Echo | Devpost

Inspiration

Aspiring software engineers and job seekers are always looking for ways to improve their technical interview skills. As job seekers ourselves, we understand this challenge firsthand. That’s why we set out to create a solution that makes technical interview practice more accessible, interactive, and effective for everyone.

What it does

Echo is an AI-powered interviewer that simulates real job interviews through speech-to-speech interactions. It generates tailored technical and behavioral questions, listens to user responses, and provides instant feedback to help job seekers improve their interviewing skills. By leveraging advanced speech recognition and natural language processing, Echo creates a dynamic and interactive interview experience, making practice more engaging and effective.

How we built it

We used python for the backend, and TypeScript, Next.js for the frontend.

Challenges we ran into

One of our biggest challenges was building the backend, as we had limited experience coding a server in Python. We had to ensure our backend was not only functional but also efficiently written to support our features. Additionally, integrating the interactive AI agent proved tricky—we had to fine-tune its responses to ensure it accurately understood and responded to user answers based on the generated interview questions.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

This was all of our first times interacting with python for a backend and with a Next.js frontend. We are typically used to having our backend logic inside of Next.js, so it was a new experience for us learning full-stack development with python. We also learned about the importance of sockets for realtime communication.

What we learned

Throughout this project, we gained valuable experience in building a full-stack application, from setting up a Python backend to developing a dynamic frontend with Next.js and TypeScript. We deepened our understanding of speech recognition, natural language processing, and AI-driven interactions. Additionally, we learned how to fine-tune AI responses for a more natural conversation flow and optimize backend performance. Beyond the technical aspects, we also improved our problem-solving skills, teamwork, and ability to iterate quickly based on challenges we encountered.

What's next for Echo

We see Echo evolving into a full-fledged AI interview coach with more advanced features. Our next steps include improving the AI’s ability to provide detailed feedback, expanding question sets across different industries, and incorporating real-time sentiment analysis to assess confidence and communication skills. We also plan to support multiple languages and integrate with job platforms to help users track their interview progress. Ultimately, we want Echo to be the go-to AI for job seekers looking to sharpen their interview skills in a realistic and interactive way.