Unlocking talent: University partnerships and 100 hires 

At FDM we partner with over 80 UK universities to create a bespoke engagement plans with their careers service teams for students and graduates. These include webinars, workshops, insight days, curriculum projects and more. The aim is to boost the employability and digital skills of students and graduates for evolving job market.

This year marks a significant milestone of 100 hires over the past 5 years from the University of Strathclyde, University of Leeds and Queen Mary University of London. We’re grateful for the time and support of the career staff in making this happen and to celebrate this milestone, let’s take a look at the university partnerships that made it possible.

University of Strathclyde 

The University of Strathclyde is a key university partner in Scotland, hitting the milestone of 100 hires in 2023. The career service staff have accommodated new ways of engaging with students actively promoting FDM initiatives such as our annual She Lives Tech Bootcamp, that has been well– attended by their students. The Strathclyde Technology Fair has allowed us to engage with students of all year groups and disciplines to consider a career in tech. We have seen Engineering students join our Software and Data practices and in many instances, the students hired into Business roles have the opportunity to explore Agile methodologies.

This was the case for Fraser Milligan, who trained in Business after graduating from the University of Strathclyde with a masters in applied economics.

“What I enjoy the most about working in this field is the opportunity to collaborate with experts from diverse backgrounds, gaining exposure to different areas of the company and interacting with a variety of personalities. The job requires a broad range of skills, independent thinking, and problem-solving abilities, which continually challenge me to learn and grow. 

FDM has played a crucial role in my career development by providing me with exceptional coaching in business analysis and project management practices. I received valuable insights into agile methodologies, which allowed me to become a certified scrum master. Furthermore, FDM provided me access to excellent opportunities with some reputable companies. In my current role, I have been able to expand my skills and gain practical experience in agile business analysis and product owner roles.” 

University of Leeds

In June 2023, we attended the Reverse Careers Fair at the University of Leeds, one of the our key partners in the North. We had the opportunity to connect with people across the Careers Service, Employer Engagement and Work Placement teams, as well as the student union and academic departments. The event was a great way of exploring how we could bring value to students and the wider university community.

We also hosted an insight day at our FDM Leeds centre, which included a resilience workshop and an #IamRemarkable session that empowers students to self-promote and celebrate their achievements. Insight days have been a great way of getting to know students individually and they provide students with an opportunity to experience what it’s like in a professional environment.

Student confidence and a belief in their skillset can lead them to establish successful careers in tech- Kunal Ramchurn shared his experience.

“FDM gave me the confidence to expand on my development skills and has also given me the opportunity to gain international business experience in regulatory compliance. I didn’t think that after university I would be living abroad – yet thanks to FDM, here I am in Luxembourg.” 

After graduating in Genetics from University of Leeds and achieving a master’s degree in Bioinformatics and Systems Biology from University of Manchester, Kunal Ramchurn joined our Software practice and secured two separate placements – first working as a Junior Ruby Developer at a UK Government agency and later as a KYC Analyst at a major financial services company in Luxembourg. 

“While on assignment, I worked on multiple interesting projects. From working as part of a Digital Transformation team before and during COVID, moving a project to production, to moving abroad and getting to grips with regulatory compliance, it has been an incredible journey.” 

Queen Mary University of London

We have worked closely with Queen Mary University of London on in-curriculum engagement with students. Each year, we provide real world FDM assignments to second year software engineering students, who work on this project as part of their degree. We have also hosted additional student consultancy projects, including a project on the diversity, equity and inclusion of FDM’s social media presence with students of mixed year groups and disciplines.

These projects allow students to work in a collaborative environment and support them in transferring their technical skills and creative insight to real world scenarios. Developing these skills so early on in their academic journey enhances commercial awareness, and puts them in a great position for the future.

Alumni of Queen Mary University of London, Kin Chung Pang is a Senior Software Developer and works in a Scrum team as part of his client assignment.

“FDM substantially helped my IT career by providing training, refreshing my memory in programming and boosting my public speaking skills by doing mock interviews for potential placements. I am eternally grateful to them for taking a chance on me, which not only helped me meet new people, but also work with highly gifted individuals within the industry… My favourite part about my job is being able to work with a team to deliver actual deliverables being used in the real world.

Each working day has been enjoyable due to the sheer amount of technology that is used in the business. We use cutting edge technology in order to make our lives easier, whether it be for coding, testing or for deploying our code more rapidly.” 

We value the effort of all universities who work alongside the University Partnerships team at FDM Group and we again congratulate the University of Strathclyde, the University of Leeds and Queen Mary University of London on having achieved over 100 hires. We look forward to continuing our work with universities to launch the tech careers of ambitious and talented graduates that are on their way to becoming innovators of tomorrow.