Industral Placement Review

I thoroughly enjoyed my placement at Aldi. It offers a student a huge amount of responsibility and allowed me to really push and develop myself throughout the year. As I am studying a Business Management degree I am happy that I was given the opportunity to be an assistant manager of a store and that I was able to really lead a team and direct them in whatever way I thought was best. This responsibility is certainly something that will look great on my CV and something that I can take into any future role that I find myself as well as in life outside of work.

The year is structured as so that you are never really with a team for too long. In terms of working in store, there are different cultures in different stores and you could sometimes see the different clicks in stores. This being said, you are in a professional environment and everyone is aligned to achieve the same goals thus work together in a productive way. Most managers saw the benefit of having you in stores, but it did feel that sometimes managers saw your training as more a hindrance to their day and this sometimes had an adverse effect on my training, particularly in the early stages when I perhaps did not out myself first.

As previously mentioned, the year is separated to work in multiple stores over a period. Early on I felt as though guidance was not fully given in terms of what the expectations were, and there was not a training checklist present until I had to ask for it after over a month of being in store. Support is very much there depending on how much you push for it. My mentor was extremely supportive and would go through my training whenever they were in the store or if I was out with them visiting stores. Having two of you after a while of working together can be really beneficial as it frees up time for one on one training. Mentors are always on the end of the phone when you need them and would be the go to people if you have anything that concerns you that you feel is not appropriate to talk to the store manager about.

There were never enough hours in the day. The 50 hours per week you are contracted are never enough, and you'll quickly find yourself losing track of time on a daily basis as there are so many jobs to get done in store. When managing a shift you have to be constantly on top of everything and everyone in the store making sure they are doing the job you have assigned to them. If you are not running the shift that day, you should be aiming to learn something you or tick something off on your training list. When in head office and doing project work your time is your own how you wish to use it. You are given a certain number of projects and a certain time frame, and you can use the time amongst yourself and the other placement students to give these projects as little or as much time as you feel necessary to provide a quality piece of work that will benefit the region. These projects are set by directors and you will be presenting to them, so we felt as a group of placement students we would put as many hours in as needed, even if this meant 12 hour days and working weekends. You get very engrossed in the work and tend to lose track of time but your work is definitely appreciated.

You are given a huge amount of responsibility throughout the placement year. When working in the store, you are doing everything that the store manager does, including opening and closing the store, holding the safe and being in charge of all the money going through the tills, as well as creating rotas for the coming four weeks. I found creating rota's was a large amount of responsibility as you are in charge of everyone in the store and what they will be doing for the coming weeks. Projects that you are given in head office also give you a great deal of responsibility as you are trusted to go out and find solutions for real life problems that the company are facing. As a group of IP's we actually came up with a whole new layout for the ambient racking in the regional warehouse that made the operation more efficient and costly, and our idea was actually taken on by the warehouse Section Manager and had begun to be put into operation at the end of our placement.

The skills and training that I received throughout the year will certainly assist in my final year of study. The ability to lead a team should help in group projects, particularly to be able to deal with someone who may not be pulling their weight. The professionalism developed is also something that I believe will be a big help in the future. Giving people a positive and confidence first impression is something that is invaluable, particularly when applying for graduate roles. Organisation and time keeping although cliche, are traits that have undoubtedly improved this year. Having to juggle a number of things at any one time is something that is needed on a daily basis in all aspects of life.

The atmosphere in stores was very much dependant on that store culture. Always positive to the benefit of the store but always focused on achieving the key performance indicators. For us, head office atmosphere was always positive in that we were constantly undertaking group work which required focus and teamwork. Project work was often in a specific area, and you would often have to ask questions to the appropriate person as to help you. However, the staff in the office were always very helpful and happy to answer any questions as often the work you are doing is to help them in the long term.

Overall the placement is very well run. You have a structured plan for the year in advance before you start and holidays are pre planned before the year. Since finishing I am aware that the placement scheme has, in fact, become even more structured, where IP's are in fact graded on everything that does and has a plan of what they are to be trained on and when. I do believe this to be beneficial as my training was understandably not a main focus of the store, and it was left to the sideline when my training manager went off sick.

The company invests a great deal into their placement students. They pay you £25,000 and expect you to earn it. On day one you get a huge set of training materials and books all to read through as to understand the role you will be in. These books are the consolidated when training is done in real life and on the computer. Your training is then put to the test when you are assistant manager of a store for a couple of months. In this time you are fully trained and are expected to carry out the role just as well as a manager who has been in the role for over 10 years. This may sound daunting but with all the training you go through and the fresh perspective you bring it can actually be really beneficial to the store and if you are confident and know your stuff you will earn the respect of the managers around you.

Future employment prospects are very good with Aldi. The graduate scheme is very successful and has been a platform for many current directors at all levels of the business. They develop and train their graduates in a tough programme with a series of exams to pass before they are handed an area and their own three stores. It is a highly demanding scheme, however, helps start a successful career for those who go through it.

Due to being in separate stores in different cities is was very difficult to have a social scene at the start of the year. In head office, however, as we spent over 60 hours a week with each other in work mode we made the effort to go for drinks and dinner when we could as well as the occasional night out as we were working Monday to Friday here.

I had no additional cost of living as I was living at home for the full year. Stores were situated within 45 minutes maximum from home as was head office.

I lived at home so I would go there if I was to go out.

Aldi is heavily involved with the teenage cancer trust and the Atherstone region highly encourage stores so come up with fundraising ideas to get involved in. Each store in the region has a Just Giving page and all events that they take part in are put onto that. These Opportunites are endless for stores.