Cover Letters to Serif or not to Serif
So there you are, sitting at your computer, congratulating yourself on the killer resume you've just finished writing. You've read it aloud to your friends and family, and basked in their glowing praise. You've run the spellchecker program at least a dozen times, made sure all of the dates, names and pertinent facts are correct (at least, to the best of your recollection), sent a few positive affirmations out into the Universe, and now you're ready to construct an equally-killer cover letter.
Not so fast. This is where it gets tricky. For this is the moment when you come face-to-face with The Big Question That Cannot Be Ignored: whether to use Arial or Times New Roman.
To serif, or not to serif? Whether 'tis wiser to opt for the modern, clean look of Arial (a sans serif font) or the more traditional feel of Times New Roman (a serif font) is both an aesthetic and practical question – and unfortunately, there is no simple answer.
It's a question of style, and style is a subjective thing. One person's typographical tastes may be totally different from the next person's, and unless you're psychic there's probably no way for you to guess the preferences of the potential employer you are hoping to impress.
It is not as simple a choice as it seems. The relative merits of serif and sans serif fonts has been raging since the middle ages. For the sake of this limited discussion, though, let's stick with the basics.
Serif fonts, like Times New Roman, have little doohickeys - properly called “finishing strokes” - at the ends of the basic strokes that form each letter. (Calm down. It isn't important for you to know why they are there, or to study the whole history of font development since the 15th century. Just accept them.)
Sans Serif fonts, like Arial, don't have the doohickeys. They are plain, streamlined, and widely considered to be more modern-looking letterforms.
Typographers and graphic designers can't ever seem to agree on which kind of font is more legible, or prettier, or functional. A quick internet search yields dozens of blog posts and articles related to this topic.This one, by freelance user experience consultant Alex Poole, is a prime example. And it's just the tip of the iceberg.
For our brief discussion, though, the bottom line about which of these two font styles is “better” is that there doesn't appear to be a clear winner. Reams of studies have been written by both sides, and it all adds up to way more information than we need to know.
So. Let's put the issue of legibility aside, and concentrate on what really matters. Which is, of course, why you are writing a cover letter in the first place: to get a prospective employer or hiring agent to want to read your resume and give you an interview. And a job.
In a very real sense, your cover letter is your first opportunity to make a great impression on the person who will, hopefully, be hiring you. If your cover letter doesn't grab them, odds are that your resume will go straight into the reject pile.
It makes sense, then, to dress your cover letter with the same care and attention to detail with which you would dress yourself for a job interview. Think about it. Would you wear a green polka dot tie with a purple checked shirt? A vertically-striped skirt with a horizontally-striped blouse?
Obviously not. And for the very reasons that you should have answered “no” to those questions, you should avoid the same stylistic faux pas with your cover letter and resume.(By the way, if you answered “yes” instead of “no” to those questions, then font choice is probably not the most important issue for you to be dealing with right now.)
Professional style is key, and here are some tips that should help you add impact and readability to your cover letter and resume:
Use the same font in all of your job search documents.
Don't mix serifs and sans serifs together.
Use font attributes such as bold, italic, and underlining for headings and emphasis rather than changing fonts.
Remember that simpler is better.
When in doubt, hire a reputable professional to design your cover letter for you.
In the end, while matters of typographical style and details such as font choice do come into play when job hunting, there are far more important considerations.
Ultimately, whether you choose to use Arial or Times New Roman is not nearly as important as making sure you have put together a powerful, well-written cover letter that gets your resume the attention it deserves, and in turn, the interview you desire.
