4 reasons why you shouldn't use "white-fonting" on your resume ⛔

Applying for jobs can make every resume trick seem worth trying.

Image created by the author using AI

One such trick floating around for quite some time is "white-fonting", where keywords are hidden in a resume and aren't immediately visible to the human eye.

As tempting as it may sound, white-fonting is a bad idea and can do more harm than good for your resume.

White-fonting involves copying keywords, phrases, or even entire job descriptions and pasting them in your resume in white font on a white background.

• This hides keywords from people but keeps them visible to applicant tracking systems (ATS).

• The hidden text is often added in a small font to maintain overall resume formatting.

• Hidden keywords may include skills, qualifications, job titles, or software names.

The example below shows how white-fonting works by adding hidden keywords and job descriptions to different parts of a resume.

Note: The black boxes are used in the image only to reveal white text that would normally be invisible on a white background. Image created by the author using Canva and PowerPoint. To hear an audio description of the image above, click play on the audio player below:

Job seekers may use white-fonting in hopes of improving their chances in today's highly competitive job market. Image created by the author using AI

• The main goal of the hack is to trick and bypass applicant tracking systems (ATS) or resume-parsing tools that rely on matching keywords in job descriptions and resumes.

• People fear being filtered out at the initial stage, when their resumes are combed by software rather than reviewed by a recruiter.

• They want to appear more relevant to screening tools and improve their chances of being called for an interview.

As clever and tempting as it may seem, white-fonting your resume can hurt your application in more ways than one.

#1: ATS May Spot It

With technology advancing each day, software is trained to detect hidden keywords in resumes. This may cause rejection at the outset, even before your application reaches a human recruiter.

#2: Recruiters May Spot It

With the rise in the use of white-fonting, hiring managers have come up with ways to reveal the hidden text on resumes. They may simply highlight the entire text in your resume or use formatting tools, thus exposing the unseen keywords you added. This may even cause disqualification, as recruiters consider this unprofessional.

#3: It Signals Dishonesty

You might be able to bypass the initial stage by fooling the ATS. But hiring managers may eventually spot the mismatch during interviews when you're unable to justify the skills listed in your resume.

You might end up losing employer trust and damaging your reputation for the future.

#4: It's Unethical

If you stuff your resume with keywords from the job description in white font, the ATS will push your application up the list. This may unfairly push the resumes of other qualified applicants lower on the list.

Ronnie is applying for a customer service role. To better her chances, she copies keywords directly from the job description:

• customer satisfaction

• conflict resolution

• active listening

• communication skills

She pastes them into the footer of her resume, changes the font size to 2, and colors the text white.

She then confidently submits the resume through the company's online application portal. Image created by the author using AI

How can white-fonting spoil Ronnie's chances? Select all that apply:

A. Ronnie's application may be rejected during the initial stage.

B. Ronnie may appear dishonest if she can't prove the listed skills.  

C. Ronnie may harm her chances of applying for future roles at the company.

D. Ronnie may be penalized and pushed down the list of top applicants.

White-fonting your resume can seem like a smart hack, but the consequences may not be worth it. Image courtesy of Freepik

Before submitting your application: