Should I merge my resume, cover letter and references into one document, when emailing a resume?

Posted Wednesday, August 25, 2010 by admin


When emailing a resume, cover letter, and references to an employer, should you merge all 3 of the documents into one (1) large document — to save the employer from having to download 3 separate attachments?
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Posted in Other - Careers & Employment

3 Comments on "Should I merge my resume, cover letter and references into one document, when emailing a resume?"

  • wg0z said on Aug 25th, 2010 at 8:00 AM:

    my suggestions:
    forget the references unless and until requested. attach resume to main email as .txt or .doc file. Text of main email is cover letter.

  • mulauthoring said on Aug 26th, 2010 at 4:38 PM:

    Give references only upon request.

    Write a cover letter that addresses the needs of the job. Tailor your resume in a way that it prioritizes your experience and skills to match with the job requirements.

    Attach your resume in Word format (.DOC) or plain text format (.TXT). The body of your email message serves as the cover letter.

    For more helpful hints on writing a resume, read the 10 Tips for Writing a Perfect Resume at

  • BigMac said on Aug 26th, 2010 at 10:37 PM:

    No, employers will often input your information into a database of some sort, and will prefer to have your cover letter and resume separate. As the others said, references don’t need to be included.

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