Working for FDM?

November 20, 2010 11:24 AM

Does anyone have experience working for the FDM group? A friend of mine is considering entering their training program in the states, which would mean a two year commitment to them as a company. I'm not certain if I should be encouraging my friend or warning them off.

My friend has a few years of experience in the IT industry, but has been unemployed for more than a year. He is exploring FDM as a way to get back into the industry. The deal is that he would be trained by them for free, but he would then have a two year commitment to work for them. If he breaks the agreement, he owes them $30K.

Does anyone have any experience with FDM or any sort of program like this?

posted by Maastrictian to Work & Money (8 answers total)

I have never heard of a company in the US requiring that a person commit to them for two years and then fining them $30K if he fails to complete that commitment.

I'm not even sure if that is legal.
posted by dfriedman at 11:41 AM on November 20, 2010

That kind of a bond is quite common in Asia, particularly India.
posted by The Lady is a designer at 12:05 PM on November 20, 2010

I don't know about private companies in the US, but the US Army requires you to serve x number of years if you train on their dime (definitely true in medicine, not sure about other kinds of training).

And a bond of service is quite common in Pakistan for many different fields.

(on preview, what TLiad said)
posted by bardophile at 12:08 PM on November 20, 2010

I don't know this company, but another point of anecdata is that I have heard of companies requiring you to return a signing bonus if you quit before date "x".
posted by rhizome at 12:12 PM on November 20, 2010

Best answer: $30,000 is a lot to pay for 12 weeks of "skills development." I don't know about FDM, but I have learned that you should get things in writing. So, if they talk to him about his pay after he completes the skills development, he should only pay attention to the parts they are willing to put in writing. Statements with "probably," "on average," "depending," and the like should be disregarded. Your friend should feel better if there is a written guarantee (1) of a job (2) with a specific title and (3) specified pay.
posted by Houstonian at 12:35 PM on November 20, 2010

Best answer: For whatever it's worth, at least they appear to be telling the truth about the awards they won. However, it was FDM Group plc which received the greatest recognition taking home awards for International Business of the Year and Best Employer in Sussex. Rod Flavell, Managing Director of FDM Group plc, was honoured with the celebrated title of Sussex Businessperson of the Year. FDM Group plc is a £55m international IT services company, with a winning formula. A past Sussex Company of the Year and winner of numerous awards for excellence in training and computing.

But $30,000 seems like a LOT of money for "about 12 weeks" of training.
posted by bardophile at 12:51 PM on November 20, 2010

Best answer: Dunno whether it's just a batch of disgruntled "students" or what, but if you Google enough you'll find that there are a lot of folks calling this a scam. Interestingly enough, on many message boards a person using the name ScottFDM is the only one present to reassure skeptics that all is kosher with the company. Of course, Scott Black happens to be in charge of the Academy.

My spidey sense says run, don't walk, away.
posted by Oriole Adams at 1:09 PM on November 20, 2010

Response by poster: Thanks to all for the answers. My friend will be getting a lawyer to look over the contract once he gets it. I'm glad to know that this sort of contract is not completely new. I'd never heard of anything like it, which seemed sketchy. Ultimately the ball is in his (and his lawyer's) court, but I have passed along this thread so he can have the benefit of your advice.
posted by Maastrictian at 4:04 PM on November 21, 2010