- Unpaid training, with hardly any support other than reclaiming travel bursary, this is particularly hard if you are placed in London and aren't from the city - therefore very hard if you invest so much of your time/money/effort into a company, when you receive so little back
- The company itself only care about fast tracking you through the initial training and therefore the structure of the training and learning is AWFUL. To say it is worth around 20k, I wouldn't pay a penny towards it.
- The actual training content from the teachers themselves is pretty pathetic too. There is definitely not much support or mentoring that they brag about, as you really do not have any spare time to balance the amount of work they give you and the trainers do not like to waste their time to help you out of lesson hours.
- You are expected to learn modules from scratch in the space of 4 days and be examined on it. Then move on to the next course the following week.. I don't know how the company thinks people (especially fresh graduates) can learn something that is so fast paced and so new in such little time. They are trying to cram the training in as quick as possible in order for them to sell you on to their clients.
- You are expected to pass every module, however it is not mentioned to you prior to when you receive the job, that if you fail to meet their "75%' pass rate expectations, and the attempt to resit, you are chucked off the training course on the same day. People were literally 'escorted' out and made to leave the building straight away, just by not reaching FDM's 'prestigious' expectations - again, this is terrible for some candidates that would have invested a lot into this scheme, and had not been told about the training procedure at the start.
- Hardly any support is given to the students whilst on training, particularly if you have retakes. You are expected to do everything by yourself, alongside studying for a new module the next week (along with pointless presentations/"elevator pitches (!?))
- Account managers are treated as if they are Gods for some odd reason. The company seems to be very cut-throat. Nearly every day they are holding assessment days, which really demonstrates the culture of the company - you are just a number to them that they want to quickly shift out to their clients. They pay you a measly 21k in your first year, whilst at the same time making so much money off of you.
Definitely DO NOT recommend this graduate scheme as it's business model gives no incentives to the individual. It is both mentally straining and can be emotionally stressful for some individuals that do not have a background in IT/Business, especially as absolutely NO support if given to the trainees.
