Industrial Placement Student Review

I thoroughly enjoyed my placement at Aldi, it has been one of the most fast paced yet challenging years of my life. I have learnt so much about myself and have developed many qualities that I can apply in other areas of my life. I have felt like a member of the team from day one and was welcomed whichever area of the business I was in.

We work in such small, close knit teams that you are incredibly valued. The teams rely on you and there isn't the option to not pull your weight. Due to the hours you work and the challenges you face, you quickly earn everybody's respect and they know how challenging working for Aldi can be so you immediately create a bond.

I had almost weekly sit downs with my Mentor/Area Manager. We were able to discuss multiple things. We discussed personal/professional develop, particular areas I was doing well/struggling in, how my work life balance was. I then had 3 separate quarterly reviews with my Store Operations Director who wold give me my formal feedback and discuss what areas I need to work on. I always felt like I knew where I stood.

The role is very demanding. There is never a quiet day and there is always something to do. Whilst in store I would constantly be running around and there were always an abundance of jobs to be completed. You feel like you are constantly being watched/assessed and therefore you want to complete as much as possible. There were however some days where I wouldn't get a break and would work long hours, however head office time makes up for this as it is a slightly slower pace.

You are thrown in at the deep end immediately. You become management trained within 6 weeks of joining the business. Once you are management trained you are then running the store when your store manager is absent. This can mean leading teams of 10-15 people and controlling everything. Some days you open the store by yourself as the only manager, other day you place the store's orders and then some days you will close the store. You are also given the safe key to the store and left in charge of large sums of money, it is imperative you are careful with this,

The skills I have developed at Aldi are skills that a degree can't really teach you. Firstly my work ethic has grown significantly, working 50 hours a week everyweek seemed so distance before I joined and now feels like the norm. I have found out that I have a passion for developing and managing people and love seeing employees progress and enjoy coming into work. Having the ability to have difficult conversations with members of staff about performance is something that you can't really prepare for at 21 years old sitting down with a middle man and having to give them feedback is certainly a new experience.

The mood is always quite focused. In store you can have a good time and as long as you are working at a good pace you can find time to chat to people and have a bit of fun. In head office, you are able to talk freely amongst your group and the atmosphere is quite relaxed, this is essential to make the days go by.

Generally throughout the year my placement was very well organised. On our first day with the business we were given a 12 month plan of the year and where/what we would be doing each day. The training aspect during my store time could have been slightly better organised as I feel I missed out on certain important pieces of training and there were times during head office where I felt like there was a lot of repetition and we were being shown the same things multiple times for no reason.

Within 3 weeks of starting the placement we got to go to a hotel to meet all of the other IPs in the country to learn more about the company culture and the way we work. This was incredibly beneficial both to meet everybody and to learn about the history of the business and the strategy for the next few years. I got to go on one other course (first aid) but other than that there were no other opportunities for further training/development.

We have had a lot of exposure to the Area Manager role throughout the year and the role is definitely appealing. There is certainly enough growth throughout the business to want to come back. The role is so fast paced and diverse, it would be great to give it a go. Following the training that we have been given this year we feel like we would certainly be capable of performing the role.

There were no social opportunities other than a Christmas Party in store which I was unable to attend. There have been no extra curricular activities for team building etc. This is certainly an area of the business that I feel could be improved.

I lived at home for the full year during my placement. This kept rent to a minimum and meant that my place of work was no longer than a 25 minute commute. The North West of England generally isn't too expensive a place to live and reside anyway.

There is plenty of nightlife in Manchester and the surrounding area.

There were no opportunities to become involved in outside of work.