diff --git a/src/certificates/certificate_template.pdf b/src/certificates/certificate_template.pdf
deleted file mode 100644
index 2421f407..00000000
Binary files a/src/certificates/certificate_template.pdf and /dev/null differ
diff --git a/certificates/certificate_template.pdf b/src/templates/certificateTemplate.pdf
similarity index 100%
rename from certificates/certificate_template.pdf
rename to src/templates/certificateTemplate.pdf
diff --git a/src/utils.ts b/src/utils.ts
index eafd0df2..28423407 100644
--- a/src/utils.ts
+++ b/src/utils.ts
@@ -3,11 +3,13 @@ import jwt from 'jsonwebtoken'
 import type { Response } from 'express'
 import type Mentor from './entities/mentor.entity'
 import path from 'path'
+import fs from 'fs'
 import multer from 'multer'
 import ejs from 'ejs'
 import { ApplicationStatus } from './enums'
 import { generateCertificate } from './services/admin/generateCertificate'
 import { randomUUID } from 'crypto'
+
 export const signAndSetCookie = (res: Response, uuid: string): void => {
   const token = jwt.sign({ userId: uuid }, JWT_SECRET ?? '')
 
@@ -176,11 +178,23 @@ export const getEmailContent = async (
           Thank you again for considering our program and for the time you invested in your application. We wish you all the best in your future endeavours.`
         }
       case ApplicationStatus.COMPLETED: {
+        const certificatesDir = path.join(__dirname, 'certificates')
+
+        if (!fs.existsSync(certificatesDir)) {
+          fs.mkdirSync(certificatesDir)
+        }
+
+        const templatePath = path.join(
+          __dirname,
+          'templates',
+          'certificateTemplate.pdf'
+        )
+
         const uniqueId = randomUUID()
         const pdfFileName = await generateCertificate(
           name,
-          './certificates/certificate_template.pdf',
-          `./certificates/${uniqueId}_certificate.pdf`
+          templatePath,
+          path.join(certificatesDir, `${uniqueId}_certificate.pdf`)
         )
         return {
           subject: 'Congratulations! You have completed ScholarX',