Canadian consultant with FDM; good entry point to a larger career
Pros
Career opportunities - They have contracts to fill roles with their clients. However, it doesn't mean you can just expect a job after training. Do your work - that is the goal, prove to their Accounts team that you are a hard worker. People often complain about not getting placed after their training however these are people who are often the ones expecting a job to come to them. Build a strong work ethic and learn the skills they offer and you WILL get a job. Good atmosphere - FDM offers the practicality of a typical office, as trivial as this sounds, the way you conduct yourself in school is NOT the way you conduct yourself in an office. You will learn appropriate workplace communication and etiquette. Good starting point - My background is finance, I was trained well enough to perform an IT role, having no prior IT experience (albeit my specific role is a cross of both Finance and IT). To be specific you will learn UNIX and SQL, which is the backbone of virtually any IT company especially in IT/Finance (Banking). Should you pursue the Java role you will learn Java from a beginners perspective. Good pace - The pace at which material is covered is good, there are no lull periods, however each lesson is fundamentally built upon the previous lesson. As intuitive as this sounds, its not as common in practice. There is no abstract theory to be confused about; lesson are very practical and hands on. Good opportunity to build network - As a new recruit in the workforce, you will quickly (or should already know) that it is necessary to build a strong network. Because of FDM business model to put you in front of their clients you can also leverage that to build your own personal network. You are put in front of project managers, hiring managers, team leaders, and even the occasional president. And all that is expected out of you is to show up and complete your work. Potential to work abroad - FDM has a global presence. Occasionally an opportunity will open up in another office in another country.
Cons
Yes, you are unpaid during training. This is difficult, but doable. If you are a diligent, hard-worker, you will be on the top of every account managers list to get placed. Some lackluster courses - Do not misunderstand here. There are some very quality courses that FDM offers (UNIX, SQL, PL/SQL, Excel VBA to name a few) however there are a few courses that do not offer much but are deemed mandatory. Teaching quality - In some instances you will be learning from a book or the internet. FDM does have a few very good instructors, however they tend to teach across streams which sometimes leaves other streams for a particular course lacking. Not all streams are equal - This is more a cause of competitive and economical factors. Do not expect to have as many opportunities in the PMO stream than the Development stream. Transparency - Occasionally it is difficult to get a hold of Account Managers or to get answers for questions.