App Showcase: Prep AI

What it does

Prep AI is a mobile-first job search platform designed to accelerate the job hunting process. It uses a detailed, quiz-based onboarding to understand a user's career goals, experience, and preferences. Based on this profile, the app promises to deliver personalized job matches and streamline the application process, aiming to significantly increase the number of interviews a user can land.

Where it shines

Prep AI's strength lies in its meticulously crafted onboarding flow. The process feels less like a setup and more like a strategic consultation. A standout moment is the interview goal slider at 01:12, which provides live feedback on whether a user's target is "Realistic" or "Difficult." This is immediately followed by a powerful reinforcement screen (01:25) that builds user confidence. The onboarding culminates in a paywall (03:24) that dynamically showcases social proof, rotating between "Viral on TikTok" clips and traditional user reviews to build trust.

UX highlights

• Multi-faceted Quiz: The app asks about user goals from multiple angles, inquiring about priorities (00:22), primary objectives (01:03), and current blockers (01:29) to build a rich user profile.
• Interactive Goal Setting: Instead of a simple input field, a slider at 01:12 allows users to set their weekly interview goal, with the app providing instant feedback to manage expectations.
• Confidence-Building Reinforcement: After key inputs, the app uses dedicated screens (01:25, 01:40) to validate the user's choices and affirm that their goals are achievable.
• Systematic Permission Priming: The app uses a clear sequence of custom warm-up screens for app rating (01:48), notifications (01:58), and tracking (02:06) before triggering the system prompts.
• Clear Value Proposition Graphics: Simple charts are used effectively throughout onboarding (00:36, 01:08) to visually communicate the benefits of using Prep AI versus traditional methods.

Monetization & growth

Monetization is central to the Prep AI experience. After the lengthy onboarding and account creation, the user immediately hits a hard paywall at 03:24. There is no free trial offered. The paywall presents three subscription tiers based on the number of weekly applications. It employs dynamic social proof, with a carousel that shows TikTok videos and user testimonials (03:49) to build credibility. After a period, a second paywall appears (04:14) with a 30% discount and a countdown timer to create urgency. Growth is encouraged through a referral prompt immediately after signup (03:04).

Who it’s for

Based on the content, Prep AI targets early-to-mid-career professionals in the tech industry, particularly in fields like software engineering. The focus on landing interviews quickly and the modern, swipe-based interface suggest it's aimed at users who value efficiency and are comfortable with a mobile-first job search. The detailed questions about experience levels from "Internship" to "Expert" (00:47) show it caters to a wide spectrum within that demographic.

Notes & opportunities

The onboarding is incredibly thorough, but its length could be a point of friction for some users, potentially leading to drop-off before they see the value. The salary sliders (00:53) have a minor UX issue where setting a minimum salary above the maximum shows an error, but the maximum slider doesn't auto-adjust, forcing the user to correct it manually. While the dynamic paywall is engaging, the immediate hard paywall with no trial might deter users who want to sample the job matches before committing to a subscription.