Swiss CV Typography: Fonts That Look Professional and Pass ATS

Why Swiss CVs have a typography problem

Switzerland invented modern typography. Helvetica, Univers, and the entire Swiss Style design movement were born here. Yet most CVs sent to Swiss recruiters use Times New Roman or — worse — Calibri at 11pt in a Word default template.

A typography choice signals taste. Bad fonts on a Swiss CV don't get you rejected, but they cost you the half-second of "this person knows what they're doing" that buys attention before the recruiter reads the first bullet.

Fonts that pass ATS and look Swiss

Most Swiss-headquartered ATS (Workday, SmartRecruiters, Personio, Refline) parse PDF text. The fonts they handle reliably:

• ●Helvetica — the Swiss original. Use Helvetica Neue if available.
• ●Arial — Helvetica's Microsoft cousin. ATS-safe everywhere.
• ●Inter — modern, free, looks like Helvetica with better readability at small sizes.
• ●Source Sans Pro — Adobe's open-source workhorse, screens beautifully.
• ●Calibri — fine, but signals "Word default" if used at 11pt with no adjustment.

Avoid: Times New Roman (looks dated), Comic Sans (obvious), Brush Script (illegible), Lato Hairline (too thin for ATS OCR), any font with serifs unless you're a lawyer or academic.

The Swiss type hierarchy that works

For a two-page CV:

• ●Name (top of page 1): 22–26pt, semibold or bold
• ●Job title under the name: 11–12pt, regular, muted color
• ●Section headings (EXPERIENCE, EDUCATION): 11pt, uppercase, letter-spacing 1.5
• ●Position title: 11pt, bold
• ●Company / dates: 10pt, regular
• ●Bullet points: 10–10.5pt body
• ●Footer / contact info: 8–9pt

Pick one typeface, two weights. Body is regular, headings are bold or semibold. Mixing three fonts on a CV is a Swiss-style misdemeanor.

Spacing — the most-ignored detail

Line height should be 1.3–1.4 for body text. Tighter looks cramped; looser looks padded.

Section spacing: 16–20px between sections, 8–10px between roles within a section. Bullets indent 0.5cm — never further.

ATS-safe weights

Avoid "light" and "thin" weights anywhere on the CV. Some ATS OCR drops thin characters. Stick to regular (400) and semibold/bold (600–700).

Two-color rule

Body text in a near-black (#1f2937 looks Swiss; pure #000000 is harsh). One accent color for headings only — navy (#1e3a8a), dark green (#065f46), or oxblood (#7c2d12) all read as "Swiss conservative". Avoid bright primaries; this isn't a startup pitch deck.

Font pairing for the cautious

If you want hierarchy without going full design school:

• ●Headings: Inter Bold or Helvetica Bold
• ●Body: Inter Regular or Helvetica

Don't pair a serif with a sans-serif unless you've done it before and know what you're doing. The "Garamond headings + Arial body" combo that worked on US resumes in 2008 looks dated in Switzerland in 2026.

The 10-second test

Print your CV. Hold it at arm's length. Can you identify the structure — name, sections, latest role — in two seconds without reading any words? If not, the typography is failing you before the recruiter ever reads a line.