Formatting Guide

Resume Formatting Guide 2025

Fonts, spacing, margins, and layouts that work

You could be the perfect candidate, but if your resume is poorly formatted, you will never get the interview. This guide covers everything you need to know about resume formatting in 2025—from fonts that pass ATS to layouts that impress recruiters.

Best Resume Fonts

Font choice affects both ATS readability and recruiter perception. Stick to these professional, ATS-friendly options:

✓ ATS-Safe Fonts

  • • Arial - Clean, modern, universally readable
  • • Calibri - Professional, contemporary
  • • Georgia - Elegant, good for creative roles
  • • Times New Roman - Traditional, conservative industries
  • • Helvetica - Clean, widely used
  • • Garamond - Classic, sophisticated

✗ Avoid These

  • • Comic Sans (unprofessional)
  • • Papyrus (dated, hard to read)
  • • Script fonts (illegible)
  • • Decorative fonts (ATS issues)
  • • Times (too dated)
  • • Courier (looks like a typewriter)

Font Size Guidelines

  • Name: 18-24pt (largest on page)
  • Headings: 14-16pt (bold)
  • Body text: 10-12pt (never smaller than 10pt)
  • Consistency is key: Use same font throughout

Page Layout & Margins

Standard Margins

0.5-1 inch
All sides
Standard
0.5 inch
All sides
If you need space
Never < 0.5
Too cramped
Looks unprofessional

Spacing & Line Height

Proper spacing makes your resume readable and scannable:

  • •Line spacing: 1.15-1.5 (1.2 is ideal)
  • •Space between sections: 12-18pt
  • •Space after job titles: 6-8pt
  • •White space: 20-25% of page should be white space

Layout Structure

The Ideal Resume Structure

  1. 1
    Contact Header — Name, phone, email, location, LinkedIn
  2. 2
    Professional Summary — 2-4 sentences about your value proposition
  3. 3
    Work Experience — Reverse chronological, 3-5 bullets per role
  4. 4
    Education — Degree, school, year (GPA optional)
  5. 5
    Skills — Hard skills relevant to the job
  6. 6
    Optional Sections — Certifications, awards, volunteer work

ATS Formatting Rules

✓
Single column layout(ATS reads left-to-right, top-to-bottom)
✓
Standard section headings(ATS recognizes "Experience" not "My Journey")
✓
No tables or text boxes(ATS cannot parse content inside them)
✓
No headers or footers(Contact info may not be extracted)
✓
Simple bullets (• or -)(Special characters cause parsing errors)
✓
Consistent date format(MM/YYYY or Month YYYY - pick one)

Resume Length Guidelines

Entry Level
0-5 years
1 page
Concise is better
Mid Career
5-15 years
1-2 pages
Most common
Senior/Exec
15+ years
2 pages
Rarely 3

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