Standard Fonts for ATS

Standard ATS fonts are typefaces that are universally supported across operating systems and reliably parsed by all major Applicant Tracking Systems. The most commonly recommended fonts include Arial, Calibri, Cambria, Garamond, Georgia, Helvetica, and Times New Roman.

Using non-standard or decorative fonts can cause parsing issues in several ways. If the ATS system does not have the font installed, it may substitute a different typeface that changes your layout, shifts text positions, or renders characters incorrectly. Some custom fonts embed characters using non-standard Unicode mappings, which can cause the parser to extract garbled or missing text.

For the best compatibility, choose a professional sans-serif font (Arial, Calibri, Helvetica) or serif font (Times New Roman, Georgia, Garamond) in 10-12 point size for body text and 14-16 point for your name. Avoid script fonts, novelty typefaces, and extremely thin or light font weights that may not render well on screen or in print. The goal is clean readability in both the ATS database view and the original document format.