Best Fonts for a CV in 2024: What to Use (and What to Avoid)

You've spent hours perfecting your work history, crafting your personal statement, and tailoring your CV to the role — but have you given a single thought to your font? It might sound like a minor detail, but typography can be the difference between a CV that looks sharp and professional and one that gets dismissed before the recruiter reads a single word. The right font makes your CV easier to read, signals attention to detail, and ensures your formatting survives the dreaded Applicant Tracking System (ATS). Here's everything you need to know about choosing the best font for your CV in the UK.

Why Your CV Font Matters More Than You Think

Recruiters spend an average of just seven seconds scanning a CV before deciding whether to read further. If your font is hard to read, too decorative, or renders poorly on screen, you've already lost those precious seconds. Beyond human readers, most large UK employers now use ATS software to screen CVs automatically. Unusual or highly stylised fonts can confuse these systems, causing your application to be rejected before it reaches a human at all. A clean, professional font does two jobs at once: it keeps recruiters reading and ensures ATS software can parse your information correctly. Typography is not vanity — it's strategy. Choosing a font that balances readability, professionalism, and technical compatibility is one of the simplest ways to give your CV a competitive edge without changing a single word of your content.

The Best Fonts to Use on Your CV

These fonts are consistently recommended by careers professionals and recruiters across the UK for good reason — they're clean, professional, and universally readable.

**Calibri** — Microsoft's default font since 2007. Modern, clean, and ATS-friendly. Ideal if you want something contemporary without standing out for the wrong reasons.

**Garamond** — An elegant serif font that works beautifully for more traditional industries such as law, finance, or academia. It's refined without feeling stuffy.

**Georgia** — Designed specifically for on-screen readability. A solid serif choice that holds up well both digitally and in print.

**Arial** — A reliable sans-serif classic. Perhaps a touch plain, but universally readable and never likely to cause formatting issues.

**Helvetica** — The designer's favourite. Sleek and modern, it works particularly well for creative roles, though it isn't a standard Windows font.

**Lato or Nunito** — Google Fonts options that bring a fresh, modern feel and are excellent for digital-first applications.

Stick to one font throughout your CV. Mixing typefaces rarely looks intentional — it usually looks inconsistent.

Fonts You Should Never Put on a CV

Some fonts have absolutely no place on a professional CV, no matter how much you like them. Avoid these at all costs.

**Comic Sans** — The most notorious offender. It reads as unprofessional in virtually every context and will undermine your credibility immediately.

**Times New Roman** — Once the default, it now reads as dated and lazy. If you haven't updated your CV font since the early 2000s, this is a red flag for recruiters.

**Papyrus or Curlz MT** — Decorative fonts that are completely inappropriate for professional documents.

**Impact** — Far too heavy and condensed for body text. Impossible to read at smaller sizes.

**Brush Script or any handwriting-style font** — These look charming on wedding invitations and nowhere else. ATS systems cannot read them, and neither can a tired recruiter at 4pm on a Friday.

The general rule: if you'd see it on a novelty mug or a school project, it doesn't belong on your CV.

What Font Size Should I Use on My CV?

Getting the right font size is just as important as choosing the right typeface. Use these guidelines for a well-balanced CV layout:

**Body text:** 10–11pt is the sweet spot. Any smaller and it becomes hard to read; any larger and your CV will sprawl across too many pages.

**Section headings:** 12–14pt, bold. This creates clear visual hierarchy and helps recruiters navigate your CV quickly.

**Your name at the top:** 16–20pt is appropriate. It should stand out, but there's no need to go larger — it starts to look amateurish.

**Line spacing:** 1.0 to 1.15 is ideal for body text. Add a small space between sections to give your CV room to breathe without wasting space.

Remember: a CV should ideally fit on one page for candidates with under ten years' experience, or two pages for senior professionals. If you're increasing font size to fill space or reducing it to cram content in, that's a sign your content needs editing — not your typography.

Serif vs Sans-Serif: Which Is Right for Your Industry?

The debate between serif and sans-serif fonts is age-old, but for CVs it broadly breaks down by industry and role type.

**Sans-serif fonts** (such as Calibri, Arial, or Lato) work well for technology, marketing, media, startups, and most modern corporate environments. They feel clean, contemporary, and uncluttered — qualities that resonate in forward-thinking organisations.

**Serif fonts** (such as Garamond, Georgia, or Caslon) tend to suit more traditional industries: law, accountancy, academia, medicine, and finance. They carry a sense of authority and gravitas that aligns well with established professional cultures.

That said, these are guidelines rather than rules. A serif font on a tech CV won't get you rejected, and a sans-serif font won't disqualify a barrister. What matters far more is that the font is clean, appropriately sized, and consistent throughout. When in doubt, Calibri or Garamond will serve you well in almost any context. Tools like StackedCV.com automatically apply professional formatting when rewriting your CV, so you don't have to agonise over these decisions alone.

Quick Formatting Tips to Complement Your Font Choice

Once you've chosen your font, a few simple formatting decisions will help your CV look truly polished.

**Use bold sparingly.** Bold your job titles, company names, and section headings, but don't bold random phrases in your body text. It dilutes the impact.

**Avoid underlining.** Underlines are associated with hyperlinks online and look cluttered in body text. Use bold or spacing to create emphasis instead.

**Italics in moderation.** Fine for dates or publication titles in an academic CV, but overusing italics makes text harder to scan.

**Left-align your text.** Justified text creates awkward spacing between words in narrow columns. Left-aligned body text is always easier to read.

**Stick to black text on a white background.** Coloured text, gradient backgrounds, and decorative borders may look creative, but they play havoc with ATS systems and can look unprofessional in traditional sectors.

**Use consistent margins.** Around 1.5–2cm on each side gives your CV a clean, uncluttered appearance. Going narrower to fit more content in usually backfires — it makes the page feel cramped and difficult to read.

Choosing the right font for your CV is a small decision with a surprisingly large impact. Stick to clean, professional typefaces like Calibri, Garamond, or Georgia, keep your font size between 10–11pt for body text, and avoid anything decorative or gimmicky. These simple choices signal professionalism, aid readability, and ensure your CV gets through ATS filters intact. If you'd like to take the guesswork out of CV formatting altogether, StackedCV.com can rewrite and reformat your CV using AI — applying professional typography, clean layout, and tailored content so you can focus on landing the interview rather than fussing over fonts.