Designers, let's talk resume font size. How small is too small?

[M A V I C]

I know the general rule seems to be 10.5pt, but for designers that submit a PDF resume, what say ye?

[davemchine]

I helped a man apply for jobs this year and his uploaded resume was used to automatically fill in required fields. I wonder if there is a new “format” that makes this process smoother? Some sites converted his resume better than others. I wondered if anyone ever actually saw his resume.

[Sarcany]

Depends on the font.

A bold sans serif with clean spacing vs a narrow serif with tight spacing will not be equally legible at all sizes.

If you're going with a boring Times New Roman, I wouldn't want it below 11pt. Serif fonts generally are more legible at small sizes, but the benefit is lost when you scale down far enough.

If you're going with a bold sans serif -- using it for a section-header, for example -- you might scale it up a couple of points rather than down to better distinguish the break between sections.

[cbelt3]

Comic Sans just for the cringe factor ?

[M A V I C]

For some additional context, I'm reviewing resumes submitted by designers. I see the actual resume. I'm seeing body font sizes as small as 6pt. In pre-covid days, I'd print out the resume for the initial screen which was in person. There's no way I could read them when printed. I'm trying to figure out if they assume it'll only work on screen (in which case, why go 8.5x11?) and that people will zoom in. They're trying really hard to put it all on one page.

I feel like, for designers, this is a big issue. You need to understand your audience, what they're looking for and what their experience will be. If your resume is illegible when printed, I lean towards immediate rejection.

[d4]

M A V I C wrote:
They're trying really hard to put it all on one page.

Editing is an important — often overlooked — part of the creative process.

[Filliam H. Muffman]

I would say automatically rejecting submissions for using fonts too small is only appropriate if you put that in the submission information, but I don't know what the kids today expect.

[jdc]

M A V I C wrote:
You need to understand your audience, what they're looking for and what their experience will be. If your resume is illegible when printed, I lean towards immediate rejection.

Agreed. Ive looked at hundreds of designers resumes, and have rejected some right away for just that reason. Dont make me work for it.

For a designer, I expect to see an online or PDF portfolio of work, not super concerned with what the resume looks like.

30 seconds with someones portfolio I can pretty much give it a thumbs up or down.

my for resumes advice: make it whatever, and print out before you send it to make sure its readable. Make sure the fit to page option is checked.

depending on the size of the company applying to, resumes might got to HR first. highly possible they print out the good candidates and those get passed on to whomever.

pop over to something like creative market and check their resume section, find something you like and download the low rez preview... then copy layout

[M A V I C]

Filliam H. Muffman wrote:
I would say automatically rejecting submissions for using fonts too small is only appropriate if you put that in the submission information, but I don't know what the kids today expect.

For a copywriter, should it be in the submission information that typos will automatically disqualify the candidate? I think some things are just givens for some jobs. A designer should demonstrate basic typography skills.

[M A V I C]

d4 wrote:
[quote=M A V I C]
They're trying really hard to put it all on one page.

Editing is an important — often overlooked — part of the creative process.
Agreed.

jdc wrote:

Agreed. Ive looked at hundreds of designers resumes, and have rejected some right away for just that reason. Dont make me work for it.

For a designer, I expect to see an online or PDF portfolio of work, not super concerned with what the resume looks like.

30 seconds with someones portfolio I can pretty much give it a thumbs up or down.

I'm not super concerned about the resume either. It can be a word doc with 12 point times and super basic formatting. I put a lot more weight into the portfolio. But when they try to get detailed with the resume, make it a PDF, add graphics, customize the typography... it better not make it harder to consume the information that a default Word template.