General Management Industrial Placement Review

Throughout my placement year with Aldi, I have seemed to experience extreme highs and extreme lows. The type of work massively varies through the year, from running an entire store and working in the retail environment, to completing data analysis and managing projects alongside Directors. Unfortunately in my experience, I did not enjoy my time in store and due to this being the majority of the year, I have had to rate this section '6/10', however my time at Head Office was much better suited to myself and therefore I would have rated this alone a 10/10, and the store time a 1/10.

At Aldi, you are given masses of responsibility given your age and lack of serious work experience, especially when it comes to time in store, and I do not believe this is reflected in terms of praise and positive feedback. Aldi is within the mentality that you could do 100 good things and you will be remembered for your 1 bad thing, and I feel this was enforced throughout my time in store. However, at Head Office, when presenting completed projects to Directors, it was evident that they were extremely impressed with the quality of work provided, and this felt extremely rewarding and satisfying.

For the entire placement year, you are assigned a mentor, who is your 'go to' contact for any questions, queries and guidance. This is something that feels very comfortable when beginning your placement year, and spending time with them to get to know the company in the first 3 weeks really helps you to settle in. This is someone that you are able to learn a great deal from in terms on management style. When working in store, you are most definitely thrown in at the deep end, and after 4 weeks are acting as a Manager and your skill set is expected to match. I sometimes feel that during my time as an Assistant Store Manager, the store management team were unsupportive and expected a higher standard of management than I was able to give, given my lack of experience.

When working in store, you do not have a minute to relax- therefore I would argue that you are most definitely 'too busy'. Working a minimum of a 10 hour day and not having a minute to think becomes very very tiring, especially when you're running around a supermarket for the entire shift. Head Office feels like a complete contrast to this, and suddenly having a coffee break and a chat with colleagues becomes acceptable! This is strange compared to the fast-paced store environment that you are used to, however being in this calmer environment is extremely welcomed after the first part of the placement year.

There is no doubt that the responsibility given on this placement year is by far much greater than any other placement year. Less than 2 months in, you have keys to a multi-million pound store, and are responsible for the building and managing the team within it. In terms of development, being in such an environment pushes you to your maximum potential and allows you to transform as a person over 12 months. Whilst in Head Office, you are completing project work that is relevant and even impacts the entirety of ALDI UK.

As noted above, the leadership and management skills are incredible. Further to this, after working in the office environment, your excel, data analysis, and presentation skills develop in leaps and bounds and this is something that will directly impact upon my degree. After working 50 hours a week for 12 months, there is no doubt that you develop a strong drive and work ethic which will no doubt lead to many additional study hours than previous years at university.

Prior to the placement, you are given a very structured training pack, which outlines what you will be completing each week. Throughout your store time, this is relatively well adhered to. At Head Office, there are times when certain departments are not prepared for you, leading to monotonous tasks being completed to fill your time.

This varies massively throughout the year. The company invests a lot of responsibility into you throughout your store time, however with very little actual training and with a more 'learn on the job' attitude. Spending time with the Area Manager, in my opinion, is the time that you least develop, as it sometimes feels that you are completing the same audits continually and not really gaining anything more out of it. Despite this, I believe Aldi hire Placement Students with the view to becoming Area Managers on Graduation, and therefore I do think they try to provide you with as much insight into the company as possible throughout the 12 months.

I soon realised that the Aldi store environment is not for me, and I would much prefer a more project/office based role than a hectic store environment which is pushed on efficiencies and cost cutting. For aspiring Area Managers, I believe the future employment prospects are very good, and you get rewarded well for your hard work. However in my opinion, the working hours combined with the pressure are not worth it.

You are strongly advised not to socialise amongst store colleagues, and therefore there was no social scene.

Lived at home.

Working 50 hours a week, you do not want to go out, because you are physically exhausted. I much preferred spending my free time watching TV and drinking coffee :)

As previously stated, socialising is kept to a minimum throughout your time at Aldi.