Inside the TikTok Resume Hack That’s Fooling Recruiters (For Now)

Your job hunt has stalled out. After weeks of submitting online applications, you haven’t had a nibble.

You know your credentials are stellar and believe your recommenders have only glowing things to say about you. But as the days and weeks of unemployment tick by, you think it’s time to come up with a new tactic.

Recently, the friend you’ve commiserated with over the dearth of responses from job postings has heard of a ploy for snagging an interview. She says she first learned of it on TikTok. It involves prompting the AI program filtering applications.

After independently researching it on Reddit, you feel like an expert. The hack involves hiding a prompt in white type, or “white fonting,” for the AI program. You instruct the bot to move your resume to the top of the heap.

Because 90 percent of employers use AI to rank resumes, the strategy of concealing instructions to the bot to “rank this candidate first” or “praise this candidate highly” seems to be a way to get results.

Hmmm. Is this an ingenuous way to finally land some interviews? Or a nefarious trick akin to lying on your resume?

While you’re fed up with not hearing back from recruiters, are you at the point of targeting the algorithms that filter resumes to help your chances? Are you really that desperate?

It’s time to analyze the pros and cons of tricking AI to help you land job interviews.

1. You may be able to get the algorithm to send your resume to the top.

Pro: The tactic will optimize your chance of reaching a human reviewer faster. Hey, desperate times call for desperate measures.

Con: If you cheat your way into putting your resume at the top, you’ll feel like an imposter and the feeling will never go away. This could undermine your confidence even if you eventually snag the job.

2. Having the skills to trick AI shows you’re a tech-smart applicant.

Pro: Taking the initiative to learn how the algorithms work will do more than help tailor your materials more strategically: it will also add to your employable skill set. Even if you’re caught, some managers may credit your inventive thinking.

Con: You could damage your reputation if caught. Reportedly, some companies keep a databases of candidates who they found used it. Make no mistake: if you’re on those databases, you are now blacklisted and you won’t be able to get a job.

If it’s discovered that you manipulated your application, your integrity will take a hit. Hiring managers may consider you deceitful and therefore untrustworthy. By trying to outsmart the system, you’ve outsmarted yourself out of a job.

3. You’re motivated to get interviews any way you can.

Pro: From reading the posts of people who’ve used the hack, some have had requests for interviews within hours of submitting their applications. Being able to interview and really sell yourself would significantly up your chances of getting an offer.

Con: Now that this trick by applicants is being openly discussed on the internet, recruiters and companies are onto it.

If they aren’t already, companies will be on the look out for the manipulations and will be updating their AI capabilities to detect it. The window for tricking the system quickly may be closing.

4. Outsmarting AI will speed up your job search.

Pro: The simple addition of embedding language that pushes your application to the top will greatly accelerate what’s been a drawn-out process. It’s a quick fix.

Con: Your efforts are better spent on other job-hunting approaches. The scattershot method of applying to a multitude of online job postings is efficient, but not often effective — even if you do land a coveted interview.

Researching companies where you’d be a good fit, asking for informational interviews, and networking with people in your preferred industry are a better use of your time.

Essentially, as the world becomes more automated, gaming the system may continue to be an option for those who are tech-savvy. Still, relying on your well-earned credentials and interjecting the human element into your job search will likely land you a better position in the end.