Career Advice
Paul Brown
15.04.21
FDM’s Sales Development Programme is a 12-week training programme for our aspiring new Account Managers. Organised into three phases and built around the seven steps of selling, it provides core skills around sales and develops client and product knowledge.
Bringing together aspiring Account Managers from across the globe, participants have the opportunity to build relationships and work on research projects together which are then presented to Senior Management. They also get involved in the operations of our Graduate Recruitment Teams to understand the FDM model and meet consultants at the start of their journey.
The best aspect of the programme is that it helps develop a much broader picture of what goes on across our client accounts in different locations and build strong global relationships. Read about the success stories of some of the people who have been through the programme.
Nathaniel Rowland
Nat joined FDM in 2016 as a Finance Assistant working in our Billing Team based in Brighton, where he was responsible for tracking the timesheets of our North America consultants. In 2018, an opening in our Business Support Team arose and he managed to secure a transition into that team as a Financial Account Manager.
“Being an Account Manager encouraged me to build relationships with other teams and clients. Before the lockdowns brought by Covid, I visited our regional offices in APAC with the brief of seeing how effective the finance function was in overcoming the difficulties of having a centralised finance office based in a distant time-zone. During my 5-week trip, I was able to build strong connections with other employees and return to the UK with ideas to enable positive change within the Finance Team here. Earlier this year, I was offered a new role as an Account Manager.
FDM has always supported my development outside of my day-to-day role, be it an Excel course, a Prince2 or AAT qualification. I’ve just had my 5-year anniversary with FDM and what these five years tell me is that FDM will always support ambition.”
Emily Canning
After graduating in Nutrition and Food from Ryerson University, Emily wanted to expand her horizons and explore the world of technology, so she joined FDM in March 2020, a few days after COVID-19 was declared a global pandemic. Despite having spent only two days in the office before starting to work from home indefinitely, she managed to find her groove working with the team in Canada.
As a Graduate Recruiter, Emily has coached recent graduates looking to launch a career in technology and hosted various student webinars, hackathons and career fairs as a company representative. In November, Emily was invited to complete the FDM Sales Development Programme training.
“I had the chance to connect and collaborate with FDMers across the globe, gaining valuable insight on FDM Consultant Experience, client relationships and strategies for new business development. With the Sales Development Programme under my belt, I am now due to start a new role as an Account Manager in the Financial Services sector, transitioning from Toronto to London in May. I am very eager to apply my skills in a client-facing role!
Liam Robinson
Liam’s first joined FDM in October 2018 as a Business Analysis trainee in the London Academy. After completing his training, Liam applied for an internal position and began working as a Sales Analyst, supporting the Risk, Regulation and Compliance Team in London.
“Throughout my FDM journey, I have benefitted from working in different roles, as this has broadened my skill set and improved my overall knowledge of the business. After one year in my role, I decided to go out on-site and was able to secure a placement sitting within the Global Data and Analytics Team.”
After a few months, Liam had to come off site due to impacts from the Coronavirus pandemic and returned to an internal position with FDM, in the newly formed Commercial Team. He took on more responsibility by running internal projects and providing continuous support for large-scale deliveries within Europe, specifically Luxembourg.
“Nine months after returning to work internally, I successfully secured a new role as an Account Manager in the EMEA Sales Team. I am currently going through the Sales Development Programme and I will be relocating from London to Frankfurt later this year.”