Research Log Entry 3.2: Formulating a Question (1/31)

1. What was your first question?
In my General Studies class, my professor required all of the students to create an eProfile on Blackboard. One of the criteria being graded is a completed resume along with a few references. Unfortunately, I didn't know who would go onto that page. A question came into my head: "Who should go on my reference page?"

2. List all the intermediate questions that you formed between the first question and your final question.
a. Can anyone go on my page?
b. Is there a certain number of people that should go on it?
c. Are friends allowed?
d. Should it go at the end of the resume, or be attached to it?


3. What approaches and ideas did you implement in each of these stages?
a. My General Studies teacher recommended that I put the people "who have weight" academically and authority. Although I did not have to use an online search engine, I thought that this information was quite informative.
b. In Google, I searched "resume references" and came across this website named "Career Owl" (http://www.careerowlresources.ca/Resumes/Res_Frame.htm?res_references.htm~right). They were quite clear in what should go in a resume and what should not. Upon evaluating "Career Owl," I found that it was a legitimate, relevant, and valid website, based in Canada and similar to Monster.com.
c. After reading through the "Resume References" at Career Owl, putting friends as references would not be a good idea. The references should be superiors and professors, people that have authority.
d. As I browsed through, I discovered that it would be much more orderly to attach it as a another piece of paper rather than trying to fit everything on one page. However, after closing this question, I wondered to myself, "what if things are different in Canada?" Curiously, I brought Google back up and typed up the previous keywords. After clicking and browsing, I found that the format given by Career Owl is universal, despite the fact that it is coming from a site outside the United States.

4. How would you evaluate your final question? Is it more complex? Do you think you could continue further with the process and come up with something even more complex?
I think that it is clear that a references page is vital to any resume seeking attention. Through research, I found that it is good to keep a short list, no more than 5 people, balanced between academic and nonacademic references. My final question (d.) is no more complex than my original question. Surely, I can continue asking questions upon questions, stacking them on top of each other, building some insurmountable structure with them. But, I won't do that. I've found what I needed.

5. What other questions might help you to continue your exploration?
On the topic of resumes, I think that a lot of deliberation must go into what goes into which category. What is defined as "work experience?" Does it require that I get paid? Can it be volunteer work? What is defined as volunteer work? Are not all occupations "volunteer work" in some way? Can I print all of this on colored paper? Should I go to Kinko's to print it rather than at home?

Things like this shouldn't go unanswered.

That's why there's Google and Yahoo.