Excellence in Tech: Inspirational Women at FDM

It’s one of the absolute highlights on the FDM calendar. The announcement of the 2021 FDM Consultant of the Year Winners!

Nominated by FDM’s client partners, this prestigious award is presented to four FDM consultants across our FDM centres globally for making the most outstanding contributions on client sites.

This International Women’s Day 2022, we are thrilled to announce that all of this year’s winners identify as women. FDM has always championed gender equality and diversity in the workplace and we are committed to encouraging more and more women to work in STEM fields. Currently, almost 36% of management and 31% of all employees at FDM identify as female.

In yet another year of worldwide workplace challenges, these outstanding performers have shown extraordinary dedication in their roles to not just rise above these challenges but to truly shine! We asked each of them to tell us a little about their role, their background and some of the lessons they can pass on from their experience.

Please join us in congratulating these deserving winners and reading their inspiring stories.

‘Colleagues make the experience extremely enjoyable’

My parents fled the war in Afghanistan and came to the UK where I was born. I graduated in psychology and have always been involved in rewarding roles helping others or attempting to make a difference.

My degree allowed me to learn not only the research process, but how to gather, organise, analyse and interpret data. Psychology also explored thoughts, feelings and motivation behind people’s action providing an excellent skill set to have in any career.

My current role is as a Business Analyst and UX Designer at a major banking group. Working from home can be tough, however my colleagues are extremely supportive and have accepted me as a trusted, core member of the team, allowing my experience to be extremely enjoyable.

Without FDM, their training and relationship with clients, I wouldn’t be in this role due to having no previous IT experience. FDM opened those doors for me.

During my time at FDM, the main lesson I’ve learnt on client site would be push yourself to do your best and you will be recognised for your efforts.

‘Your job isn’t tech, it’s helping people’

I studied German and Business and taught myself to program when I tried starting a business and made the web app myself.

I’m now at the Chicago branch of a financial services company working as a DevOps Support Analyst. I have been made very welcome, they treat me like a regular employee, not a consultant.  My team and I work very well together and the management respects and listens to me and my teammates. We have a wide range of responsibilities, which always keeps things interesting. 

I’m very grateful to my account manager and FDM for giving me this opportunity.

My top tip for someone who wants to pursue a career in tech is to remember that your job is not in tech, it’s in helping people. The better you are at understanding the business user’s concerns, the better you’re able to solve their problems.

‘Small steps can take you beyond expectations’

I worked as a Financial Analyst before joining FDM and got my first placement as a Technical Analyst before my current role. FDM provided me career advice and condensed practical technical training. The account managers helped secure opportunities for interviews with top tier financial institutions and spent much time preparing me for them. 

My Professional Accounting degree gave me analytical skills and knowledge about financial products that allows me to digest info quickly in my role. Working in a Risk & Control Centre of Enablement Team, my days are typically packed with meetings to coordinate teams with relevant internal experts to discuss risks involved and come up with relevant controls to mitigate them. 

My number one lesson since starting with FDM is that each small step beyond your expectations will compound over time.

‘Thank you to all the FDM Academy’

I graduated from the University of Alberta with a BSc in Food Science & Technology and found the engineering mindset learned there is very helpful to my current role.

I would say it’s all the different people in the FDM Academy who helped me get there. The trainers who delivered far beyond the class content. The account managers who connected us to roles, shared experiences and helped us prepare for interviews. And the great support from the administrative staff. I want to say “thank you” to them all, they are so responsible and supportive!

My favourite thing about my current role is the very supportive culture on client site, where I’m now an Application Developer in the Jira Team. What I learned at FDM that I have found most useful is around mindset. The willingness to adopt changes quickly is critical in the IT workplace. 

Since starting with FDM, my most important lesson has been that, as a developer, the ability to work individually is essential and the ability to work in a team is critical.

Could you be the next Consultant of the Year? Apply to our programme today.