SkillBridge

Inspiration

I was inspired to create Skill Bridge because, as a recent career changer, I understand the importance of upskilling to achieve professional goals.

I also remember being a high school and college student with:

no professional network, limited awareness of the many career opportunities available in the corporate world, and the challenge of balancing academics, day-to-day responsibilities, and part-time work.

I wanted to create a platform that gives students equitable access to meaningful career-building opportunities through flexible, real-world gig experiences.

My mission is to:

Expand equitable access to meaningful career experience while helping organizations build the workforce capabilities of the future.

Platform Overview

Skill Bridge connects students with flexible, short-term, career-aligned gig assignments that provide:

real-world exposure, skill development, and professional experience.

The platform is designed to help students build career readiness while helping organizations cultivate future workforce talent.

Student Pain Points Addressed

Skill Bridge addresses several major student challenges:

Limited availability of traditional internships and highly competitive selection processes Transportation, financial, geographic, and family-responsibility barriers Lack of professional networks and early professional exposure Difficulty identifying which careers align with their interests and aptitudes

Organization Pain Points Addressed

Skill Bridge also helps organizations overcome key workforce development challenges:

Lack of formal internship programs or HR infrastructure Difficulty scoping short-form student projects effectively Challenges identifying future workforce skill needs Real business challenges that remain unresolved due to capacity constraints

Product Development Process

PRD Creation I initially created a Product Requirements Document (PRD) using Google AI Studio, then refined and expanded it using Loveable.

Later, I restarted the process by asking ChatGPT to generate a business plan based on my app concept.

Next:

I used Stitch to create UX design mockups, fed the business plan into Loveable to generate a more refined PRD, and then used Google AI Studio to build the application using both the Loveable PRD and Stitch mockups as guidance.

Building the App

I built, iterated, and finalized the application using Google AI Studio. I also received help on refining the app via ChatGPT.

Challenges

One of the biggest lessons I learned and implemented near the end of the hackathon was realizing that I should not have relied solely on Google AI Studio from the beginning for:

PRD creation, design assistance, and feature planning.

Instead, I realized that I should have used ChatGPT earlier to:

create detailed PRDs, build process flows, design feature architectures, define dashboard components, and create structured QA testing plans.

I could then have imported those deliverables into Google AI Studio to accelerate development and provide clearer implementation guidance.

This realization helped me understand the importance of using different AI platforms strategically based on their strengths.

Another major challenge was my lack of experience writing effective AI prompts to make app changes efficiently.

The iteration process was often painstaking, and I believe stronger prompt engineering skills would have streamlined development significantly.

What I’m Most Proud Of

I am proud of three major accomplishments:

Creating an AI-powered application during this hackathon despite having no previous AI development experience Building a platform that could help students explore careers through real-world gig opportunities while developing skills at a pace and flexibility level that works for them Incorporating AI-driven features that help students assess professional opportunities and interact with clearly scoped gig assignments they can apply for and accept.

Lessons Learned

One of the biggest lessons I learned during this experience is that AI can be an incredible teammate when you learn how to:

communicate clearly, organize your thoughts, and prioritize your goals effectively.

I learned that AI becomes a much stronger thought partner once you take responsibility for engaging with it professionally and intentionally.

Another exciting realization was discovering how fun it is to vibe code and watch ideas come to life in the live “Preview” screen throughout the development process.

What’s Next for Skill Bridge

The next step for Skill Bridge is to conduct deeper discovery and feedback sessions with students to ensure the platform is effectively addressing their:

upskilling needs, career exploration goals, accessibility challenges, and workforce development aspirations.

The upcoming goals are to continue refining the platform into a more student-centered and future-focused workforce development ecosystem and simplify the user interface.

Built With

• chatgpt
• googlestudio
• loveable
• stitch