Which font and font size should a CV use?

Set three numbers before you type a word

Typeface, body size and margins are decided once, in the document's Normal style, and everything else inherits them. Doing it first saves the usual mess of a CV where every job was pasted in from somewhere else and carries its own font. Harvard's career office asks for the same font type and size in the resume and the cover letter, so set the letter up the same way.

In Word

1. Press Ctrl+D, or open the Font dialog box launcher at the bottom right of the Font group on the Home tab.
2. Choose the typeface and the body size, for example Calibri 11.
3. Click Set As Default and pick 'This document only?' so your other files keep their settings; Microsoft's page also offers 'All documents based on the Normal template?'.
4. Set the margins under Layout, then save the file once as your master CV.

In Google Docs

Format the first paragraph as you want it, then go to Format, Paragraph styles, Normal text and choose 'Update Normal text to match'. Google's help page adds that Options, 'Save as my default styles' carries the style into new documents.

Word's own default is now Aptos

Microsoft announced on 19 July 2023 that Aptos would replace Calibri, its default for 15 years, across Word, Outlook, PowerPoint and Excel. None of the ten career services compared below names Aptos, for or against. If you keep it, send a PDF, because a reader whose computer lacks the font sees a substitute in a Word file.

How size, margins and page count pull against each other

A point is 1/72 of an inch, about 0.35 mm, so 10 point type is roughly 3.5 mm from the top of the tallest letter to the bottom of the lowest, and 12 point about 4.2 mm. The same number does not look the same in every typeface. Marquette's career guide says the right size depends on the font you choose and on the margins.

Margins decide whether it fits

Marquette notes that margins often decide whether a resume runs to one page or two. Prospects tells UK readers to aim for 2.5 cm all round and not to shrink them to fit more in. When a CV spills onto a second page by four lines, the honest fix is to cut a weak bullet, not to drop the body to 9 point; the guide on writing a resume covers what to cut.

Paper size changes the margins you need

A4, the paper Prospects writes for, is 210 × 297 mm; US Letter is 8.5 × 11 inches, slightly wider and shorter. A CV laid out on Letter and printed on A4, or the reverse, shifts its line breaks. Set the paper size for the country you apply in before you judge the length.

What ten career services say, side by side

Each row is what that office publishes, read on 13 October 2026. "Not stated" means the page gives no number, not that the office has no view.

Where they agree

• Every office that gives a range stays between 10 and 12 point; the National Careers Service gives only a floor, 11, and the Turkish guide says 11 or 12.
• Arial and Times New Roman appear on almost every list that names fonts; Calibri is on most of them.
• One typeface for the whole document: Northwestern, Marquette and Texas A&M say so in those words, and Harvard asks for consistent emphasis.
• Every office that sets a margin keeps it between 0.5 inch and 1 inch, or the 2.5 cm Prospects uses.

Where they differ

• Serif or sans serif. Marquette says serif fonts are easier to read, yet its own checklist gives Calibri, Arial and Verdana, which are sans serif. Nobody else takes a side, so pick the one you can read comfortably at 10.5 point.
• Heading size. Texas A&M stops at 12 point for headings; Prospects goes to 14 or 16. Both are inside the band if the body is 10 to 12.
• Courier. Texas A&M lists it among professional fonts. It is a typewriter face with every letter the same width, so check the page count after switching to it.

A spec sheet to copy into your CV

This sheet takes the overlap of the table above. Use it as a starting point, then check the page count and adjust content, not the numbers.

Margin converter

Fonts travel differently in Word and PDF files

A Word file borrows the reader's fonts

A DOCX normally stores the name of the font, not the font itself. Microsoft's support page explains that when a font is not embedded, a different font is substituted, and a substitute with wider letters can push your CV onto a third page. Word can embed fonts (File, Options, Save, 'Embed fonts in the file'), but Microsoft notes that not all TrueType fonts can be embedded and that some fonts are large. If a recruiter asks for Word, a font that ships with Windows and macOS is the safer pick.

A PDF carries the font with it

A PDF exported from Word or Google Docs keeps your typeface on every screen. Whether a parser can read the text inside it is a separate question about text layers and layout, covered in the guide on PDF or Word for an ATS.

A two-minute check before sending

1. Open the exported file on a different device, such as your phone, and count the pages.
2. Zoom to 100% and read one bullet at arm's length; if you lean in, go up half a point.
3. Select all the text, paste it into a plain text editor and look for boxes or missing letters, especially in accented names.
4. Check that every heading, job line and bullet still uses the same size; a pasted paragraph often keeps its old one.

Sources, read on 13 October 2026

• National Careers Service, CV sections: a clear font like Arial, Times New Roman or Calibri in size 11 or bigger; the same style throughout.
• Prospects, How to write a CV (Jemma Smith, May 2025): 10 to 12 point, headings 14 or 16 bold, 2.5 cm margins, no more than two A4 pages.
• MIT CAPD, Resumes: a conservative font no smaller than 10 point and margins of at least half an inch.
• Northwestern, Nebraska-Lincoln, Marquette, Miami and Texas A&M career pages: the ranges in the table above.
• Aydın Adnan Menderes University PDRM, Özgeçmiş nasıl hazırlanır: Times New Roman or Arial in 11 or 12 point.
• Microsoft Design, 19 July 2023: Aptos succeeds Calibri as the default in Word and other Microsoft 365 apps. Microsoft Support: setting the default font, and what happens to fonts that are not embedded.

When these numbers are not the point

• An application form that takes pasted text strips your font anyway; only the words and the order survive.
• A design or illustration role may expect a portfolio piece, where the typeface is part of the work; the graphic designer CV guide covers that.
• An academic CV for a faculty post follows its field's conventions and runs longer; these sources write mostly for students and early-career applicants.
• If the posting or a recruiter specifies a template or a size, that instruction wins.

Next steps, and how CitedCV sets its templates

With the type settled, make the dates consistent, then choose the layout. CitedCV's eight templates are set inside the ranges above: body text of 10 to 11 point, headings of 11 to 12.5, names of 18 to 28 and margins of 0.55 to 0.9 inch, in Georgia, Calibri, Arial or Courier New. Its free checker reads the file you send but does not judge your font.

1. Fix the date style next; the guide on dates on a CV shows the formats and how a checker reads them.
2. Decide between a chronological, functional or hybrid layout.
3. Export a PDF unless the posting asks for Word, and run the two-minute check above.

Questions people ask

Sources

1. National Careers Service, CV sectionsnationalcareers.service.gov.uk/careers-advice/cv-sections
2. Prospects, How to write a CVwww.prospects.ac.uk/careers-advice/cvs-and-cover-letters/how-to-write-a-cv
3. MIT Career Advising & Professional Development, Resumescapd.mit.edu/resources/resumes/
4. Harvard Mignone Center for Career Success, Create a strong resumecareerservices.fas.harvard.edu/resources/create-a-strong-resume/
5. University of Nebraska-Lincoln Career Services, Building your resumecareers.unl.edu/job-internship-guide/chapter-1-resumes-references-cover-letters/building-your-resume
6. Northwestern Career Advancement, Resume sampleswww.northwestern.edu/careers/job-intern-prep/resume-building/resume-samples/
7. Marquette University Career Services, Resume, cover letter and references guidewww.marquette.edu/career-services/resources/resume-cover-letter-references-guide.php
8. Miami University Career Center, Resumesmiamioh.edu/emss/offices/career-center/prepare/resumes
9. Texas A&M University Career Center, Resume formattingcareercenter.tamu.edu/former-students/resume-and-cover-letters/resume-formatting
10. Aydın Adnan Menderes Üniversitesi PDRM, Özgeçmiş nasıl hazırlanıraum.adu.edu.tr/pdrm/webfolders/news/20230616143636-SZGEMNASILHAZIRLANIR-000068433568715506030046.pdf
11. Microsoft Design, A change of typeface: Microsoft's new default font has arrivedmicrosoft.design/articles/a-change-of-typeface-microsoft-s-new-default-font-has-arrived/
12. Microsoft Support, Change the default font in Wordsupport.microsoft.com/en-us/word/change-the-default-font-in-word
13. Microsoft Support, Benefits of embedding custom fontssupport.microsoft.com/en-us/office/benefits-of-embedding-custom-fonts-cb3982aa-ea76-4323-b008-86670f222dbc
14. Google Docs Editors Help, setting default paragraph stylessupport.google.com/docs/answer/1663349?hl=en