skillset LA

an AI-powered career roadmap builder for the Los Angeles area.

inspiration

breaking into tech is overwhelming. you're not sure what skills you need, how long it'll take, or where to find resources. we wanted to make that gap visible and actionable.

what it does

skillset LA takes your current skills and your dream job, then builds a personalized learning roadmap. instead of staring at the internet trying to figure out your next step, you get a clear plan with timelines, free local resources (meetups, bootcamps, libraries), and real LA job postings you could actually qualify for.

you go from "i don't know where to start" to "here's exactly what i need to do."

how we built it

we combined a few powerful pieces:

frontend: React + Vite for a fast, interactive experience with Tailwind CSS for styling
animations: Framer Motion and GSAP to make the roadmap feel alive (no breathing animations, just smooth transitions)
backend: Hono for a lightweight, fast API
AI: Google Gemini API to analyze career gaps and generate personalized learning plans

the core logic: take user input, send it to Gemini to understand the gap between current and target role, then generate a structured roadmap with resources and job matches.

challenges we ran into

Gemini API structure: getting consistent, structured output from an LLM is tricky. we had to carefully prompt engineer to get valid JSON back reliably
LA resources: building an accurate database of local meetups, bootcamps, and programs took research
time: we had to scope down features to focus on the core experience (the roadmap)
animation performance: keeping animations smooth while handling dynamic content

accomplishments we're proud of

built a working end-to-end prototype in a hackathon timeframe
got real job postings integrated into the roadmap
created a clean UI that actually makes career planning feel less intimidating
handled API integration and error states gracefully

what we learned

prompt engineering matters way more than we thought. the same question asked differently gives wildly different results
LA has a lot of hidden tech opportunities if you know where to look
simplicity wins. features don't matter if the core experience doesn't work
error handling and loading states are UI too