SkillUp: The AI Soft Skills Coach

Tagline: Your personal AI coach. Master soft skills, get instant, personalized reports, and access real web resources powered by Gemini's Search Grounding to accelerate your career growth!

Overview

SkillUp is a demonstration project built to address the significant Soft Skills Gap facing students and young professionals. It provides a fast, free, and highly personalized soft skills assessment and coaching report. By leveraging the advanced capabilities of the Gemini API, SkillUp transforms generic self-reflection into actionable development plans, democratizing access to professional coaching.

The application’s core value is providing feedback structured into clear sections: Identified Strengths, Areas for Growth, a Single Actionable Tip, and External Resources for Improvement.

Key Features

• 10-Question Assessment: A quick, targeted quiz covering five essential soft skills (ee.g., Communication, Leadership, Adaptability).
• Personalized Coaching Reports: Analysis generated by Gemini 2.5 Flash using a specific coaching persona prompt for high-quality, non-generic advice.
• Google Search Grounding: The Gemini API is configured to use Google Search, ensuring the "Resources for Improvement" section includes current, relevant links (videos, articles) related to the user's specific growth area.
• Structured Output: The AI output is delivered in markdown and rendered cleanly on the frontend using marked.js for excellent user experience.

Technology Stack

• AI Model: Google Gemini 2.5 Flash
• Backend: Python (Flask)
• Frontend: HTML5, Tailwind CSS
• Client-Side Rendering: JavaScript (marked.js) for converting markdown to structured HTML.

Setup and Installation

Follow these steps to set up and run the SkillUp project locally:

Prerequisites

1. Python 3.x
2. Flask
3. Gemini API Key: Obtain a key from Google AI Studio.

Step 1: Clone the Repository (Simulated)

Assuming you would clone the repository

git clone

cd skillup

Step 2: Set Environment Variable You must set your Gemini API Key as an environment variable.

Linux/macOS:

export GEMINI_API_KEY="YOUR_API_KEY"

Windows (Command Prompt):

set GEMINI_API_KEY="YOUR_API_KEY" Step 3: Install Dependencies

pip install flask requests flask-cors

Step 4: Run the Application Execute the Python Flask application:

python app.py

The application will start, typically on http://127.0.0.1:5000/

Usage Open your web browser and navigate to the root URL (e.g., http://127.0.0.1:5000/).

Click the "Start My Self-Assessment Now!" button to navigate to /assessment.

Answer the 10 multi-choice questions.

Upon completion, the app sends your responses to the backend, which processes them via the Gemini API.

View your highly personalized and structured soft skills coaching report instantly.