Industrial Placement Review

Overall this has been a very eye opening and challenging year. The challenges I faced have allowed me to gain priceless knowledge and experience allowing me to develop new skills and grow as a person. I enjoyed every aspect of it from being given responsibility of running a store to spending time with area managers as well as carrying out project work during my time training at the head office. I was pleasantly surprised at how open and helpful everyone is at the company especially the directors.

My colleagues were very open and honest with me and this allowed us to perform well together as a team. They were always working hard and friendly which only goes to show they valued me as part of the team and cared about the store.

The management who I spent my time with were great mentors and I have learnt so much from them. The store managers, assistant store managers and personal Aldi mentors gave me great advise and helped me during my store time to become part of the team and to get to know the business. My area manager mentor was also extremely helpful in providing advise and helping me to develop new skills through personal development as well as allowing me to gain knowledge about the company and the Area Manager role.

There was never a dull moment during my time on the placement. I was always on my toes and kept busy by the day to day tasks of being responsible for the efficient running of the store. The fact that I was kept busy is a positive and meant I was never bored and clock watching.

I was given a lot of responsibility during my time. I never imagined I would be doing the things I have had the opportunity to experience. Being trained up to a store manager level and running the store was a huge responsibility and one I thrived off, enjoyed and learnt so much from. I don't think you can go anywhere, where you can get such a responsibility of the day to day running of a store.

The skills I developed will help me massively throughout my professional as well as personal life. From effective communication to improved confidence I learn a lot throughout my placement year. With regards to the skills helping with my degree, I think it will make 3rd year at university a lot easier as I am more organised and strategic about my time ensuring I plan all my tasks and use my time as efficiently as possible.

The atmosphere in the office was good. As a placement student I spent majority of my time in stores where the work is not as office based. However during my time at head office the atmosphere was great. I was working alongside a few other placement students and we worked on several projects together sharing ideas and helping one another. The facilities in the office were great as it allowed us to work efficiently and be more productive.

Overall the placement was well organised and the plan was communicated to me. I received a plan for my placement year from the head office which listed the different areas of the business where I will be spending time. Although there were changes to my plan through out the year this was communicated to me and I was always aware of what I was doing next.

I think Aldi made a huge investment in my personal development. At each stage of the placement I had a mentor who would constantly review my performance and give me feedback on areas I can improve on. IT was extremely useful to be able to get feedback from management at different levels such as Area Managers and Store Managers during my store time and the Directors as well which I thought was really useful.

The future prospects with the company are huge. I would love to comeback on the graduate scheme and train up to the Area Manager position. The benefits and perks provided by the company are some of the best in the industry and the opportunity for growth is also very attractive.

During my store time I did not get much time to spend with the other placement students. This was also because we were all spread out around the region. However during head office time we spent a lot of time together and did have social outings which did build a good atmosphere in the office.

I lived at home during my placement time so it was not an issue. It was also useful as I went to university locally too which meant I could still socialise with my friends.

The nightlife was good as Manchester is such a huge student city with a lot of good bars and places to eat.

We did have activities to get involved in. During the placement time we were lucky enough to experience the regional distribution center move to a brand new facility which is the biggest in the world for the company. This allowed us to get involved in fun activities organised a 'Fun Day' for all employees and their families.