Pros
- I am a IT consultant placed in APAC, specifically in Hong Kong. Transferring from the London office meant that this was a great opportunity for me to explore a new job in a new country and they sponsor your visa too! - Potentially get the opportunity to work for a financial institution - Pay is above average in the local HK market - I have referred more than 4 friends to the company, saying the company gives you a great opportunity to work for a potentially great institution while they provide you with basic IT skills that we never had the chance to learn at uni - Regardless of your academic background (non technical), you have a chance to progress into the ever growing IT field.
Cons
- Training is unpaid in UK, I went about 5/6 months of unemployment due to a lack of job opportunities in APAC. APAC office take priority of their consultant first as they are paid during training which left me waiting to take jobs that no one wanted. -Training on a specific stream does not guarantee that you will be placed in that area of work. Account managers only care about placing you in a role. I have seen developers get placed in manual testing roles, where they are unhappy but have no say in the decision. - Once you are placed in a "role" you have to keep quiet and cant express any opinion or your well-being to FDM. When you do, HR just ignores you and informs you to carry on -Very unprofessional. There are cases where HR works with internal staff against your own personal interest. -The training fee is absurdly high at £20K in london and £25K for Hong Kong consultants. It is understandable that you pay for this fee if you leave voluntarily. However, if FDM ultimately decides to sack you, you also have to pay the fee. This process of decision is completely based on non-factual value. If they do not like you because you spoke up about not being happy in the placement, they can sack you and unload the fee onto you. - Felt extremely discriminated against by FDM Staff, knowing other consultants have gone through the exactly same placement and scenario as me as they were my colleagues. But they did not receive the treatment.
