Thousands of jobs were lost in the information technology (IT) sector when dotcoms, the shooting stars of the Nineties, fell to earth at the turn of this century.

It was a rude awakening which made IT firms choosier when recruiting staff and caught many ambitious graduates in a hopeless "no experience, no work" cycle.

Against this gloomy backdrop, a Brighton-based company has launched hundreds of successful careers in the industry over the last four years.

FDM, which is based in Trafalgar Place, runs one of the most highly regarded computer training schemes in the country, taking 80 new recruits every year.

The FDM Academy, set up in 1984, teaches people the latest programming skills and languages and fast-tracks them into the workplace.

The course is a mixture of online learning and contact-based tuition which, if completed successfully, can lead to a minimum two years' employment with FDM.

As a global supplier of IT services, FDM is well placed to know which technologies are in the most demand at a given time and can focus the training accordingly.

Technical director Julian Divett says: "People tend to leave university with a broad understanding of information technology but they are short on any real in-depth knowledge.

"They may know a bit about three or four programming languages but not enough about any one of them to be a useful employee.

"We know exactly what the commercial sector wants and we have the expertise to train people accordingly."

There are two ways to pay for the course, through self-funding or sponsorship.

The vast majority of candidates choose the latter option which commits them to work for FDM for a minimum of two years after training.

Candidates must show a genuine enthusiasm and aptitude for programming, even if they lack the essential practical skills to break into the job market.

The aim of the academy is to give candidates a rounded IT skill base that will ensure they are effective across a broad range of potential assignments.

The training course is split into several training modules, which can be studied either from home via the web or at one of FDM's training facilities, or a combination of the two.

Regular IT seminars are used to assess progress and introduce new subjects.