Industrial Placement Review

The placement scheme is extremely challenging at Aldi, however it is definitely rewarding. I did not particularly enjoy working in store, and the training sometimes felt like it was not as described. There have been many high points and low points, but all in all I have enjoyed the year and feel like I have grown and matured as a person.

Whilst in store I felt very valued and store staff knew what the position was and had a great deal of respect for me. It is apparent that some store managers do not view the IP's the same as they do an area manager, and show slightly less respect. Although the store staff are often really friendly and easy to get on with, you are discouraged from building any friendships or relationships in store and are not allowed to participate in any out of work activities with stores or attend 'fish events' (team building). We did not get much chance to spend time with the other Industrial Placement's until late in the year and there was no team building activities for us to do so

Whilst in store I had a very good relationship with some managers and the guidance from them was excellent and it really helped me develop into the job and the company. We also had regular performance reviews and updates with our direct leaders and supervisors, which was good to keep track of your progress. I did however, work under one bad manager in one of my stores who I did not get along with well at all, I received no training or guidance and felt very isolated whilst working under this manager. At this point it would have been nice to have more contact with my mentor, who during this time of the year did not keep in touch. However, for the rest of the year my mentor was excellent and really easy to build a good relationship with, and this really helped when working on projects later in the year.

How busy you were on an average day varied considerably. There would be some days in store where you are required to work in excess of 12-13 hour shifts and are rushed off your feet from start to finish, and be expected to be back in work 8-9 hours later. However at the same time whilst undertaking the head office training part of the year it was often the case there was not enough work for us to complete. Whilst working in the finance department many people had no idea they were supposed to be training us and this led to us doing tasks to fill time such as archiving and organising stationary cupboards, and often sitting around waiting for the next person to give us work. I did however manage to complete my university work during this time, however did not feel like I broadened my knowledge of the department. There were also days during working on projects that are the perfect balance, as you can plan your own work schedule and day.

The responsibility given to you during store time is very rewarding, within 6 weeks of training I was in charge of the safe for my store, which involved cashing up the entire store which took an extremely large amount of sales every day. I also had the chance to place orders for the whole store for an entire week whilst my store manager was on holiday. On top of this you get the chance to merchandise displays/specials and run the shift, leaving you responsible for the store team in that day. Whilst undergoing area manager training the responsibility levels drop considerably and it feels like you become area manager's personal auditor, carrying out mundane but necessary tasks like date checks. It does feel like you miss a lot of the important parts of the area manager role out in training, although I did get to carry out a few interviews which was really interesting and challenging. I also got the chance to work on two large projects, one of which will have helped the trading department prepare for Christmas and pre-plan product quantities.

You quickly have to get used to the long 50 hour weeks, and build a work ethic sharply if you do not already have one and this is something I believe will benefit me greatly back at university. The processes that I have had to follow in order to carry our project work will definitely help when working on assignments in my final year at University. On top of this, as Aldi is a very corporate company, I picked up very quickly how to present myself, greet colleagues and directors and also engage with subordinates.

The store offices are often very busy as cashiers are coming in to count tills and there is always cashing up taking place, however they are normally quite positive and a place for people to engage with one and other. Whilst at head office atmosphere in the office is really good, the girls who help the stores operate from day to day are absolutely amazing. They are really welcoming and so helpful when working on projects, and were great fun as well. The area manager workroom was a really good place to carry out project tasks, as it was quiet enough to be really productive but also a great opportunity to build relationships with area managers you do not get to see that often throughout your training. I made good friends with these managers and they then helped with work later on in the year.

I followed my training plan very closely and there were not many changes, this was good as it meant you always knew what was coming up. However, during area manager training when buddied up with mentors and area managers there was often numerous trainees in one area at a time, meaning that who was doing what became confusing. At one point of my area manager training, there were 4 trainee area managers and myself 'shadowing' the area manager. This meant that I was almost not a priority and again was given mundane tasks to complete, in order to keep me busy. It was also very unorganised at head office when training with different departments, many people did not realise they were supposed to be training us and we was being passed about from one person to the other. The trading department however, were a good example of what departmental training should be like and had a structure which provided us with a good insight into the day to day tasks of their team. And also got to get stuck into some mini projects that got rolled out throughout the county.

We was sent on a very interesting induction course during our first weeks, where we was put up in a luxury hotel, and carried out numerous training sessions. On top of this their is a structured system to follow using textbooks, online questionnaires and one to one training in order to get you to the level required.

Despite the fact I enjoyed the year, the area manager role is not something which overly interests me and in order to be successfully at Aldi, you need to be passionate and committed to the role.

There were only 2 other IP's and we were not located closely therefore it was hard to socialise early on in the year, however we did have a group chat so we could keep in touch. We became much better friends as the year developed and we spent more time at head office together and went out for quite a few lunches. Towards the very end of the year I became quite good friends with a few area managers we saw a lot of, and went on a leaving night out in Newcastle for an area manager going on secondment.

My rent was pretty average, around £400 a month and the salary is more than enough to cover the cost of living up North.

I lived in Newcastle and subsequently the nightlife is pretty good, however you do not get much chance to go out during your store time, as you are either too tired or working.

We were not allowed to go to any of the store activities such as team building, however were not invited to any area manager team building days and therefore felt there was no activities going on for us. There was a couple of charity events going on.