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I have playing with the idea to add testimonials on my CV. The testimonials are mainly a few praises I received in my email from random people about open-source projects I have built that made their life easier.

The question is; how would a hiring manager or HR see this? Personally when I see testimonials they don't appeal much to me and seem a bit superficial but that might be different for others.

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  • Why wouldn't you just suggest those people as referenceS, and let folks contact them if inclined to ask?
    – keshlam
    Dec 30, 2015 at 15:28
  • I've never heard of anyone doing that. Is it a US thing or am I just too green?
    – rath
    Dec 31, 2015 at 2:33

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Testimonials are generally considered an extra on the CV, unless and until they are from someone really important.

For example, if I am the one hiring you, and you have a testimonial for an open source project, then this is how my evaluation goes:

If it's from someone important on that project like the maintainer or a notable person in that particular community: Yeah, you have managed to impress me, cause such people rarely write testimonials, but when they do, it means that you have been very impressive.

Else, meh.

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    +1. The only testimonial that would have any impact would be from a person that the hiring manager recognizes (and respects). Just including nice comments from random people is likely to be seen as artificial and odd on a CV/resume.
    – Kent A.
    Dec 30, 2015 at 14:30
  • It's like adds for movies with quotes from random unknown critics websites, taken out of context.
    – dyesdyes
    Dec 31, 2015 at 0:29

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