J.Oubi

Inspiration

Every college student knows the pressure of internship application season. The stress doesn’t just come from filling out forms — it starts much earlier. Many students struggle with not knowing where to begin, unsure of what they want or how to narrow their search. Once the search starts, the time commitment quickly becomes overwhelming as they juggle classes, jobs, and extracurriculars, often leading to burnout and disorganization. And underneath it all, there’s a persistent sense of self-doubt: “Am I good enough?” or “Why would they pick me?”

Career advisor Sarah DeLuca identifies these as three of the biggest barriers students face during internship season:

Lack of a clear starting point
Overwhelming time and workload
Low confidence and fear of rejection

Research supports this. A 2022 study by the Center for Research on College-Workforce Transitions (CCWT) found that the internship search process is often emotionally taxing, with students reporting increased stress, anxiety, and feelings of isolation. These psychosocial factors can impact not just internship outcomes, but overall mental health and academic performance.

Despite this, internships are a key stepping stone for career exploration and future job success — yet the process of securing one remains fragmented and stressful. Students cobble together spreadsheets, bookmarks, and notes, often feeling like they’re navigating it alone.

We wanted to change that. Our idea is to create a tool that supports both the practical and emotional sides of the internship journey. By transforming the search process into a structured, gamified adventure, we aim to:

Make starting less intimidating by breaking down goals and applications into clear steps.
Reduce stress through built-in organization and progress tracking.
Boost confidence with motivational messages and milestones that celebrate each step forward.

Instead of feeling lost, students will feel guided. Instead of facing the process alone, they’ll have a companion cheering them on.

What it does

J.Oubi gamifies the job application process, making what is often stressful and tedious more engaging and motivating. Users are rewarded with treasure chests as they update their application statuses, visually tracking their progress toward internship goals. The app also tracks the number of applications submitted and tasks completed through a personalized road map, which adapts based on each user’s journey. For example, the roadmap can suggest follow-ups or reminders, such as checking LinkedIn after a certain period. Additionally, users can efficiently log positions they have applied to, as J.Oubi automatically scrapes and formats relevant data from a posted URL, minimizing manual entry and helping students stay organized.

How we built it

We developed J.Oubi using React Native with Expo, enabling seamless cross-platform deployment on both web and mobile. For data collection, we built a web scraper in Python using Selenium, which extracts relevant information from job postings, formats it into JSON, and sends it to the frontend for display. This combination allows users to add new applications with just a URL, providing a smooth and efficient workflow. We also prioritized building an intuitive UI that balances gamification with practical productivity tools.

Challenges we ran into

One of the biggest challenges we faced was getting the Expo environment to behave consistently across member's devices as certain components would run correctly on some but not others. Additionally, syncing between certain features also took careful navigation and a lot of time was spent debugging through the collaboration aspect of merge/commit conflicts. Collaboration also required careful coordination, as merge conflicts and version control issues occasionally slowed development. Debugging these issues demanded patience, communication, and thorough testing to maintain a stable and functional product.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

We’re proud of persevering through various difficulties and creating an app in an skillset area we have limited knowledge and experience in. It was a rewarding experience to see our features that encourage productivity through a fun gamified experience and help ease user anxiety for applications being successfully completed one by one.

What we learned

Through building J.Oubi, we gained hands-on experience in structuring a React Native app that works across platforms, debugging Expo-specific and Git issues under time pressure, and designing a user interface that balances functionality with engagement. We also strengthened our product design skills by focusing on user experience, storytelling, and motivation. From a teamwork perspective, we practiced rapid iteration, dividing tasks effectively, and integrating multiple features smoothly, learning how to collaborate efficiently in a fast-paced development environment.

What's next for J.Oubi

Looking ahead, we aim to enhance J.Oubi into a fully featured internship management tool. Planned improvements include automating job searches across multiple platforms, integrating AI-powered suggestions for tailored application strategies, adding motivational popups for task completions, introducing filtering options in the tracker, and expanding the gamification experience with a museum-themed collection of items that users can unlock as they progress. These updates will further transform the internship search into a rewarding, engaging, and organized journey for students.