How to Include Testimonials in Your Resume, and Why

When writing your resume, it’s one thing to claim you’re terrific at teamwork, building great client relationships, or coaching others. But why should an employer believe you? Where’s the evidence?

It can be especially hard to make a compelling case for “soft skills” like those above; they can be hard to quantify or certify.

Rather than just asking the employer to take your word for it, why not have someone else vouch for you? I’m not talking about references, which aren’t checked until much later in the hiring process, if ever.

In an increasingly review-driven world, testimonials in your resume can help you get the interview.

Sources for testimonials for your resume:

It’s most effective when the quote can be verified, perhaps because it’s online as a recommendation in your LinkedIn profile. That’s a great reason – among many – to get LinkedIn recommendations.

You can also quote from a letter of recommendation, adding in parentheses that the full letter is available upon request.

A customer kudo is another good source, omitting the customer’s name if necessary to maintain confidentiality.

A glowing excerpt from a performance review can also be very effective. If it’s recent, include the date.

Example: Judith Jones’ teamwork testimonial

Let’s say Judith Jones wants her resume to communicate above all that she’s a team player. Fortunately, her LinkedIn profile contains the following recommendation from a key internal customer:

“I had the pleasure of working with Judith in two different companies over the course of eight years. Judith is a consummate Human Resources professional and would be an asset to any company that hired her. She is always open to new processes and she partnered well with Payroll. She often came to me and asked ‘How can I make this process work better for you?’ She’s an incredibly collaborative colleague. I highly recommend Judith.”

– Director of Payroll, The Green Company

For her resume, she would shorten this to something brief and punchy, such as:

“Judith is a consummate Human Resources professional … She often came to me and asked ‘How can I make this process work better for you?’ She’s an incredibly collaborative colleague. I highly recommend Judith.”

(Steven Sanchez, Director of Payroll, Multinational Marketing, Inc., excerpted from: www.linkedin.com/in/Judithqjones)

Should  you quote people by name, or only by title and company?

In the example above, Steven’s comment has already been made public, so he is unlikely to have any objection to being quoted by name. If the quote were from an unpublished source, it would be courteous to ask for his permission.

If he’s a well-known figure in the industry, his name may add extra power to the quote. If not, she could mention him by title only, in order to avoid an unnecessary and possibly distracting detail. Remember: In resume writing, anything that doesn’t add value is best omitted.

Where else can you use a testimonial?

Some good spots for testimonials are:

• At the end of the Summary. This is a very powerful location, so reserve it for strong, extremely relevant praise from your direct manager, senior management or other high-profile source.
• At the end of the resume, to give it a strong finish.
• In the Experience section, under the job in which you received the praise. This works well if you have similar quotes from your other jobs.

For another way of formatting your testimonials, check out my post on the Blurbs Block.

Hang onto those customer kudos – and don’t underestimate the power of testimonials in your resume.

This post was originally published in October 2014. It has been updated for accuracy and relevance.