and your body text in another. We’d recommend playing with this font pairing generator if you’d like some inspiration.

4. What not to use

There are other ways of drawing attention to the text in your CV that you shouldn’t use. Here’s what to avoid.

• Underlining. Looks messy and adds clutter to the page. A good CV layout should maximise white space and clarity.
• CAPITALISING. This will work for your section headings but don’t use it anywhere else otherwise it looks like you’re shouting.
• Highlighting. Perfectly fine if you’re writing notes, and also a convenient way for editors to point out mistakes. But not a good option for your CV, just like underlining it’s messy and distracting.

Font formatting examples

Finally, here are some examples of font formatting done well.

This extract from a work experience section makes good use of bold and italics. Just remember to be consistent with your formatting throughout your CV.

This example is from a CV education section, again adding emphasis with bold and italics.

Here we have an example of font pairing and differing font sizes. Didot as a larger serif font section heading complements the smaller body text in sans serif Arial.

What to remember about when choosing a proper font for a CV?

First, a little background. Your choice of font may seem trivial but it can actually have a powerful effect on the reader. Some fonts are notoriously unacceptable for professional purposes. Write your CV in Comic Sans or Papyrus and it’s likely to be rejected out of hand.

Oddly enough one experiment revealed using Comic Sans improved memorisation, but that’s no excuse for using it in your CV. The fact is good CV fonts are important. Apart from making your text easier to read, good typography has been proven to improve the reader's mood.

The same study also revealed that readers presented with a document with a good font and CV layout performed better on certain cognitive tasks. In short, a good CV font will make the hiring manager happier and that makes them pay more attention. It’s a win-win situation.

One last tip, your choice of the best font for a CV and a cover letter should be the same. Make sure you have matching CV and cover letter templates for an extra professional look. We’ve got you covered there too.

You don’t have to be a CV writing expert. In the LiveCareer CV builder you’ll find ready-made content for every industry and position, which you can then add with a single click.

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Thanks for reading, if you’re still struggling to choose the best font and size for a CV please ask in the comments section and I’ll be happy to help you decide.

How we review the content at LiveCareer

Our editorial team has reviewed this article for compliance with Livecareer’s editorial guidelines. It’s to ensure that our expert advice and recommendations are consistent across all our career guides and align with current CV and cover letter writing standards and trends. We’re trusted by over 10 million job seekers, supporting them on their way to finding their dream job. Each article is preceded by research and scrutiny to ensure our content responds to current market trends and demand.