I'm almost done with my two year jail period at FDM - and boy am I relieved.
1.) I received Java training, valued at 21,000 pounds, by someone who had completed the same course less than a year before. Think about this, you could do three masters programs, at the best universities in the world for this kind of price. Outrageous. You sign the contract before you've received any training, which they claim to be world class.
2.) You are treated like a child during the training. The account managers/sales teams are the champions of this organisation. They know nothing about technology - but boy, do they know how to sell cheap labour.
3.) Salary. You will earn less than a babysitter for two years. The cut you take from the client is in most cases less than 40%. That means you're working more for FDM Group, than you are for yourself.
4.) The contract. You have absolutely zero power, zero safety net. You can, legally, be kicked out at the discretion of FDM (i.e for no reason), and be forced to pay back over 20,000 pounds. It appears they generally like to settle out of court, but they hold this threat over your head for everything. You forget to send in your weekly timesheet one week? Guess what, you're breaking your contract - and they actually threaten you with disciplinary action! I've taken the contract to a few different lawyers - and they all say you would lose in court. The only way out appears to be family matters and health cases - they seem to be very fair in these cases.
5.) Third year - beyond your two years. After two years of telling me the client will hire me (this came from both sides of the table). FDM and the client have gone behind my back to agree a third year salary. They now say they can't hire me, FDM have made me an offer. It is lowball when you look at the average salaries you should be earning in this industry. They then told me this was non-negotiable and that they wouldn't pay market rates.
Trust me. You do not want to join this company as a graduate. In our industry - if you accept such a low salary - guess what - you're indicating that you are a terrible tester, developer, PMO. It's a shame that they tend to pray on young graduates with little real world experience. I fell for it. These guys are expert sales people. Get everything in writing, question everything, if you don't, you WILL be burned.
