Spotlight on our tech returner: Nilima Dusaj

Nilima Dusaj had a successful career in Singapore. She worked as a software tester for eight years across multiple sectors before relocating with her family to London. Moving to a new country and with a young daughter to look after, Nilima took an extended maternity break and put her professional life on hold.   

After a six-year career break when Nilima eventually started to look for new roles, the pandemic hit, bringing the world to a standstill and further delaying her plans of getting back to work. Nilima was one of the nine women who joined FDM’s first all-female cohort of Tech Returners in May 2022 and is currently deployed with an international financial services conglomerate. We spoke to Nilima to hear her story of getting back to work and the challenges she faced as a career returner in a new country.  

The career break taboo   

Nilima reflects that in the last few years markets have evolved and so have company requirements. Her initial job applications went unanswered. To improve her chances, Nilima had a professional CV review and enrolled in upskilling courses to match her technical know-how to current market standards. However, even this had little luck until finally an acquaintance told her about the FDM Returners Programme. Unlike other employers who focused on the gap in her CV, FDM looks for the experience and overlooks the gap, she says. You can take a career break for several reasons – from travelling to caring for family and children or health reasons.  

FDM Returners Programme    

With FDM, Nilima found a perfect combination of soft skills and technological upskilling. She mentions that the quality of the coaching, the expertise of the coaches and the flexible schedule – collectively prepared her for a smooth transition back to the workplace and boosted her confidence. Her time at FDM she said formed a ‘really good bridge from my gap to the actual onsite’.   

The support extended beyond coaching. Even after joining client projects, she knew she could reach FDM for guidance and advice whenever needed.  

The power of collaboration   

Nilima recalls the opportunities of collaborating with colleagues on team projects. She acknowledges how working together helped reinforce skills like communication, exchange of ideas, knowledge sharing and distribution of tasks – essential professional skills that seemed to have got lost during her years away from work.    

New learnings   

Nilima is grateful for the technical knowledge she gained that she later applied to projects. She says, ‘This made a huge difference as I didn’t think of becoming a JAVA developer after being a manual tester in my previous experience.’ Additionally, she acquired skills in SQL, Spring, Angular, and JPA, preparing her for real-world projects.   

Nilima’s experience highlights FDM’s commitment – Anyone can have a career in tech regardless of their background. Returners bring a wealth of transferable skills and commercial experience and our Returners team at FDM can identify and hone those talents and help you explore new avenues.   

Back to work  

Since joining FDM as a consultant, Nilima has secured a full-time position at a global financial services firm —an achievement she is incredibly proud of. However, the journey wasn’t without challenges.  

One of her biggest hurdles was adapting to an established team’s way of working after her career break. Integrating into an existing team, understanding their processes, and aligning with the broader organisational culture took time and effort. She tackled this by asking questions, seeking support from colleagues, and staying committed to learning.   

Managing both professional and family responsibilities was another significant challenge. Balancing her work commitments while ensuring she met family responsibilities required careful planning and support from her husband.  

Career highlights  

Nilima worked on a two-year-long project with two major go-lives. She embraced Agile methodologies and continuous delivery, learning how teams collaborate under tight deadlines. One of her proudest moments was receiving special recognition from an end user for a “splendid delivery”—a testament to her hard work and seamless integration into her team.   

FDM support  

Nilima reflects on how FDM has supported her on this journey back to work. She mentions both the Returners team and coaches who understood the additional family and caring responsibilities that she and her colleagues had.   

Access to coaching from home was helpful as it saved her time by not having to travel anywhere. She was available for her daughter and this logistical support was a big relief.   

Advice for career returners   

For those considering a return to work, Nilima’s advice is simple: “FDM is believing in you and betting on your experience, so believe in yourself. Have faith and complete the programme with the zeal with which you had been working previously.”   

If you’ve had a career break and are now looking to get back to work, apply to the FDM Returners Programme to launch an exciting career in tech.