FDM Group Reviews

Former Employee – worked at FDM Group full-time for less than a year

Pros – The technical training itself is good although much of it was not instructor led during my time there.
The office/training facility on Wall St is nice.

Cons – While most of the training is good, the training FDM provides to familiarize trainees with the finance world is inadequate. They did not seem to have anyone qualified enough to teach finance basics during my time there.

Important to stress that FDM does not guarantee you employment, they shop your resume/CV to companies and facilitate interviews. They are supposed to keep on putting your resume out there until you get placed. As someone in management told me: "it's our job to get you a job".

 In my case, I did get some interviews but was never placed. After my sign off from training (4 months in), I no longer had to attend the training facility every day. From this point on FDM never contacted me for anymore interviews. No reason was given for this, the interviews just stopped coming in for me. There can be many legitimate reasons why this occurred; but none of the sales people or anyone in management ever bothered to offer an explanation. They just continued to ignore emails sent to them.

I have witnessed many trainees get placed with companies so It is obviously not a scam; it just appears to me that the process does not work for everybody.

Advice to Senior Management – Please more honest and upfront with the trainees, particularly the ones that are signed off and have not been placed yet. At times FDM tends to forget about these trainees and seemingly stops trying to place them, choosing to put their efforts in placing the newer trainees.
Also, more feedback from the interviews would have been appreciated, I do not remember being given any feedback from any interview that I was sent on.

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend

Current Employee – been working at FDM Group as a contractor for more than a year

Pros – - gave me an oppurtunity to finally enter the proffesional work enviornement with a large global company
- training helped me as i was lacking confidence and expierence and they provided credibility for myself
-entered workforce on jr. level so started off ahead of the game and within two years will be in a position to make a nice salary
- disciplined me into working again 9-5 while simulating work enviornment
- great account managers who look for work oppurtunies for us
-wall st. location for training
- I referred a friend to come with me and he has found succes as well

Cons – - it may take a long time to get placed. From when i started training to when i got a job was 7 months. however some people did get hired right away. it is largely dependent on stream as developers are in high demand and time of year affects oppurtunities.

-pay structure is different. because it is a UK comapany everyone is payed at the end of the month. Consultants who managed to get placed are guarnteed a monthly base pay around 21k a year and get daily bonuses for days worked. it works out to 43k the first year 49 the second however third year salaries jump dramatically if one choose to go for it

-training can be fast based and challenging

-consultants can have longer work days and expected w/o compensation for it but the way i look at it it will payoff in the end and it is diffucult to find expierence like this nowadays

Advice to Senior Management – -please pay on bi-weekly basis

- try to get us compensation if consistantly working over 9 hrs

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend – I'm optimistic about the outlook for this company

Former Employee – worked at FDM Group as a contractor for less than a year

Pros – You receive some "on site" training, totally useless, most of them are self taught. They teach you so call "core training" where you are taught unix and sql. One word - "Useless". The only things that do come into use is excel and that is it.

Cons – They lied and always keep on lying to trainee. Sales team always go I have send you resume and just be patient, I can tell you for a fact they have favorite. If the company likes you, you will always get interview, if not, not even one. How can you justify some people get like six interviews and others get none. Worst of all, even if you get place in a job, your job may "fell-through" at the end. By then you wasted you time and you are jobless. Now lets get to the financial side of things: during the time of training it is totally unpaid, so if you ride the MTA, it is $110*5 (2 months trainings and 90days waiting to get place), a total of $550. One word of advice: AVOID!

Advice to Senior Management – They are just awful, if our resumes and interview are that bad, then work with us. How are some always getting interviews, other don't.Also, stop getting new recruits, in the last group of recruits only 1/4 of us got place at the end of the 90 days waiting cycle, how can you justify giving opportunities to new ones when most of us still haven't gotten place yet.

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend – I'm not optimistic about the outlook for this company

Current Employee – been working at FDM Group full-time for more than a year

Pros – -You get high-value training from the get-go at no cost (no course tuition)
-Time savings: you learn things in a week that you could spend a full semester on in a course elsewhere
-Great, professional, knowledgable trainers
-Sales team committed exclusively to placement with clients
-Very well-connected company; they have contacts at real big-name companies and can get you in the door. If you do well, the client may even take you on once your 2 year commitment to FDM is up.
-Lots of great company events; very social, friendly work environment

Cons – -You must be able to support yourself during the weeks of training.
-Located in NYC, so there's a high cost of living if you're not local

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend – I'm optimistic about the outlook for this company

Former Employee – worked at FDM Group as an intern for less than a year

Pros – - Meet some awesome colleagues and make new friends.
- When FDM works, you get your foot in the door of a blue-chip company.

Cons – - When FDM fails, you are essentially put in limbo. The account managers say they are helping you find a job, but they pretty much ignore everything you have to say and try to recruit other trainees.
- The "training" is a joke, after a month an a half of actual training, the rest is self-taught with you and your colleagues reading books on Safari.
- "Working hard" doesn't land you a job. Basically account managers sell you on your resume and resume ONLY!
- Account Managers rarely talk to trainees. The only way to get yourself noticed is to have the initiative to talk to them upstairs or during parties.

Advice to Senior Management – Bridge the gap between account managers and trainees. The account managers communicate too little with the trainees (emails do not count, more face to face conversations please!).

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend – I'm not optimistic about the outlook for this company

Current Employee – been working at FDM Group full-time for more than 3 years

Pros – - Fun vibrant atmosphere
- FDM gives people a chance that don't have any experience, but have the raw talent and skills.
I came to FDM straight from University and it was a brilliant way to get my foot in the door at an expanding international organization.
- Professional working environment and friendly work colleagues
- Every day is different and dynamic
- Great office space in Wall Street. I actually have a view of the statue of liberty from where I sit
- Senior management value your opinons and you actually get to meet and interact with them
- Social activities - Boat parties, pizzas in the office
- International opportunites
- Technical trainers in the NY office are of top quality - They really know their stuff!!
- This is the only job I have every really enjoyed and I think this is down to the company culture and positve attitude of the people working at FDM

Cons – FDM does not just hand it to you on a plate. To be successful you need to be willing to work hard and take the opportunity seriously. However, success is rewarded and if you show that you have what it takes there is fantastic career progression. Also serious $$$ in years to come. You need to ok with starting at the bottom and working your way up the ladder.

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend – I'm optimistic about the outlook for this company

Current Employee – been working at FDM Group full-time for more than a year

Pros – Not many pros here. Maybe parties, but who cares when you are under paid.

Cons – No overtime pay
Paid on a monthly basis
Paid way below market rate
No pension plans or benefit programs
Lack of respect displayed by co-workers and management

Advice to Senior Management – The average US salary for people with college degrees typically starts at $50000. However, the company chooses to pay its employees below the market at a monthly basis with no benefits or overtime pay. People are overworked, unhappy, and under paid. Increase the salary so it can be competitive to the market, get a pension plan for staff, and pay for overtime hours. This company seriously needs to adjust to American culture.

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend – I'm not optimistic about the outlook for this company

Former Employee – worked at FDM Group

Pros – Fun colleagues
easy to learn environment

Cons – They don't pay trainees until they get placed

Advice to Senior Management – Start paying trainees when they finish training

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend

Current Employee – been working at FDM Group

Pros – Brand new office in the financial district.
Knowledgeable trainers.
Covers some of the leading new technologies in web/java development.
If you went through college and had trouble putting it all together, this job will help you achieve that and get you in shape to be a developer.

Cons – Currently we use IGEL's that connect to VM's in England. It's an awful solution which should be solved soon.
All sorts of websites are blocked by the IT guys in England, and it's rather annoying and useless. If we want to slack off, we'll find something on the internet.
The free training also means unpaid training. If they decide to hire you, I think they should give you a monthly stipend to help you get by, maybe 300-400$ for travel expenses. The city isn't cheap.

Advice to Senior Management – As you get more people, see if you can pay them slightly more, low pay may be keeping other junior IT people from joining the program.
Keep the sonic wall open, stifling the internet will also stifle creativity.

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend

Current Employee – been working at FDM Group

Pros – Good training in UNIX, SQL, Excel VBA and ITIL.
Good opportunities to get started with big financial institutions like ( ex: Credit Suisse, UBS, Credit Agricole, RBS, Bank Of America, HSBC).
Ideal for new graduates or someone looking to get into IT.

Cons – Training is unpaid and lasts around 12 weeks. During this time, the sales staff arrange interviews for you with their clients.
Hopefully you get placed with a company within that time period. If you don't get placed, you have to continue to come into the academy every day until your "sign off" interview in which you are quizzed on every thing you've learned. Problem is that staff is in no hurry to schedule this interview and you must continue to attend the academy every day until they do. Once you are officially signed off, FDM has 90 days to place you with a company or you are free of any obligations. If you are placed with a company, you are under contract to stay with them for 2 years , making around 44k the first and 49K the second.

Most of their clients are European financial institutions, so obviously there was a tremendous slow down in placements in late 2010.

At times trainees interview for a position and are placed but the job falls through before the actual start date.

At other times trainees interview for a position and are placed but are not given a start date. In the mean time that trainee is in a limbo period which can last for months and during which they cannot interview for other positions. There is no guarantee that this job won't fall through either.

Ask many questions before signing up with this company, especially if you're interested in the PMO stream. From what I have seen , PMO trainees have a hard time getting placed.

Advice to Senior Management – For the sales staff: be more honest and communicative with trainees.
For training staff/management: make the sign off process clearer