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10 December 2007
What font is on your CV (or Résumé)? Times New Roman need not apply.
It took me a few minutes to find a copy of my resume (I don't have a CV), I really should keep it up to date given that I work for a shaky startup. But the answer for me is "Arial" which I'll admit is a pretty boring answer but I know from being on the other side of the desk as an interviewer that no one in my type of work cares about fonts.
Thankfully it’s been a while since I last had to do a CV: I think I used some version of Garamond. Even today I think I'd still use something with serifs which had good-looking italics.
I keep one in Comic Sans, which is wonderful to open, especially by mistake, after forgetting about it for a while. Your life, in Comic Sans, is always a joke to somebody.
But the one in ITC Garamond is reasonably up-to-date.
I used to use fancy Myriad multiple master instances. It was pretty. But it made things difficult when people wanted to a copy in Word format. So now I use Arial, which is somewhat ugly but robust.
Arial cuz it's less likely to induce scanning mistakes. Though nowadays, I doubt that's much of a need. I haven't worked in years, and scanning/conversion software is probably pretty much old hat.
But yeah, in IT most of the time when someone finally sees a paper copy of mine they've already read the plain text version I submitted when I applied.
Followup: does anyone use that fancy paper anymore? I haven't in years. Normal printer paper for me.
Followup: does anyone use that fancy paper anymore?
Resume paper? Yes. But maybe whether or not you really need to use it depends on your field and the expectations within it. I work in a field where formality is really important.
I am currently trying to decide between Scala Sans for a more modern look or Adobe Jenson Pro for a more classical look. Both have nice stuff like real caps, text figures and gorgeous italics.
I like the classical look more, myself, but I am seen (or try to be seen) as a sort of techie within my field, so I feel I need something slightly more contemporary.
I know it's weird, but I use verdana all the way. It's a little unusual in a resume, and thus more likely to catch someone's attention. I use all caps and bold for my name and for the section headings.
Also, I tend to use paper with a really heavy stock, almost cardstock but not quite. It's easier for people to find on their desks, doesn't rumple, and I've gotten tons of compliments on it. Just one more thing that makes your resume stand out if you're going to print it and send it off.
Weirdly, a lot of people at interviews expect me to bring a hard copy of my resume with me, because they don't have it in front of them when they're interviewing me ...
I've never had to make a resumé for myself, but the rare times I have to send a printed business letter it's in Adobe Jenson 12/15, 9 pica left and right margins, justified, with proportional oldstyle figures, etc.
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