Sample answers
What Jordan told the Pathfinder
A young professional moving from five years in retail and travel service into a tech startup.
Jordan Reyes is a fictional person. These are the exact answers and resume the sample report was written from.
The ten questions
word for word
The same questions you will answer, in the same order, each with the answer this report was built from.
What are you repeatedly good at? Give one time it showed up.
Listening; Helping, being of service; Convincing, persuading. Calming people down when something has gone wrong and fixing it fast enough that they leave happier than they came. Clearest example: the July 2025 flight-cancellation surge at Newark. Our counter had a line out the door for two days; I rebooked and re-routed more than 200 stranded travelers and found cars for people whose plans had fallen apart. Same skill at Soundline Music & Audio: after we moved the service desk to a new ticketing system, I took the open backlog from about 90 tickets to under 20 in two months.
What work leaves you with more energy than it took? Name a time it did.
Teaching someone until it clicks; Solving a problem nobody else could. At Soundline I started a monthly Saturday "First Setup" clinic for people building their first home studio; about 15 came each time, and I stayed late getting their audio interfaces working. I also run a points-and-miles group chat with about 300 friends and coworkers, and I have taught a lot of them to use their credit card travel portals and transfer partners; I booked my family's trip to Japan on points.
What subjects, causes or products pull you in? Name any industries you'd love to work in, and any you'd rather leave out.
Travel and travel rewards, Music and streaming, Apps I use every day, Playing music. Travel, above all: I'm into points and miles and I want to work on travel booking and credit card travel programs. Music: I've played guitar since high school and I live on Spotify, so music streaming and music tech. Other streaming apps too. I'd love a smaller, fast-growing startup in one of those where I would learn a lot quickly, not a giant company. The jobs I keep reading about are customer success manager, business operations, and product work like product operations: I like the idea of being the person who keeps customers happy and tells the product team what is breaking. Leave out: car sales, retail management, and banking call centers.
What matters most to you in your work? Name your top five values, and the one you won't compromise on.
Personal development, Advancement, Fast-paced, Enjoyable colleagues, Money earned. Won't compromise: personal development; I want a place where I can learn fast and move up into leading a team early.
Picture a workday you'd love. Desk or on the move, quiet or buzzing, a small team or a big company, leading people or doing the work yourself?
Working with people, Working with information, A small team, A startup, Hybrid, Managing projects. Not equipment: I want to be the person customers and the product team both rely on, owning a set of accounts and digging into what went wrong. A small, fast team at a growing company. Hybrid, mostly at a desk with a laptop, not on my feet all day like the rental counter. Casual and busy. I want to lead projects from day one and grow into leading a customer team within a couple of years; I already train every new hire at my branch. Recognition as a team is fine.
Where are you, and how far will you travel for the right role?
Jersey City, New Jersey. Looking across the greater New York City area. I would commute into Manhattan or Brooklyn on the PATH or subway, up to about 45 minutes. Hybrid or remote is ideal. Not relocating.
What are you aiming to earn, and is there a number you will not go below?
- Aiming for
- $140,000
- Won't go below
- $90,000
What credentials, licences, or degrees do you hold?
Associate of Applied Science in Business Administration, Palisade County Community College, 2021. Google AI Essentials certificate (Coursera), 2025. No bachelor's degree.
What is fixed? Hours, location, caregiving, anything that is not negotiable.
I do not own a car, so any office has to be reachable by PATH or subway. I am done with rotating weekend and holiday shifts; I need a standard weekday schedule.
What have you already ruled out, and why?
Store management: I was offered the assistant manager track at Soundline and turned it down because of the hours and the inventory side. Commission-only sales like car dealerships. Big-bank or airline call centers: I want to work on the product side of travel, not answer a scripted phone queue.
Jordan's resume
Uploaded with the answers as a Word file. Select a page to see it full size.
And in their own words
Five years in customer-facing work. Rental Sales Agent at Crossway Car Rental's Newark Airport branch (2024 to now): 50 to 70 customers a shift, top three of 28 agents in upgrade and coverage sales in five of the last six quarters, and I train our new hires. Before that, three years at Soundline Music & Audio in Paramus, promoted from customer service associate to service desk lead: returns, repairs, gear rentals, helping customers set up equipment and music software, and training the desk team on our ticketing system. Associate's degree in business administration, 2021. Google AI Essentials certificate in 2025; I use AI tools to write training notes and customer follow-ups.
Read the resume as text
Jordan Reyes linkedin.com/in/jordanreyes/ Jersey City, NJ (201) 555-0182 Open to hybrid or remote, NYC area jordan.reyes@example.com CUSTOMER SUCCESS AND ACCOUNT MANAGEMENT Customer-facing seller and problem-solver with 5 years in high-volume travel and retail service, turning frustrated customers into loyal ones and teaching people to get the most out of new tools KEY ACCOMPLISHMENTS Ranked in the top 3 of 28 agents for upgrade and coverage sales in 5 of the last 6 quarters Rebooked and re-routed 200+ stranded travelers during a two-day flight-cancellation surge Cut a service desk’s open-ticket backlog from about 90 to under 20 in two months Trained 6 new agents and wrote the guide the branch still gives every new hire AREAS OF EXPERTISE Customer Retention and De-escalation Consultative Selling and Upselling Onboarding and Training New Users Zendesk, Salesforce, and Google Sheets AI Tools (Google AI Essentials, 2025) Travel Rewards, Points, and Miles PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE CROSSWAY CAR RENTAL—Newark, NJ Sep. 2024 – Current Airport rental branch at Newark Liberty International, one of the region’s busiest counters Rental Sales Agent. Serve 50–70 travelers a shift, matching each one to the right vehicle, coverage, and upgrade, and solving problems at the counter. Rebooked 200+ stranded travelers during a two-day flight-cancellation surge in July 2025 Built a shared Google Sheet that flags loyalty-tier and corporate customers on every shift Trained 6 new agents on the reservation system and the upgrade conversation, and wrote the one-page guide the branch still gives new hires SOUNDLINE MUSIC & AUDIO—Paramus, NJ Aug. 2023 – Aug. 2024 Musical-instrument and home-studio retailer; 30-person flagship store Customer Service Lead. Ran the service desk: returns, repair intake, gear rentals, and online-order pickups, about 40 customer issues a shift. Moved the desk to a new ticketing system and cut the open backlog from about 90 to under 20 in two months Trained the desk team on the new system and wrote saved replies for the most common customer requests Covered scheduling, opening, and closing, and took escalations the sales floor couldn’t resolve Started a monthly “First Setup” clinic for beginners that averaged 15 attendees and fed accessory and lesson sales SOUNDLINE MUSIC & AUDIO—Paramus, NJ Jun. 2021 – Jul. 2023 Hired as a part-time associate while finishing an associate’s degree; full time from August 2021 Customer Service Associate. Set up audio interfaces, home-studio gear, and music software with customers, and walked them through first use. Named in 60+ five-star customer reviews for patient, plain-language help with gear and software Processed returns, exchanges, and repair tickets, and kept each customer updated until the ticket closed EDUCATION A.A.S. Business Administration PALISADE COUNTY COMMUNITY COLLEGE—Jersey City, NJ Graduated: May 2021
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