First Jobs: Frank Turano '14

You probably know this from your own experience, and studies have corroborated that most of us use smartphone and tablet apps to access the Internet. In fact, as of last year, CNNMoney reported that 55 percent of Internet usage was attributed to mobile devices.

CNNMoney isn’t merely reporting on the data. It’s acting on it by creating responsive Web pages that “function well on any devices, any stream, just by adjusting the size of the browser,” said Frank Turano ’14, a CNNMoney webmaster and front-end developer.

Frank Turano ’14 began working as a webmaster and front-end developer at CNNMoney days after graduating from Adelphi.

Turano started his position just days after graduating from Adelphi. Since then, he has helped redesign parts of the CNNMoney website to make it more responsive and interactive. As a front-end developer, he works in groups, sometimes leading projects to enhance specific components of the website, a responsibility he is eager to undertake. “These larger projects are where I have the most fun and where I really get put to the test,” he said.

His work can be seen in CNNMoney’s recently launched Most Innovative Cities website. Specifically, he worked on the multimedia page for Minneapolis, which depicts the completion of the city’s new light rail line through articles, photos, videos and an interactive tour.

When he’s not working to redesign aspects of the site, he is helping to troubleshoot as a webmaster. Rotating shifts with two other webmasters, Turano supports the editorial and video production teams, assisting with technical difficulties and ensuring content is uploaded for viewers to stream whenever they want.

Turano’s passion for his work is palpable. “I love teaming up with designers and editors to build something new and exciting,” he said. “My heart is in my code.”

Landing such a desirable job took considerable effort. A communications major in the College of Arts and Sciences, he worked three on-campus jobs in his senior year.

For one of them, in Adelphi’s information technology services department, he collaborated with Web team staff to develop Adelphi’s first responsive website. According to Erica Klein ’04, manager of Web communications, “That first site was the proof-of-concept for everything we’ve done since to make our entire website responsive.”

Turano also pursued an internship at ForKeeps, a tech start-up. He made enough of an impression for one of the webmasters to call him and offer to pass his résumé along to
a technical manager at CNN.

“He thought I’d be a good fit,” Turano said. “It was the combination of my on-campus jobs and the course work I did at Adelphi that enabled me to land the internship that
led to my job.”

Turano looks forward to continuing to excel in his field. “I have fun all day, every day, and I wouldn’t trade my career for the world.”