Get back to business
with our Returners
Programme

Supporting experienced professionals return to work following a career break, with training and placements with our industry-leading clients


Why choose the Returners Programme at FDM?

At FDM, we offer you the opportunity to step back into a rewarding and successful career. Whether it has been 1 year or 20 years, our Returners Programme is dedicated to supporting professionals return to work following a career break or furlough period.

Our renowned training will refresh and expand your existing skill set, ensuring you feel fully confident to return to the workplace and prepare you for your new role as an FDM consultant. After 7 weeks of training you will be placed with our industry-leading clients to work as part of their teams. This could see you working on leading edge digital transformation projects, cloud computing, data migration, creating new platforms, or delivering business process improvements.

Are you ready to get back to it?

A supported journey back to work

The FDM Return to Work Scheme offers you much more than just training and experience, we will also provide comprehensive support throughout. Our expert teams, many of whom are returners themselves, understand how daunting it can be when you’re looking to return after a break and will be with you every step of the way.

Our support programmes include wellbeing and mentoring programmes, as well as support for flexible working arrangements should you require them, to help you transition swiftly and confidently back to the working world.

Tech Returners Programme

This Programme is specifically designed for experienced software developers to return to work as Mid-Senior or Lead Developers. Our instructor-led and project-based training will be carried out within the Scrum framework and will refresh your skills in all the programming languages, getting you job ready in weeks.

What you’ll be doing on the Returners Programme

The FDM Return to Work Programme begins with expert training, designed to reconnect you with your existing skills, refresh your knowledge, update your terminology and equip you with industry-recognised qualifications. It covers professional skills, as well as business and tech specific training, and our agile training style ensures you are prepared for any career path ahead of you.

Once you’ve completed training, you will have the opportunity to showcase your skills working on-site with our leading clients. Many returners go into Business Analysis or Project Management roles, however if you come from a legal, training, financial or accounting background, we will help find a role to best suit you.

Read our day in the life of an FDM Returner for more information.

Want to find out more?

What our consultants say

Farzana Rahman
Service Lead for Payments
Fraud and Financial Crime

“My experience with FDM has been really positive. Through the Returners Programme and the experience gained in my first year I’ve been able to access an entirely new sector which would have been difficult otherwise.”

Kester Khan
Senior Business Analyst
Deutsche Bank

“After an extended career break, the Returners Programme at FDM offered me the opportunity to re-skill and up-skill and then get back to work. I have hit the ground running, made new friends and built new networks that will stay with me for the rest of my career.”

Duan Ong
Project Management Office
Janus Henderson

“The training and support I received on the Returners Programme has enhanced my confidence to re-join the workforce. I would recommend FDM to anyone wanting to re-join the workforce or changing career track.”

Adele Duero
Business Analyst
Standard Life

“The opportunity that FDM offered me was an actual realisation of my dream of being able to go back to work after eight years and having the confidence to do so. I was worried that I didn’t have anything to offer and I was out of date but FDM showed me that I had what I needed all along and upskilled me to even make me a better version of myself.”

Do you qualify for the FDM Returners Programme?

With FDM, there’s no need to hide your career gap: we are actively looking for individuals with at least a year out of work to join our client’s teams and bring unique perspectives and experiences. If you are passionate about technology and business and are ready to get back to work, then this could be the ideal role for you.

We ask that you have the following:

  • A minimum of 1 year career break (including furlough)
  • 5 years of previous commercial experience, which includes experience in Business Analysis, Project Management, Project Support, Accounting, Law or Finance

  • An interest in becoming a Business Consultant
  • Ability to commit to FDM for 2 years after training
  • Availability to work in a full-time role

Application process

1

Join an open morning

More info

Join an open morning

 

 

We encourage you to join one of our open mornings to find out more about the programme and how it can support your journey back to work.

Sign up to the next open morning

Close

2

Apply online

More info

Apply online

 

 

Simply submit your application and CV here to get started with FDM and relaunch your career.

Apply online

Close

3

Complete a telephone interview

More info

Complete a telephone interview

 

A member of the FDM Returners Team will be in touch to tell you more about the programme and discuss your previous experience and career aspirations. This is also the perfect opportunity for you to ask us any questions you might have.

Close

4

Join an
assessment day

More info

Join an
assessment day

 

The assessment day will enable us to get to know more about you, your skills and attributes. We will ask you to complete various tasks, focusing on your interpersonal and business skills, which will help determine whether we can offer you a place on the programme.

Close

If this sounds like the right move for you,
join the Returners Programme

Support and Development

Our support and development initiatives are catered to help you at every stage of your journey.

Wellbeing
Programme

Wellbeing
Programme
Our online wellbeing portal provides a range of helpful resources, including professional guidance and advice. Consultants also have support from Wellbeing Ambassadors throughout the FDM community.

Consultant
Experience Partners

Consultant
Experience Partners
Consultants can receive support and career guidance from Consultant Experience Partners while working
on-site with our clients.

Supporting
Flexible Working

Supporting
Flexible Working
The FDM Return to Work Programme is made specifically for those of you who have taken a career break, often brought about by circumstances and responsibilities outside of the working world that require your time and attention. Because of this, we take care to support your needs for flexible working arrangements, should you require them.

Mentoring
Programme

Mentoring
Programme
FDM partners consultants with mentors, based on their career aspirations and helps build long term professional development opportunities.

Online Learning and
Development Programme

Online Learning and
Development Programme
Virtual training, webinars and discussions are available to consultants, as well as e-learning platforms, including LinkedIn Learning and Intuition Know-How.

Consultant
Peer Support

Consultant
Peer Support
Our Consultant Peer Support (CPS) Programme introduces new FDMers to those already working on-site, to help them settle into their new role.

FDM
Networks

FDM
Networks
FDM Staff Networks are employee-led resource groups, designed to provide a community for discussion around specific shared characteristics and to offer support.

Employee
Recognition Awards

Employee
Recognition Awards
FDM are proud of our consultants’ achievements. We celebrate with company awards, including ‘Consultant of the Month’ and ‘Consultant of the Year’.

Consultant
Collaboration Platform

Consultant
Collaboration Platform
Our Consultant Collaboration Platform keeps FDM employees connected; they can socialise with each other and access helpful resources to aid learning and development.

Consultant
Experience Events

Consultant
Experience Events
We host monthly virtual events to help keep us all connected and make sure everyone feels involved in the FDM community.

Employee
Engagement Surveys

Employee
Engagement Surveys
Our partner, Inpulse, help us create employee surveys, which enable us to gain a better understanding of our people’s views and help us take positive action to accommodate their needs.

CEO
Communications

CEO
Communications
Our CEO, Rod Flavell, keeps us
up-to-date regularly through LinkedIn, Twitter and YouTube.

Check out #RodsRoundUp videos to find out more.

Returners Programme FAQ

The FDM Returners Programme is designed for professionals of any age who have taken a career break of at least 1 year. To be accepted onto the programme, we require that you also have a minimum of 5 years work experience in a relevant field.

The FDM Returners Programme begins with a 7-week training programme that will update your existing skill set, equip you with new knowledge and skills, and provide you with relevant qualifications to prepare you for your return back to the workforce. After training, you will be placed on-site with one of our clients and work within their internal teams in a role that best suits your strengths.

Yes, once you have completed our 7-week training programme, you will be given the opportunity to work with one of our world-renowned clients. Depending on your chosen career path, this could see you working with some of the most successful companies in the world, including BP Group, Save the Children, HSBC and Virgin Media.

First, we recommend that you attend one of our open mornings to get a better feel for the programme and decide whether FDM is a good fit for you. You can then submit your application and CV online. Next, we will conduct a telephone interview followed by an assessment day at one of our UK training centres. During the assessment day, you will be required to carry out various tasks in order to demonstrate your skills to our recruitment team. If successful, you will be offered a place on our FDM Returners Programme and begin training.

Working with our esteemed clients, you will receive a competitive salary. Your salary you receive will depend on your role, how many years of experience you have, your geographical location and the company you are working for. For more details, please get in touch with our team.

On the Returners Programme, it is not a requirement to be geographically flexible, however if you are interested in a role in a particular location, we will take this into consideration. We also always try to ensure you have a reasonable commute.

Yes, we are committed to making your journey back to work as seamless as possible which is why we support flexible working arrangements if required.

At FDM, we offer a variety of support and development programmes which are designed to help you throughout training and during your client placements. Please see here for a full list of our support and development programmes.

For more information, please get in touch with our team who will be happy to answer any more questions you may have.

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