Catalyst

Inspiration

Catalyst was inspired by our own experiences in the job market applying for opportunities like internships. We have seen first hand how difficult it is to stand out without extensive experience or credentials. We thought it would be a good idea to explore a new approach to the hiring process that would give students a fair chance to demonstrate their soft skills and potential, rather than being judged by their resume primarily.

What it does

Catalyst is a talent-discovery platform connecting students with startups through blind, 10-minute interviews and interactive simulations. Instead of immediately showing employers a candidate's full profile and background, Catalyst gives the candidate a chance to demonstrate how they think and respond to challenges first. After the interview, there is the option to have a post-interview summary assisted by AI.

How we built it

The project is a prototype built as a client-side React and Vite application using a combination of CSS, JavaScript, and HTML. We used the AI model Deepseek v4-flash to assist with the code. The platform includes features like webcam capture, collaborative whiteboards, timers, live cross-tab matchmaking, and an animated UI.

Challenges we ran into

One of our biggest challenges was balancing time and resources with the scope of our ideas. There are many moving parts, from matchmaking and live interviews to simulations and collaborative tools. We had to prioritize the features that best demonstrate our core idea while keeping the prototype functional. We also had to decide which features to simulate without compromising the experience.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

We're proud of turning our idea for Catalyst into an interactive prototype that could one day be used to create real change in the world. We have working flows for onboarding, matchmaking, live interviews, and more.

What we learned

The biggest lesson we learned was the importance of understanding users and their needs. Building Catalyst taught us to think beyond adding features just for the sake of adding them and instead asking whether each feature is actually solving an issue. On the technical side, this experience really taught us a lot about making web apps like this. We learned about structuring React applications, and implementing features like webcam access and cross-tab communication.

What's next for Catalyst

The next step for Catalyst would be turning this prototype into a fully functional platform. This would mean creating a real backend, secure user verification, real matchmaking, and proper AI feedback providing more meaningful assessments.