Is it acceptable to combine all certificates, references et c. into one file for an email application?

Question

I'm currently gathering everything I need for an application for a job in Germany. I'm applying via email, so I'll be sending a couple of attachments. Here's what I'm planning to include:

• Cover / motivational letter in the email itself
• Resume as a PDF
• Work samples as a PDF
• Certificates, references, et c. as one combined PDF file

However, I'm not sure about the last point. This includes my school/academic certificates, letters of recommendations from my previous employments and similar references. I don't want to send all of those in seperate files, because then I would have like 10+ attachments to my email and I would hate to be on the receiving end of such an application, as it is a pain to look through them all (and realistically, I don't expect anyone to do so). So I'm wondering if it is acceptable to combine all of those into one PDF file. This way, I'll only have three attachments in total, which seems more concise and accessible to me.

Is that a reasonable approach to the email application? Or is there a reason why I shouldn't combine those certificates into one file? If so, is there a better way of handling this problem (i.e. not wanting to send too many attachments)?

I also have all those certificates stored on my server, and my resume contains direct links to them in the appropriate places. I have thought about just leaving it like this and not attach any of those certificates to the email at all, but that doesn't seem like a good idea either. Is it?

Answer 1

It's totally reasonable to combine your assisting documentation into one pdf file – I would even go further and put all files , i.e. also your resume and work samples into that one file.

However, if you have some 10+ documents to attach, I would try and rule some of them out. So unless you are right from university and this would be your first full-time employment, I would only take the certificate of the highest degree you got. If you are right from university, maybe take the last two degrees.

For other things like letters of recommendation, ask yourself whether they are all relevant to the respective job. If not, take the last one or two and see if you can restrict the others to those that compare best to the job you apply for. Concerning the left out ones: you can add some short notes to your resume where you could present additional documentation or just don't say anything about it and see if they ask for more.