You are a commodity. The end product is you. The account managers see this, the academy staff see and know this, and act and imagine that you don't, and try and deflect this when its brought up. Insulting to the intelligence of their "trainees".
The business model and ethos in the offices is incredibly poor. As an unpaid trainee, you are held to a higher standard of dress and timekeeping than the staff that they pay.
Training isn't about actually learning and understanding - it's about short term memory and regurgitation. You would be as well off to just read the powerpoint slides yourself as well as the training material. The trainers just know what module they're teaching - and may themselves have C# experience, but had no idea about the structure of the course when I did it. It was like they were seeing the slides for the first time as well as my group. If they're as blind to the course structure as students are, they shouldn't be teaching it. But they are.
If you can already prove you're able to do something (I came from a web design background) you are still forced to go through a menial course - which frankly - was outdated even for 2 years ago. The "cutting edge" training they provide is about as sharp as a soup ladle. The only benefit is that you're under duress to complete it, where you might not be if you were doing something similar at home. Have a look at codecademy.com, and then some business based literature on project management techniques and best practice. You'll be better off.
The amount of money they value the course at £20,000 is based not on the value of the course - but how much money you will make FOR FDM Group as an external consultant, less any forecasted costs in enforcing you pay for it. I ended up working as an entry level dev, and spoke to some CS graduates who were hired straight form uni, who were earning about 1.5 times my wage. As a graduate.
Don't work here. The contract is a prison sentence.
