What Font To Use For Cover Letter

Choosing a good embrace letter of the alphabet font is of import because information technology affects the legibility and the overall look and feel of this crucial job application document. Let's talk about the pros and cons of various fonts (and font sizes) so you can make an informed choice.

What is the best font for cover letters? At that place's no single right respond to this frequently asked question. Only when information technology comes to choosing the right font for your own cover letter, you have quite a few swell options.

The best fonts to use in a cover alphabetic character are those that are attractive, clean and easy to read.

Yous desire hiring managers to take 1 glance at your cover letter and think "Looks skillful!" before they even kickoff reading. Then you lot desire them to read every give-and-take, focusing on your content — not distracted past a strange font pick or a font size that's too large or too small.

If you choose some odd-looking, avant garde font to make your embrace letter stand out, it will — only for all the wrong reasons. The recruiter is likely to frown and wonder why you lot chose such a weird font, and you've already got one strike against you.

Expert tip

At that place is no shortage of online advice near how to choose the best font for comprehend letters, including YouTube videos such as this i.

Choosing between serif and sans serif fonts

Your pick of cover alphabetic character font ultimately comes downward to two basic font types: serif and sans serif.

Serif fonts: A serif is a decorative flourish, a small-scale line or stroke added to the letters of the alphabet. For example, a uppercase A in a serif typeface will have a modest horizontal line at the lesser of the two diagonal lines that class the primary part of the letter — they look like tiny pedestals that form a base for the letter.

Serifs are added to the parts of messages that end in mid-air; for instance, a lowercase "i" every bit in "ice" will generally have a serif at the top pointing left and a serif at the lesser pointing both right and left. But you'll probably never see a serif on the letter "o" considering information technology'southward a circle where no role of the letter ends in mid-air.

Sans serif fonts: Sans serif fonts don't use serifs, so they look more like the alphabet displayed in a higher place the blackboard in an elementary school classroom. For example, if you print the letter "i" on a slice of paper with a pencil, you lot probably just describe a straight vertical line and add a dot on top of it. That's sans serif. But if you add piddling decorations to the vertical line, those are serifs.

Should you employ a serif or a non-serif font for cover messages?

In that location is no right or wrong answer to the question of using a serif or non-serif cover letter font, as long as information technology'south easy on the eyes and doesn't distract your reader. Perhaps with the exception of header text only, you should use the aforementioned font consistently throughout.

It can be a thing of personal preference, as well every bit compatibility with the occupation, employer and industry. In terms of "personality," serif fonts tend to be perceived as more traditional, formal, mature and reliable, while sans serif fonts are commonly described as sleek, modern and clean.

Proficient tip

Some experts recommend serif fonts as being easier to read for body text in a printed document, while sans serif fonts are more often than not preferable for viewing on a calculator screen or mobile device.

A list of good fonts for encompass letters

Hither is our acme 8 list of proficient fonts for cover letters:

Arial: Sort of similar a Helvetica for the 21st century, Arial is a modern sans serif font pop for its legibility and make clean lines.

Calibri: Some other good sans serif option, Calibri is the electric current default font for Microsoft Give-and-take.

Cambria: A expert-looking serif font designed for reckoner screens, commissioned by Microsoft.

Garamond: A archetype serif font similar you'd await to see in a pricey new book by a top publisher.

Georgia: Currently a very pop serif font, said to read well in pocket-size sizes; call it the new Times New Roman.

Lato: A "serious but friendly" sans serif font created by Google for computer screens, but information technology doesn't come with Microsoft Word applications.

Trebuchet: A sans serif font from Microsoft, also designed to look skilful online.

Verdana: Another sans serif font from Microsoft, Verdana looks sort of a like a chilled-out version of Arial.

Fonts to NOT use in your cover letter

Unless you're really loving unemployment, don't use these fonts in a cover letter:

Brush Script: If you favor fonts that look like cursive, you might as well but grab a pen and write the letter of the alphabet with your own hand.

Comic Sans: If you're designing a comic book, get for it, but never use this font in a embrace letter.

Courier: May be useful for forging a document to look similar it was written on a typewriter in the 1970s, merely useless in a modernistic cover letter.

Bear upon: Any font that's this heavy and assuming makes information technology await like you're trying to compensate for something lacking in your pitch.

Situational fonts for cover letters

You lot'll hear conflicting advice on certain fonts, these are by and large considered situational fonts and yous need to consider the paradigm, character and context for the task:

Helvetica: There's zilch incorrect with the world's most famous font, but it's then old that many consider it yesterday'southward choice.

Times New Roman: Aforementioned goes for this classic serif font: It still works subsequently all these years, simply you won't get points for originality.

Roboto, Open Sans, Ubuntu: These are clean and legible fonts that are widely used in the tech/IT industry, only they may not be as popular with more traditional jobs and employers. You can feel a fleck safer using these when applying to a software visitor or an IT startup. Simply exist advised that you might end up with an overly sleek and techy feel to your document.

Encompass letter font size and spacing

Whatever font you choose, practise not brand the mistake of running it too big or likewise small. Besides big and it looks childish; also modest and the reader needs a magnifying glass. And you can always count on resume.io for occupation-specific advice and a top-of-the-line online cover letter builder to boost your career!

What is the correct font size for a cover letter?

A skilful dominion of thumb is to start with a 12-point font size. Font size depends on the font style; for some fonts, 12 points could exist too large or 10 points besides small-scale. Getting it right may accept some trial and mistake.

People sometimes ask if an 11-point font is OK for a cover letter of the alphabet, and the respond is yes. Font sizes are typically described in even numbers, but at that place's no reason you tin't make your font size 11, or even xi.3, equally long as information technology looks proficient on the page.

What font size is likewise minor for a embrace letter?

Most encompass letters should exist one page only, and most first drafts exceed i page, so writers resort to downsizing the font to arrive fit. This IS an commanded tactic, merely don't make it any smaller than 10 points.

Cover letter spacing and white infinite

In addition to choosing the correct font size for your application letter, you need to set up appropriate embrace letter margins — i inch on the acme, bottom, left and right is a good dominion.

Another consideration is cover letter spacing. Every typeface comes with a default amount of "leading" (rhymes with "sledding"), which ways the corporeality of space between lines. This setting is adjustable, but don't downsize it to clasp your letter onto one folio. Let for an advisable corporeality of white space in your comprehend letter, or it will await like you're trying to cram 12 pounds of stuff into a ten-pound bag.

What do the best cover letter fonts look like?

Look no further than resume.io for samples of what you might decide is the best font for encompass letters. And if yous're ready to create your ain cover letter, this is also the right place to become started correct away. Check out our professionally designed, field-tested encompass alphabetic character templates in iv blueprint categories: simple , creative , modern and professional .

Our top-of-the-line cover letter architect tool makes it easy to customize your own version for hassle-costless, high-quality results in no fourth dimension.

Adept tip

Yous can ever count on resume.io for the advice to heave your career! Our job-winning resource include a broad selection of occupation-specific writing guides and free embrace alphabetic character examples .

Key takeaways

Readability is the deciding gene for choosing a comprehend letter font that's make clean, attractive and non-distracting.
Our top 8 list of cover letter fonts includes a good selection of serif and non-serif font types to suit your preference.
With good reason, several fonts belong on a "do not employ in a cover alphabetic character" list. Others may be okay in certain situations, depending on the image, character and context for the job.
Cover letter font size and spacing are vitally important considerations, along with font way.

All-time of luck with choosing the right fonts and formatting choices for your cover letter. And even if you've forgotten everything nosotros've said hither, remember: Don't … employ … Comic … Sans!