FDM Group reviews

- Been here over a year and can only say things have gotten worse - Trainers are absent from classes and no reason/substitute is provided - The training academy is run like a primary school - do not be fooled by the introduction day and academy tour. - You will be sold a load of bull about Account Managers/HR taking your personal requests into account when it comes to placing you - this is a lie. You will be forced to accept roles that have nothing to do with what you trained in and nor will Account Managers consider your location requests when it comes to placing you so long as there's money to be made. - If the incompetency of the Trainers doesn't make your day bad enough, enter the Account Managers - you can send an email highlighting all your assets and state you're looking for work and 95% of the time they won't even reply, the other 5% is usually a one word answer. - Account Managers DO NOT listen to your opinion. You WILL be expected to take any role they offer you or you are deemed to be in breach of contract and liable to pay back the £20,000 fees. - Another term in the fabled contract is that you will have to do any work FDM sees fit which means you may train to be a PMO or Business Analyst then asked to do an admin role which you cannot turn down or they threaten you with the fees. - HR staff are like a broken record - if you have a problem that requires human reasoning they just refer you to the contract and say you can't break any rules. - You will get a disciplinary for anything - a guy was recently fired for calling an Account Manager 'dude' and others have had similarly stupid disciplinary meetings which have led to dismissals (this does go on your record and new employers will find out about this after FDM so be very careful). - When not on placement you will be made to sit in your local academy, regardless of how far away that is and regardless of the fact you may have relocated for a role - you are still expected to instantly return to your local academy on a reduced salary and pay for your own expenses to get there and back (extremely backwards rules but that is what they make you sign up for). - Little to no support when on client site - you can email HR questions but you often get one line answers and FDM sell you the ideal of periodical reviews and a mentor but these never came to fruition for most people I know, including myself.

I do not recommend coming to this company, opt for another consultancy firm. Why? You are not treated like a valuable asset of the company instead you are treated like a number and you are constantly reminded by senior management that you are dispensable regardless of how many years you have served at this place. There is no comradery between account managers and consultants. The account managers are only out for themselves and do not care what direction you'll like your career to move in. In the testing stream? they'll put you up for app support and BA roles and if you express a slight reluctance towards a certain role- off to HR you go for the sacking. There is a big divide between the sales team and consultants- to the point that sales team avoid bars consultants go to.HR only care about protecting the business there is no one to talk to "off the record" about concerns. Anytime you seem abit unsure about something or don't smile when they want to send your CV off to a role in Glasgow they try to intimidate you and then report you to HR. They don't care if you have any longterm commitments such as children, mortgage or health issues. As far as they are concerned you signed a contract even if those things arise after signing the contract. Constantly encouraged to go talk to account managers on the sales floor yet they dismiss you when you talk to them. Send emails and they ignore you. Refuse to disclose location and job description when they have a potential role. Approach them for actual roles you like on the status board and they lie to your face and say its been filled because they don't want to put you forward. So essentially for 2 years FDM own you.You have no say in what you want to do. Your 2 years start from when you are placed not during training! Some people have finished training (8-12 weeks) yet not placed and have been here 6 months. So thats a big portion of time to waste on this company. People might say as a pro you get a blue chip client on your cv. That is not always true, Most leave with no blue chip companies on their CVs at all. The only consultancy "firm" that forces you to sign in and out like children. The training is abysmal at best, you are treated like children throughout your lifetime at FDM and constantly being monitored. Can't even use any of the plugs in the office for personal laptops, Can't eat anything at your desks even a fruit (yet have witnessed trainers and sales team eating on their desk), bombarded with emails if your data bandwidth is too high, blocked from most websites. There's a reason they have a high turn over rate, You will find that after the 2 years contract is over most, if not all leave. There is absolutely no reason to continue to stay with the company as there is nothing gain. Why would you stay after 2 years when you are not guaranteed a role you like in a location you want and the 3rd year salary is not even up to market standard. You aren't even treated any better in 3rd year. If you have a bad experience with one of their clients in a placement or bad interview, they will take the client's side 100% of the time because they value them more.