10 Worst Fonts to Use on Your Resume (And What You Should Pick Instead)

Written by UPrinting - Updated on March 15, 2025

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Last updated on March 15th, 2025 at 12:41 am

On average, recruiters spend six to eight seconds looking at applicants’ resumes before determining their suitability for the position. And the content of your resume isn’t the only thing they look at — your font choice can also help make an impression, whether good or bad.

The right font can enhance your resume’s readability and create a good first impression. On the flip side, the wrong one can make your CV look unprofessional and difficult to read, derailing your chances for an interview.

Even though you find your favorite font creative or eye-catching, it doesn’t necessarily mean it will look good on your resume. So, before you even think about using it, check out our list of worst fonts for a CV and why they don’t work in the professional world.

We also share a list of resume-friendly fonts that exude professionalism, confidence, and trustworthiness.

10 Fonts to Avoid on Your Resume

Choosing the wrong font can make or break your job application.

Comic Sans

It is a sans-serif font, meaning it does not have “feet” or extending features at the end of strokes. This typeface was originally designed for cartoon quote bubbles and other informal communications. Today, it’s often used in memes and other casual scenarios.

Papyrus

This calligraphic font has several distinct characteristics, including high horizontal strokes, irregular curves, and rough edges. As the name suggests, it resembles the look of ancient Egyptian writing on papyrus paper.

Why it’s a poor choice: The font lacks sophistication and is unreadable when used in blocks or strings of small text.

3. Courier

Courier was designed as a typewriter face for IBM, featuring a monotone weight and equal spacing between letters. Thus, it resembles tabular work, technical documentation, or source code.

Why it’s a poor choice: The typewriter effect looks outdated and dull. Moreover, it is not readable if presented in all caps.

sample wedding invitation — **Figure 3:** Courier Font

4. Impact

Impact has a noticeably high x-height, which is the height of its x (the source of the term) as well as the other letters, “v,” “w,” and “z.” Other distinct features include compressed letterspacing, thick strokes, short ascenders and descenders, and minimal interior counter-form.

Why it’s a poor choice: The font has too much impact, to the point that it seems to be “shouting” at the reader. Its loudness and boldness have no place in professional communications.

5. Brush Script

Brush Script has energetic strokes that resemble handwriting with a thick brush effect, adding a playful and artistic vibe. Consequently, it’s a popular choice among artists who need a font to emphasize the creative touch in their designs.

Why it’s a poor choice: The rough cursive appearance looks too laidback and elaborate for formal communications. Also, the font is hard to read at smaller sizes, especially in long blocks of text.

6. Times New Roman

As a typeface originally designed for newspaper printing, Times New Roman has narrow characters and spacing, allowing publishers to fit more text per line. Other notable characteristics include prominent diagonal stress, tall numerals, thin and sharp serifs (or strokes), and high x-height.

Why it’s a poor choice: It’s considered typographically outdated and boring. Some readers also find the font “too tight,” so it’s not easy to read on screens.

7. Curlz MT

The font is characterized by wavy strokes and swirls at the beginning and end of letters, which make them look like a bent, twisted metal. Nowadays, designers use it for playful and carefree titles.

Why it’s a poor choice: The font is unreadable when used in body copy or long blocks of text. It also delivers a very laidback, playful vibe, making it only suitable for T-shirts, posters, flyers, party invitations, and other novelty products.

8. Jokerman

Jokerman is a heavily decorated typeface that employs spirals, spikes, dots, and straight lines that are integrated into the character. Although the “embellishments” seem like they don’t follow a pattern, the forms of the letters have distinct characteristics: They have a low x-height, swaying stems, and bulging curves.

Without the ornamentation, Jokerman resembles Comic San’s taller and curvier brother.

Why it’s a poor choice: Jokerman is almost too impossible to read because of the excessive use of ornaments on the characters.

9. Chiller

Chiller is deemed the ultimate “scary” font to the point that it has become a staple in horror film posters, Halloween invitations, and gory video games. It has a distressed, handwritten style with uneven and rough texture, irregular strokes, and an overall chaotic appearance.

Why it’s a poor choice: The font is only reserved for designs that require a creepy and unsettling aesthetic, which you don’t want on your resume or any formal communications.

10. Lucida Handwriting

This typeface has a design resembling informal cursive handwriting with felt- or plastic-tipped pens or markers. It also has large x-height, widely spaced letters, and relatively narrow, short uppercase letters.

Lucida Handwriting has a relaxed and vigorous form that allows for fun and smooth reading on screens and in prints.

Why it’s a poor choice: The lively cursive font looks too friendly and warm for professional communications. It also requires more line spacing to make room for the ascenders and descenders. Without a generous space between letters, the typeface is almost impossible to read.

6 Best Fonts to Use on Your Resume

Now that you know which fonts to avoid, it’s time to explore the ones that look good on your resume. You may notice that the typefaces listed here look quite different from one another, but they share certain similarities: They all look clean, professional, and easy on the eye.

The fonts are also easily scanned and interpreted by an Applicant Tracking System or ATS, which is a software application that helps HR departments manage recruitment and hiring tasks digitally.

ATS-friendly fonts are almost a necessity in today’s labor market. Up to 90% of employers, including most Fortune 500 companies, use software apps to manage candidate applications.

Here’s the list of best fonts for a resume:

1. Calibri

Calibri is a contemporary sans-serif typeface known for its clean letterforms and lack of bunting, making it one of the best fonts for screens. After dethroning Times New Roman, it was the default typeface in programs like PowerPoint, Word, and Outlook for 17 years.

Calibri is also suitable for various text-based documents, such as resumes, cover letters, and business proposals. In terms of readability, it closely resembles Arial.

Why it’s a good choice: The font is versatile and looks good on screens and text-based documents.

2. Arial

As a contemporary sans-serif font, Arial offers excellent legibility and readability but contains more humanist characteristics than many of its industrial-style predecessors.

Arial closely resembles Helvetica but with fuller and softer curves and more open counters. Furthermore, the strokes on its letters (such as “c,” “g,” and “s”) have a more natural angle in relation to the stroke direction, whereas in Helvetica they look as if they were cut off abruptly.

Why it’s a good choice: Arial’s letterforms are simple, clean, and versatile due to its range of weights and styles. It also offers excellent readability even in small sizes and text-heavy documents.

3. Garamond

Garamond has letterforms with a somewhat organic structure resembling handwriting with a pen but slightly more upright. A Parisian engraver named Claude Garamond created this old-style serif typeface in the 16th century.

The typeface has capital letters modeled on Roman square capitals, clear stroke contrast, and distinct letterforms found in “e” (it has a small eye) and “a” (it has a sharp turn at the top left).

Why it’s a good choice: It is one of the most readable and legible fonts in print that offers a sophisticated and elegant look.

4. Georgia

The typeface has strokes that alternate between thick and thick, creating a slightly italic effect without being too slanted. Its letters also “blend” with one another without being connected. Despite this, they are easy to read even at small sizes and low resolutions.

Georgia is somewhat similar to Times New Roman but with taller, bolder, and darker letterforms.

Why it’s a good choice: Georgia is an excellent font in creative fields and for professionals who want to add a bit of personality to their resumes, as it combines old-world charm and modern forms.

5. Helvetica

The font has a tight spacing between letters, high x-height, and strokes that terminate on horizontal or vertical lines. It also has monotone stroke weights and narrow “t” and “f,” giving the letters a dense, solid appearance.

Helvetica is considered the twin of the Arial font, with the former having less spacing between characters and its letterforms having more angled strokes.

Why it’s a good choice: Helvetica is a neutral font that can be used in a wide range of designs and text-heavy documents. It also exudes a polished, minimalist vibe.

6. Verdana

The typeface exhibits characteristics derived from the pixel rather than the brush, chisel, or pen. Additionally, commonly confused characters such as “i” and “j,” the numeral 1, and the uppercase “J” and “L” were carefully designed to ensure that the pixel patterns are legible even at small sizes.

Although Verdana was originally designed to be readable at small sizes on low-resolution computer screens of the 90s, its letterforms also look great in prints because of the generous spacing between letters and their fairly bold and broad form.

Why it’s a good choice: This sans-serif font has more space between each letter, making it easier to read from a distance. The generous spacing also minimizes eye fatigue and strain.

General Guidelines for Choosing Resume Fonts

These are some additional tips to ensure that your choice of font accurately conveys your professional background and gives your resume excellent readability and legibility.

Readability and Legibility

Our list of recommended fonts does not include cursive, intricate, or bubbly typefaces, which typically offer poor readability and legibility, especially in all caps.

Correct line spacing is also important to promote excellent readability. The general recommendation is to use 1.0 or 1.15 lines between text and double lines after subheaders.

Using bullet points is another way to improve the readability of your resume by making it easy to skim through. However, don’t overuse them — limit them to up to six points for each section.

Consistency

Ensure your resume is consistent in terms of formatting, bullet points, and section headings. Also, stick to one or two fonts throughout your CV. This way, the typography hierarchy and details look professional and organized.

Simplicity in Style

Avoid using cursive fonts and too many bold, italicized, or underlined sections. The goal is to aim for a clean appearance and excellent readability.

A minimalist resume format looks clean and helps you avoid common pitfalls, including typos, clutter, irrelevant information, and inconsistencies.

Note that simplicity does not mean boring. In fact, some situations allow the use of infographic resumes.

Your resume should exude confidence, clarity, and professionalism. Consequently, cursive fonts and those with overly intricate designs are not great options for this formal document. Use fonts that offer excellent readability, look professional, and lean toward simplicity.

Now that you know how to create a resume that can help you grab the attention of recruiters, why not supplement it with custom business cards? This way, you can help employers and hiring managers remember your details and access your contact information conveniently.