🚀 SkillMatch: Remote Job and Skill Matching Platform (Full Stack)

SkillMatch is a modern full-stack web application designed to help users browse remote job listings and view potential matches based on their personal skill set using a percentage-based score. The project aims to enhance efficiency for both job seekers and administrators.

✨ Key Features

User-Centric Features (Frontend)

• Job Listing: Clean, card-based interface for displaying remote job openings.

• Intelligent Matching: The "% Matched" score is calculated instantly on each listing, comparing the user's profile skills against the job's required skills.

• Profile and Skill Management: Users can easily add and remove skills from their profile, which powers the matching scores.

• Job Application: Simple application form available directly from the job details card.

Administration and Backend Functionalities

• Data Integration: The Spring Boot DataInitializer class automatically fetches and saves current remote job listings from the Remotive API upon startup.

• Skill Extraction: Required technical skills are automatically detected and tagged from job description texts using the backend's SkillExtractorUtil.

• JWT Security: Secure authentication using JWT (JSON Web Token) via Spring Security and an Angular Interceptor.

• Role-Based Authorization:

  • Users with the Admin role have CRUD (Create, Read, Update, Delete) privileges for job listings.

  • Admins can also list and review all submitted job applications (/admin/applications).

• Backend Data Store: Skills are efficiently stored in the database using a custom converter to handle List<String> as a JSON field.

⚙️ Technologies

SkillMatch is built using a robust selection of modern technologies for both the client and server sides.

💻 Backend

Category	Technology	Notes
Language/Framework	Java / Spring Boot 3	Secure and scalable RESTful API.
Database	MySQL	Relational data store.
Security	Spring Security & JWT	Token-based Admin/User authorization.
Data Integration	Remotive API, RestTemplate	External API connectivity for job listings.
Persistence	JPA & StringListConverter	Stores skill lists as JSON strings in the DB.

🖼️ Frontend

Category	Technology	Notes
Framework	Angular (Standalone Components)	Modern, component-based Single Page Application (SPA) structure.
State Management	RxJS (BehaviorSubject)	Reactive state management for session (Admin status) and user skills.
Security	Auth Guard & Interceptor	Protects routes and automatically attaches JWT to authorized requests.
Styling	Custom CSS & Google Fonts	Clean, modern, and responsive design.

🛠️ Setup and Running

1. Prerequisites

• Java 17+

• Maven

• MySQL Server

• Node.js (LTS)

• Angular CLI

2. Backend Setup

1. Database Creation: Create a database named skillMatch on your MySQL server:

   CREATE DATABASE skillMatch;
   

2. Configuration: Update the database connection details in backend/src/main/resources/application.properties to match your environment:

   spring.datasource.url=jdbc:mysql://localhost:3306/skillMatch
   spring.datasource.username=root
   spring.datasource.password=1234
   # ... (other settings)
   

3. Start Backend: Navigate to the backend directory and run the application:

   ./mvnw spring-boot:run
   

   (The application will start on http://localhost:8080. Job listings and the Admin user will be created automatically.)

3. Frontend Setup

1. Dependencies: Navigate to the frontend directory and install packages:

   cd frontend
   npm install
   

2. Start Frontend: Start the Angular development server:

   ng serve --open
   

   (The application will open in your browser at http://localhost:4200.)

🔑 Default Users (For Development Purposes)

To fully test the application's features, use the following default account created by the DataInitializer:

Role	Email	Password
Admin	admin@skillmatch.com	admin123

Usage Scenarios

1. Profile Management: Log into the application and go to the "My Profile" page. Add your technical skills here (e.g., Java, Spring Boot, Angular).

2. Matching: Navigate back to the home page (/). You will see the % Matched scores on job cards, calculated based on the skills you added.

3. Admin Operations: Log in with the Admin account. The Update/Delete buttons will appear on the job cards on the home page. You can also access the "Applications" page via the navigation menu to review all job submissions.

🤝 Contributing

Bug reports, suggestions, or contributions for new features are always welcome. Please feel free to open an "Issue" or submit a "Pull Request."