it analyst

software engineer

consultant

business analyst

junior software engineer

FDM Group

FDM is more or less a recruitment firm where you get trained and paid. Sounds good at first but there are some problems. 

1. Awful pay. You make minimum wage while in training. Once you get a placement, you will make around $40000 the first year, and $45000 the second. You sign a 2 year contract and if you leave you will be charged a $30000 fee (to cover cost of training supposedly). I don't know about the rest of the locations, but Toronto is EXPENSIVE and you won't have anything left at the end of the month.

2. Training is subpar. The training program lasts around 10 to 16 weeks, depending on what stream you're in. The training goes by very fast and not very in depth. Most of the content is stuff you will learn in university. You probably won't be learning any new or special skills to put you above everyone else out there. Remember this is a recruitment firm at heart and you will be competing with other candidates. It's a good refresher if you already know the stuff but nothing more than that. Definitely not worth anything close to the $30000 they are charging.

3. Waiting for a placement is depressing. After you are done training, you are put in "The Pond", where you wait for interviews to hopefully get a placement somewhere. You're basically still on job search, except you don't choose what jobs you get, the account managers will present them to you. Sometimes you can go weeks without an interview. It's up to you to look busy and keep yourself occupied and not be fired. 

4. There is a high turnover rate. There are times when there are a lot of people in The Pond and not a lot of jobs coming in. However they will still bring in more people for training, despite the massive backlog. And so those in The Pond will be fired to make room. Who gets put on the chopping block seems random. I've seen both lazy and hardworking people get dropped. They do not give you a reason for doing so either. Luckily they will not make you pay the $30000 fee if they fire you.

Now if things work out, you can land somewhere really nice and make lots of money after 2 years. However I've seen just as many good people be kicked out and left with a bad mark on their resume. If you feel like you have nowhere to go, you can give them a shot, but chances are, you're better than you think.

On the bright side, you meet some really nice people. You are placed in a class of around 10 and you will all be friends at the end. Everyone is friendly and easy going, since you're all in the same situation. Some trainers are helpful and genuinely care about you.

FDM is a recruiting company that provides opportunities to fresh graduates. I have been with FDM for 2 years and here are my views on the company:

Pros: 
The company has hired good trainers who help you throughout your training period. 
The company also invests heavily in the online learning platforms to help the consultants learn the skills required by the industry.
Company pays the consultants for the training.
The company culture is good, all the festivals and big sport events are celebrated which is a lot of fun.

Cons:
The pay is below average compared to market.
During my time at FDM, I have had more than 15 issues with the payment department. 
They make a lot of mistakes in paychecks and if you don't check your pay there is a 100% chance that you will loose your money.
And this does not happen deliberately but it is due to the inaccuracy of the teams that manage the paychecks.

For an example, Once I was told that I have 2 vacation days left and when I took the 2 days off and asked to be compensated for those 2 vacation days they told me that they have made a mistake in calculating my vacation days and I will not get compensated for the days I took off in account of their mistake. 
In result, I had to loose 2 days of my regular pay plus my vacation pay. 

In conclusion, if you have 0 options in the market, you are financially stable, you are active enough to calculate your bi-weekly pay, and you have time to fight battles with the payment departments and HR then yes, you can go to FDM.

The training is really technical, you will learn more hands on than university but the contents are not modern technologies. FDM advertises what clients  do they have but in fact they don't have enough job to the trainees.
The account managers are the sales who have the jobs on their hand, none of them have technical knowledge or experiences.
You have to be good image in front of them, else they will not present you to their clients even you are matched. 
The jobs can be senior level and some technologies that you never heard before, they claim they will upskill the missing technologies to you before on-site but in fact they just give you the LinkedIn learning link to you for self-study.
Most of the jobs are QA/QE/Testing, BA and Dev roles are very poor, 20+ applicants for 1 BA/Dev role.
Basically FDM isn't a good stepping stone to build your career because they don't have enough jobs but they still keep hiring, also most consultants facing the work in client side doesn't match the job description and you can't leave or complain. 

FDM Group takes advantage of immigrant students who do not have the network needed to directly land the job they want.

They promise to 'recruit, retrain and deploy" you with one of their clients (usually financial institution in Canada (ex. TD)) but often their clients do not have the budget to pay you and you end up waiting.

You are discouraged from applying for other jobs while you are employed with FDM Group by them imposing heavy fines if you decide to break your contract. They ask you to reimburse them for $75 per hour of training they gave you, but all the training they do is available for free online with much better and more updated content.

Academy managers act more like a school principal than a manager. They will micromanage you. Probably because they were not good enough at their own job to actually work, so instead they have to teach.

Avoid working here at all costs.

This may be because I came in at the wrong time of the year but consultants were kicked out left and right. There is a general shortage of roles presented to us by the account managers and the area for consultants who are done their training but have not yet been placed(which we call the Pond) is generally overfilled. My fellow trainees and I have generally worked our @$$É$ off trying to perform well in every technical assessment we were given throughout the training process only to wonder at the halfway point whether or not all our efforts are worth it. To make matters worse, we are all stuck under a 2 year contract that prohibits us from leaving the company with the exception of when they kick us out. Termination can come when we least expect it with or without reason. I am not saying that this is the worst place I have worked for but it's definitely overrated given the good reviews on the internet. My recommendation to all prospective consultants out there is that if you are able to find a better position elsewhere, go for it!

As a technical trainee who participated in the returner program, I would rate my experience as three stars. While I appreciated the opportunity to return to the workforce after an extended absence, I was disappointed with the low salary offered for the position. I felt that my skills and experience were undervalued, which was discouraging.

In addition, I found the training provided as part of the program to be not very useful. While I appreciate the effort to help me get up to speed with the latest technologies, I found that the training was too generic and did not align with the specific needs of my role. I would have preferred more personalized training that focused on the skills and technologies I would be using in my day-to-day work.

Overall, while I am grateful for the opportunity to participate in the returner program, I hope that the company can make improvements to better support and compensate returners in the future.



Only Join if this is your last option.
They provide paid training but the pay during training is basic pay.
you might get placed before training ends.
After joining client side your pay slightly improves but very less compared to other consulting services.
At client side you will have same work as a intermediate or senior developer.
I learnt a lot while on client projects.
FDM will not allow you to take vacation more than 10 days. However, FDM is very clear about all this when they hire you. 
Apart from terrible pay and vacation policy, its an okay place to work. It gets your foot in the IT industry where you will not get hired unless you have prior CANADIAN experience or references.
It is very import how you choose your client in FDM though. If you choose in-demand portfolios there will be high chance that you will be able to easily find work after 2 years contract.


2 year minimum contract. If you aren't being sub-contracted to a company, you are still on the hook with the contract BUT make nothing! With Toronto's cost of living plus the AWFUL pay even if you are being sub-contracted, I cannot recommend this to ANYONE.
They take advantage of new graduates who don't have experience and are struggling to find their first job and have low self-esteem and evaluation. 
No job is better than this job. Don't believe the bs (oh, terrible working conditions so you can get experience and get a real job later!). 

What is the best part of working at the company?
Paid training, courses, & certificates

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
Communication between FDM and client relations

What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
Diverse work environment and inclusive, non-judgemental, friendly trainers and staff.

What is a typical day like for you at the company?
Participating in live courses, self learning courses or projects, group work, certifications trainings and exams

As a new Graduate or as a Jobseeker your worth is more than you know. Concentrate on other companies and don't waste your time here. It's all business and all they care about is their profits. Despite less salary, there is no respect in the company for the employees. All the senior managers and everyone in the higher post they all care about themselves. if you are a part of the company now consider yourself lucky to be fired. I know how it feels to be jobless but this company will completely ruin your career and add bad remarks on your resume.

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