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.1]) The
interview with Frank was originally scheduled for six o’clock.
We began the interview instead around seven, right before the
start of the A’s game, but just in time to hear neighborhood kids
being scolded by their parents in the background.
N: Where are
you working now and what are you doing?
F: I work at
a company called Quick Start Intelligence in downtown San Francisco.
They’re a corporate IT training school and I’m the branch technician
there. I set up the classrooms for the different Microsoft courses
they teach there.
N:
Was Street Tech helpful
in preparing you for the IT workplace?
F:
Yeah, I think they helped
a lot. Getting to know the basic fundamentals of computers is
really important…So technical skills, I got at Street Tech. They
helped a lot.
N:
What about the professionalism?
F: I think
they gave me the right framework, mindset to work on. But that’s
something I’m always having trouble with. You know, being professional
because I’m very informal and the company I’m at, they’re…they
want you to be slack and shirt…and I’m not like that.
N: What are
some of the challenges you’ve faced entering into the IT field
and how have you overcome them?
F:
I think the main thing
is, though, even though I’m A+ certified, I still have a lot to
learn. So, it seems like, no matter how much I’ve gained, it’s
still not enough. You know, I’m always looking to improve my skill
level.
N: But wouldn’t
you say that that’s somewhat of an asset because, according to
Street Tech ways of thinking, if you’re comfortable, then you’re
more likely not to do as good of a job?
F: Right, right.
But you should at least be comfortable enough to fix the problem.
Sometimes, I’m not even sure that my skills match their requirements.
I’m not quite at the level where they want me to be.
N:
For my generation or generation
four who has just recently graduated, what advice would you give
to us, or to even future generations, future Street Tech graduates
when going out, into the market, making the transition from Street
Tech student to IT professional?
F: I think…be
prepared for an interview. That’s when you, yourself, have to
be in sale mode. You have to really sell your skills. What you’re
basically demonstrating is your skills. You’re really talking
about what you can do…
N: Just briefly,
we’re going to go on to another area of equal interest to Street
Tech, and that is, the subject of the documentary. Please just
tell us about the documentary you are filming on Street Tech.
How did you come up with the idea? How did it all begin?
F: I guess
I can say Oakland Technology Exchange. OTX was my first internship
when I was at Street Tech. I volunteered. I just wanted to get
hands-on experience, even though it was once or twice a week.
They chose me as their PR person… I wanted to, I mean, if Street
Tech had something like that, it would be really helpful. It would
help them recruit students, help them get financial sponsors and
it would be a way for them, I don’t know, to tell a story about
themselves…tell people what a great company they are. So the project
was supposed to be just like what I learned at OTX, which is a
piece that demonstrated what the company did for the community.
So, so far on the project, I’m getting sort of a day in the life
of Street Tech. I came in and took pictures of the students, at
the Job Club, the first day of school, the Generation Five. Today,
I interviewed Hugo, your classmate… I went to his work site, got
to see what he did…So far it’s a day in the life.
N:
Besides yourself, who
are the key players involved in the production of the documentary?
F: So far,
Coretta, Jessy and Paul. They’re going to provide me with the
material. They give me their ideas and then I throw in my ideas…Ultimately,
it seems like they’re giving me, you know, the final outcome.
But, we’ll have several different versions…We’ll do a PR piece
for them. I’ll do a feature documentary for myself and I’d like
to do one specifically for the students…
N: What are
you hoping to achieve from the documentary? That is, what role
do you see the documentary playing in the Street Tech program?
F: I think
first of all they want something they can show to people what
the program is all about… It’s [Street Tech’s] an alternative,
to learn about computers…to get people to be informed.
N: So, when
do you finish?
F: Well, Generation
Five finishes in December, and it takes a long time to edit. So
that’s six months of footage we’re going to be filtering through…So
it could be six months after January to get a final cut…
N:
We all appreciate your
hard work, Frank.
F: My pleasure.
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