All it takes is a little copying and pasting, font size and colour adjusting, and just like that, you’ve supposedly outsmarted a computer.
But does ‘white fonting’ actually work?
The idea behind the white font hack is simple: to trick AI and automated scanners looking for specific keywords on CVs, job hunters can shoehorn a bunch of them into their applications in secret, but writing them in white font.
You don’t have to bother with a carefully written cover letter or CV. Instead, those magic words will be picked up by AI, and your CV will be sorted into the ‘yes’ pile – while human employers will be none the wiser.
Some job hunters may just opt for a bunch of keywords, while others might go the whole hog and copy and paste the entire job ad in there.
If this concept sounds familiar, it’s because it is. Students have been doing it on essays for school and uni for years – not necessarily to outsmart AI, but to beef up their word counts.
But never forget, if something sounds too easy or too good to be true, it probably is.
First of all, if a human checks your resume on their computer and decided to highlight your whole CV, they will see the tiny lines of text you’ve added in the margins.
And that won’t exactly give them the best impression of you.
There’s also no telling what kind of software, if any, an employer is using, or how it may or may not scan and potentially reveal your white text.
Life Coach Directory member Joanna Stokes tells Metro.co.uk she isn’t a fan of this little trick.
‘I am a career coach and help people re-write their CV a lot,’ she says. ‘I do not think the practice of white fonting is good advice for anyone.
‘You can maximise the impact of your CV by using keywords, especially in the summary at the top of the CV.
‘And, of course, tailoring your CV to the job you are applying for will make sure you cover what they are looking for.’
Basically, if you can understand what keywords are important enough to hide in the margins of your application, you probably know how to mention them organically in your CV and cover letter in the first place.
Remember, even if a bot is scanning your CV, humans will be reading it too. And even if they can’t tell why you passed the AI’s checks, they probably still won’t be interested in hiring a person they decide doesn’t fit the criteria.
Instead, Joanna recommends job hunters write down and answer some specific questions about themselves as a starting point.
‘With my clients,’ she explains, ‘I ask them a series of questions for their current and previous jobs that get them to write about what they are most proud of in their role, what they specifically achieved, who benefited, and what skills they used.
‘This process helps them communicate who they are and their experience far better, and will help them get through screening with AI.
‘Then when it comes to the recruiter reading it, everything is transparent, relevant, and truthful!’
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