FDM IT training academy

I remember a friend of mine, who worked through FDM, they trained him and everything and he ended up working at one of the IBs (Credit Suisse I think) before his work permit got rejected.

Last Friday I applied for the post of Software Testing in Manchester. The day after I received a call from FDM inviting me to the open evening on Tue 14 September for which I shall probably attend. However I have few concerns:

1) Should I get accepted for the 3 months training with no pay am I guaranteed a Job at the end of it, because I am currently in full-time employment and don't want to throw that away for a chance not to even get another job.

2) How much does this cost me & who pays for the training? I realise I shall not be getting paid whilst being trained and they will be saving money that way but who does pay for the training what is in it for FDM by not charging me for the training, they must make their money back somehow?

3) After the training do I receive a recognised qualification within the IT Industry? I accept that I shall be placed within a company for a minimum of 2 years, however afterwards if the company and I choose to go our separate ways will this qualification help me find another different type of job within the IT industry or is it specific?

4) The Job advertisement states Junior / Graduate. Now I went to Lancaster Uni and only completed 1.5 years I did not obtain my degree, however I do have experience in the IT industry. Shall this affect my chances of getting through the application process and I presume it was affect my salary. If I am applying for the same positions as Graduates the company shall be more willing to accept the graduate than myself begging the question again is I guaranteed a Job? Also a graduate shall be expecting to be on a higher salary than myself so will my pay decrease accordingly.

I apologise for these four long winded questions but I have to be fully sure myself about the company as they do me before leaving my current position. All thoughts gratefully received!

Heya,

I heard FDM have ridiculous amounts of people going through them each month...I'm not going to be applying as I recently got an offer in retail- but I did research them a bit as I was interested in IT training a few months back. They're very similar to another company which does the same thing- I think they're called JustPC or JumpMC or something wierd...but FDM are really well known. I think they're on the site at the mo....

1. It depends how far you want to push your employable skill sets- My current job looks like there's room for growth- but if you don't have that, then you might end up stuck in a dead-end role rather than a full fledged career. Short Term or Long Term

2. No idea- but I reckon they get a finders fee from companies that take you on-- apparently advertising vacancies is really expensive, so they probably get several grand for each person they place!

3. Yeah- mos definately some sort of qualification from IT industry- and I remember it being transferrable.

4. No worries- graduates are overrated these days- 3 years of reading books at uni is not the same as work experience- so don't worry. I read History at Brookes and it didn't help me at all...

Hope this helps, And good luick!

@crazyjoey

• I too have read many posts about FDM, most of them negative. A lot of them refer to that 25k clause that binds you to them during training. I'm pretty sure that everyone can't all be hating on FDM! Which leads me to believing "most" of what is written about them.

@Dawkinsismygod

• Love your name btw hehe. History at Brookes you say? Heard it's a highly rated course. I'm also a graduate from Brookes on a privaleged graduate scheme; so certainly my 3 years reading books wasnt a waste of time. (FYI I did have work experience as well). It's a matter of showcasing your skills brighter than all the other applicants.

Hi

I have an assessment day coming up in edinburgh shortly. Can you please confirm what is it going to be about.

Thanks

"The post by john jones is absolutely identical to posts i have seen on other forums but posted using other user names. This leads me to believe its total bull."

I've only posted on this forum. Where else is my coment repeated?

This site is supposed to help people make informed decisions
by reading about others' experiences. If you've had a different experience
to me, why don't you describe it and help people out. You've been through the same assessment process
so which part on my account do you disagree with?

Don't just dismiss it as bull.

i had an assessment day 2weeks ago, then another interview and code presentation a few days later.

 Anyway, at the end of my 2nd interview before i was leaving, Gemma (i guess those went to the london assessment day would know her) my first interviewer she said to me " welcome on board fdm and i should just wait for confirmation",

 During my 2nd interview, I felt i did horrible (I started a sentence and ended up not knowing what i said), 2nd interviewer (account director) at the end said he will have to look at my pusedo code test to make the decision whether to hire me or not.

my question is how long after the assessment day did they offer you the job?

Thank you

ps I was too happy when she welcomed me on board and i forgot to ask her when i should expect the confirmation.

pps I called yesterday to ask for interview feedback as i assume i have been unsuccessful, to my surprise Gemma told me she hasnt heard the decision on my application.

Thank you again for reading my long post!

This is an intersting thread!

@ Gradrecruiter

What makes you say this thread is interesting?

@ crazyjoey, because being a gradrecruiter, it is always interesting to see how people's/candidates opinions differ on companies and what they offer. Obviously there are some very contrasting views listed above, which make it interesting!

I have an offer from FDM, and I'd really appreciate anyone who has worked for them in the past to share their experiences.

I'd love to be placed with one of their investment banking clients so if anyone has done this please let me know.

As for the assessment centre, I thought it was quite easy tbh. Standard group activities, interview and presentation. One thing I didn't like was the way the other candidates were treated, they were asking people to leave after every activity and I thought the way the did it was really cold.

I've worked for them Lloyd

Wouldn't we have all liked to have worked for such glamourous companies? In FDM you work where you are told, with the company you are told, for as long as you are told ,doing any job that you are told. You may sign up for Java in hope of doing Java in in an investment bank however you may end up working for some company that you have never heard of in a place that you have never heard of doing something you wouldn't have expected to be doing.

As for not liking the way the other candidates were treated, asking people to leave after every activity - it may prepare you for what to expect if you join up

I'd recommend that you tell them of the minimum service level that you expect from the £20,000 they are charging you for this training and consider the written guarantees that they give you.

If you do that and are happy to continue, good luck.

Thanks very much for that PC Advisor, I really appreciate it.

I could not go through with this.

I would have to quit my job, move miles down to london to do their training, in which I would have to self fund my living costs.

Dont get me wrong I would quit my job today and relocate down to london if I had a wage (or at least expenses) for the duration of the training!

They suggested I get support from family and friends! Not all of us have access to such money! Being from the north the rent, transport, living costs my parents would have to provide would put them in debt!!

So what do I do? Take out a loan?

It seems that, for people like me, you need money to make money :(

hi there,

i am in the same dilemma. I am able to attend to the assessment centre in Manchester for the project management office role, but the training would be in London meaning I would have to use my finances to relocate. The promises from FDM certainly sound very good... if not, a little too good to be true.

So I seek to find out whether the 2 year programme was a great experience and whether the graduates have got what they wanted after the programme.

obtaining my own finances to relocate to London would be a big step for me as I too will have to fork out a loan, so any experience that others would like to share would be great - is the 2 years a very enjoyable experience, and did you get what you wanted by the end of it?

Thanks!

FDM are essentially an Employment Agency - the major difference being that with most Employment Agencies you are not commited to working for them for 2 years. If you find a permanent job or a better job for yourself during the 2 years with FDM, and decide that you would like to take it, you have to pay FDM £20,000 (or something like that) for the Training course (I don't know what you'd do or they'd do if you decide 12 months into your comittment that you don't think IT work is for you

I wouldn't usually offer anyone I don't know advice, as I don't know their situation, however in your case I would say don't rush in and spend all of your savings or get a loan to relocate to London for this scheme.

It will cost you a lot of money (their office is in the middle of London). Rent and transport will be expensive as well as the fact that you will not be earning.

I'd think carefully about relocating and burdening yourself with a huge debt - in return for, what is really, 2 years temping, and consider whether it is in your best interests.

Hi there,

I recently got an interview to an assessment day by the FDM group also.
It is really something too good to be true for me also. I mean I have not been able to find a job for 6 months after graduating, not even a telephone interview, now an assessment day ?

Please give me some advice.

Thanks in advance,
Chris Wong

i decided not go for it as i really dont have the funds to travel to and live in London... and there's the concern that if u do find something better then i will have to pay for the training costs. it also does seem to be good to be true as i always get emails from too. i applied for a call centre job at sky today and even that felt more of a challenge in the interview process than fdm does. if the telephone interview and assessment centre for sky call centre felt harder than fdm then surely its quite fishy.

Whyhave so many posts that were asking questions about some of the "more uanswered" points on FDM's service gone missing from this thread?

It's interesting that a few days after FDM joined the forum they've started censoring comments! Coinicience?....

Anyway, while I'm here. I have a couple of questions for FDM:

As I understand, FDM is a training company. FDM give you training in an area of IT which has a nominal cost of around £20k. Tf you complete the training and a further two years in the employment of FDM then the training fee is waived. That sounds fair enough on the face of it. However when I read your contract in detail there were the following clauses:

- "FDM can expel you from the course at any point and for any reason and pursue you for the cost of the training"

- "Following two years employment at FDM, FDM may, at their discression waive, the £20k
training fee".

Having a clause like that is simply exploitative if it's even legal and completely goes against the spirit of the way the scheme is presented.

Why do you have this clause?

Secondly, why do you use high pressure tactics to get people to sign up to your scheme? I was sat down in a room with two of your consultants who pressured me to sign. I asked if I could have time to think about it and they said no. I had to sign then or never. I've had job offers since declining FDM's offer and I've never been pressured. I've always been allowed a few days to make up my mind.

If FDM's scheme is really good for the candidate and not just FDM why do you pressure people to sign up?

Regards,

John

Good that there is someone from FDM group.

If this company is transparent, could you give the accurate number of how many people passed your interview and the number of those who did not sign for the contract? and why did you not do anything about the contract but keep letting people be "confused" or "misunderstand" the idea of the contract?

I am sure there must be a reason why FDM group feels that there is a need to reply on forums. I mean, FDM group has done a pretty good job, despite the huge amount of negative comments on the internet, when you search for "FDM scam" on google, you mostly see the sites about how FDM tackles scam problem (some with an unknown video showing comments on those sites).

And please explain why there are staff who try to push people to sign the contract, why would it happen if it is not your "usual practice"? Do they have a quota to pursue? Or did someone train them to do so?

Thanks in advance
Chris

@FDM group, there are definitely posts missing, you can even see some where people have quoted the original posts! the original posts are deleted but the quotes are not! I have been following this thread with a lot of interest as I know a lot of people that have been approached by FDM but had some questions. Maybe somebody from Wikijobs can answer where the missing posts have gone.

Unlike many I dont actually think what you offer is a scam, anyone with half a brain can read through your offering and work out that is isnt all as bright a picture as you would like to paint. You say that you offer training to the value of 20k. That is a massive amount of money. a 3 year degree wouldnt cost that much, how on earth can you justify this figure....... particularly when the people you employ are graduates who are able and do get offered jobs paying in excess of £30k without your training? what do you actually teach in those 3 months that is worth 20k?

Also why do you not offer an pay increases for the first two years? I do not know of one job in any industry where you salary doenst increase for two years? this basically means that If I work for FDM group I earn less and potentiall owe you £20k for my training? where if I go straight onto an IT scheme I can expect to earn anywhere between 25-40k dependent on industry and in 2 years should easily be approaching 40k? something just doesnt quite add up?

No, you did not misinterpret, my tone is a bit attacking. But I am not looking for an argument here. Here is what I want to say:

It is mainly with the same point as CompSciGrad mentioned. How do you justify the 20K cost for a 3 months training? As an IT graduate, I know it is common to have student loan already, now before we can earn something to reply the loan, we have to first sign on for a 20k contract? It just seems like the contract is protecting only the FDM group but no the graduates.

I do not think what you offer is a scam, because I do not think a business can survive just by scamming graduates, but the condition of the contract just does not seem right, and I think that is where all the negative comments on the net are from.

I think if you can provide a good answer, it does not only do go for your business (more graduate would appreciate your company), it also can get rid of the negative comments about your company on the net.

Best Regards,
Chris

Hello,

I've had a look at FDM and I too was concerned about the cost of the training as well - I have a couple of questions

You mentioned that each part of the course is priced individually and that you only pay back for the courses that you took .

I see on the FDM Academy website that the Training commences with 'core modules' which are UNIX and SQL - which I think every student takes.

1) Could you tell me how much these modules would cost each please?

Also I noticed that your Employment Contract says that ...
"the Company may, in it's sole and absolute discretion, terminate your employment at any time with immediate effect by paying a sum in lieu of notice"
equal to about £250 in the first year and a bit more in the second year.

This is a real negative for me, as I'm interested in the job at the end of the training, not the training itself.

I also notice that "You shall not be required to pay the training fees:" "In some circumstances where the company terminates your employment at the Companys sole discretion"

I'd be very unhappy if you terminated my employment at your discretion before the agreed 2 years was complete. I'd be even more unhappy if it wasn't one of those circumstances and you charged me as well.

2) Can you confirm that I have I understood this correctly ?

Thank you

@ FDM group, thanks for the clarification, although I still think you skirted rounded some of the greyer areas, I am happy with your points.

One question though, how can you say that your projects mean that you are going in at a higher level than you would do as a graduate? technical gradaute schemes in Banks are designed to find the future technical managers/directors. What is it about your opportunities that mean I will be better placed going onto your scheme than direct onto a gradaute scheme being offered by the banks themselves? Or indeed any of your other clients on other industries?

Hi FDM,

I was wondering what the salary is for the first year? If we are expected to train for free (a concept I understand) and are expected to be able to locate where needed (also understanable), I would like to make sure that salary is truly "competitive" and that it wouldn't make more fiscal sense to look for a position elsewhere and pay for the training myself.

Thanks for your response.

My advice..stay away from FDM.

Why do you say that Flush?

And thanks for your reply FDM! I don't know if you will know the answer but how often are candidates made to move from London? Also, are all of the companies blue chips and FTSE 100s, or is there a chance you could be placed with an unknown company out in the middle of nowhere?

Thanks again!

Hi FDM

How much would I owe if I completed the Java or the . Net course with you?

Hi

I guess it would be the Java or the .Net modules

If, for whatever reason, maybe a change in the economy or too many graduates , you were not able to find me 2 years of placements, only say 6 months, how much would I owe?

Thanks

I'm from near Manchester. I saw that you were taking on 100 new people in Manchester to service your North West customers

What would be the furthest I would be expected to travel to do a placement or how far are the furthest customers from Manchester in terms of cities e.g. Leeds? Liverpool?

Thank you

Hi,

I have an assessment day coming up with FDM. I have applied for the application support role and have been asked to come in for the assessment day.

I previously applied a couple of years back where the structure to the assessment day was different. When i went it was a face to face interview with a memeber of the sales team and then they would re-invite you back if you passed that. I then got re-invited back for a 5day assessment where we tested on programming skills. I was unsuccessful at this stage.

I heard that the assessment stage has changed to a 1 stage process where you come in and have a interview with the manager and then do a presentation or go through some code. Is this correct?....that no direct programming is required?

Please let me know.

PS regarding the points made about FDM on this thread doesnt concern me as i have the contract and other contracts in other industries and the clauses are their to protect the company and business. They do not hide anything from you everything is explained to you from the start in terms of how they work and operate. As a company any employer wants to sell the oportunity to potential candidates by explaining the benefits and slightly sugar coating the negatives, but as graduates and adults we should have the brains to realise what is best for us. Also try thinking and looking into the current employment climate, even though the economy is slowing coming up it is still tough to find jobs especially for grads.

Anyways back to my point can someone please let me know the new structure to the assessment day and how many stages.

thanks,

Hi,

I am applying for the application support stream. My recruiter has mentioned I ca bring a presentation with me if I dont have any coding (which is the case). I have prepared a presentation but not sure if I can use a presentation. Can you please confirm if that is ok?

And thanks for the information in your last message.

Thanks,