News
Paul Brown
06.01.21
Arjun Kalliyadan is an FDM Consultant placed as a Project Manager for cybersecurity at Aviva Canada. As a winner of FDM’s Consultant of the Month award, his on-site manager had the below to say about his performance:
“We are very happy with our consultant’s services as well as with the services that our Account Manager provides us with. Candidates that FDM puts forward are knowledgeable with a great attitude and are always a pleasure to interview. I, as a Program Manager, think of FDM Group first if a vacancy becomes available. Keep up the great work, FDM!”
-Tetiana Bogachova, Program Manager, Aviva Canada
Arjun joined FDM in December 2018 and was placed on-site in April 2019 after completing his training in Project Management. We caught up with Arjun to find out more about his career journey with FDM and his work on client site.
“As a graduate of Aerospace Engineering, I started my career in the aviation industry. I later became drawn towards tech because of how it was rapidly transforming every industry. I realised that IT is making the world a better place to live and I wanted to be a part of it. When I moved to Toronto, I decided to pursue a career in IT Project Management and FDM was able to offer me amazing training in this area. Transitioning from aerospace to tech, I wanted to join an institution that would close the gap and accelerate my career, which made FDM the perfect choice for me.
In my current role, I manage cybersecurity projects for Aviva. In the last 18 months, I have managed or been part of 12 projects. My main responsibilities include organising and managing all phases of the project to ensure on-time completion, assembling and coordinating project team members to assign individual responsibilities, developing project plans, goals and budgets to identify resources needed and managing and tracking the InfoSec program budget. My greatest achievement on-site has been to take on some complex projects and complete them on time and on budget. During a typical workday, one of my biggest tasks is checking in on our stakeholders across the organisation and assessing the progress of various projects. I start my day by taking some time to prioritise my goals, then the majority of my time is spent on communicating with team members, analysing data, coordinating with cross-functional teams and keeping track of the project milestones. I end the day by re-organising my to-do list for the next day.
One of the major changes I have experienced as a result of COVID-19 is that it has changed the way I communicate. Since we have started working remotely and taking online meetings, I wanted to make sure that I was communicating effectively and efficiently, as we did not have the luxury of face-to-face talk. I frequently asked my colleagues to provide feedback on the way I communicate in online meetings to continuously improve myself. I have since been successfully turning this feedback into action. The support I have received from FDM and Aviva during these unprecedented times is incredible. I am grateful that each organisation has proactively managed the working situation and made sure that all employees are being supported the best way possible.
I am truly honoured to have won Consultant of the Month. It is an even greater honour to be placed in such distinguished ranks as those of the past winners, all of whom are making a positive impact on FDM, our clients and the overall tech industry in Canada. To others just starting out in their career, my main piece of advice is to always be willing to learn. As you keep on learning, you become constantly more valuable. When you are determined to learn, no one can stop you. Your consistent efforts will make you victorious.”
Interested in hearing about the experiences of FDM alumni? Check out their stories here: