Resume 101: A Guide To Font For Cover Letter

A cover letter is a document that tries to convince the hiring manager of your competence. Ranging between 250 to 400 words, these documents can make it or break it for you. One of the first screening processes for most jobs involves a cover letter and a resume. When the candidates pass this round, only then are they called in for an interview which further decides their fate. Since writing a cover letter is so important, choosing a font for a cover letter is also important. While many people get chaotic about what to write in the cover letter, they forget that visuals are even more important. 

So, if you have good content written in your cover letter but it is illegible, there is no use of that cover letter and you will not be called further for an interview as well. However, on the other hand, if you have the same cover letter with proper font, you will be able to make a better impact on the employer thereby improving your chances of getting hired. Therefore, it is very important to make the right choice of font for the cover letter. This is because it has a lot of determining the potential of your future with that firm. 

How to Choose a Font for a Cover Letter

Here is the answer to how to choose the best font for a cover letter and other tips regarding cover letter fonts that can improve your chances of getting hired.

Choose a Readable Font

Your first and foremost priority should be to use a font that is readable and has easily distinguishable letters. This helps by thereby improving the readability of your cover letter which will ensure that it makes a greater impact on your employer. Without a readable font, your cover letter will not be given the acknowledgment that it deserves. It is important to notice that your choice of font will also decide your professionalism and your work ethic. Some people can judge you a lot based on this choice. 

Therefore stick to the popular and professional fonts that are commonly used in many formal and business letters. It reduces the chances of you making any mistakes with it and therefore helps by making your document even better. There is a list of the many cover letter fonts that can help you with this.

The best font for a cover letter includes the likes of:

• Calibri
• Helvetica
• Avenir
• Arial
• Georgia
• Times New Roman
• Veranda
• Gill Sans
• Franklin Gothic
• Garamond
• Cambria
• Constantia
• Corbel

Pick the Right Font Size

Another very important choice to make while choosing the font for the cover letter would be to set the right font size. Your font size must be ideal. It should neither be so small that it is difficult to read every word properly. However, it should not be so big that one paragraph covers half of the page. You have to remember that in most scenarios, you’ll need to print your cover letter and then send it. So the size must be efficient enough to be read in a printed A4-sized sheet. 

Even if you’re sending out your resume online, the font size formats don’t change much and therefore the rules say to keep it just appropriate enough to read and not too heavy for the eyes. The best choice of font size would go with your font style. This is because some font sizes vary when applied to different fonts. Keeping that in mind, the ideal font size should range anywhere in between 10 to 12 sizes. You should neither go below this nor exceed it at any cost. 

Don’t Use Too Many Fonts

Another very important point to keep in mind is to keep away the temptation of using too many fonts on your cover letter. It will just make your cover letter look more crowded than it already is and will therefore make you look like an unprofessional who just wants to play with fonts and is not taking his cover letter seriously. 

The cover letter is going to be read by your employer. Therefore, you must stick to only one font style throughout your cover letter. It maintains a certain level of consistency within the document and makes it look more formal. If it suits you, you can also opt for the same font for both, your cover letter and your resume. This would ensure uniformity across the documents and they will impact the interviewer better if he goes through them in one go.

There Might Be Some Exceptions

Even when strictly advised against using any additional fonts except one, there might be some exceptions where you can break this rule. This can be in the case of creative jobs and jobs that need you to think out of the box or be different. For these jobs, you can alter the cover letter font and use at most 2 or 3, ensuring that it keeps looking minimal, uniform, and easy on the eyes. With this purpose in mind, go on reinventing your cover letter to anything that suits you.

However, it is generally recommended that if you’re taking the road of 2 fonts, change the font of the header. Make it something creative that can suit your creative job and make you look like a distinct candidate in contrast to others. While doing this ensure that you’re not going too overboard and the basics of minimality reflect in your cover letter. 

Conclusion

If you think about it with care, there isn’t much to be done with the cover letter font. With a few cautions, you will be able to sail through it easily and create a cover letter that is as visually appealing as the content is relevant. Don’t forget to save your cover letter in a .pdf format as opposed to the .doc or .docx format as a .pdf format captures the font for the cover letter and other such details in the same manner as you have created rather than causing any change due to the system change. With these few tips in mind, you will be able to decide the best font for a cover letter easily.