When it comes to best and worst fonts to use on a résumé, experts are frowning at an old standard: Times New Roman.
“It’s telegraphing that you didn’t put any thought into the typeface that you selected,”
Brian Hoff, creative director of Brian Hoff Design, told Bloomberg. “It’s like putting on sweatpants.”
Not everyone had that harsh of an opinion of the font, but Martina Flor, a letterer and designer in Berlin, Germany, said it can seem staid.
“I don’t have any problem with Times New Roman,” Flor told Bloomberg. “It has been a system font for a long time. It’s been used and misused a lot.”
Bloomberg’s article about résumé fonts has drawn widespread attention, with Hoff’s “sweatpants” comparison making the rounds on social media.
Marcia LaReau, founder and president of Career Strategist,
described Times New Roman to Business News Daily as clean and easy-to-read but also boring, unimaginative, and unlikely to stand out.
Favorite résumé font choices highlighted by that article include Arial, Calibri, and Garamond.
The Bloomberg article pointed to Helvetica as the best choice, with Hoff saying: “Helvetica is so no-fuss, it doesn’t really lean in one direction or another. It feels professional, lighthearted, honest.”
The worst: Comic sans, which shouldn’t be used “unless you are applying to clown college,” Hoff said.
Some Twitter users jumped to the defense of the Times New Roman font, while others appreciated Hoff’s humorous advice.
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