Aldi Management Industrial Placement Review

The whole experience for me has been amazing. My business skills have developed massively over the year and I have become a more confident individual that has faced challenges no other placement would give me. You do have to be a hard working individual but if you have the right mind set and work ethic you soon develop a passion you never realised existed.

I felt valued by my colleagues throughout the whole process. During my management training in store I was respected by managers that had been with the business for years who were now having to be managed by me. I built relationships and found a balance between professionalism and personal leadership which enabled me to be a valued member of the team.

I was given support through various people. My mentor for the whole year with the business gave me continuous feedback and advice when I needed it. I built a really strong relationship with them so I knew I could turn to them when I needed guidance or advice, making my experience more engaging. I also had regular updates with store managers who were training me as well as immense support from the teams in stores.

I was always busy with Aldi and absolutely loved it. You’d think a ten hour shift is long but it literally flies by. There is so much to do in the day and once I got into the routine it became second to none to me. You will never be bored with the fast pace of the company, it’s all about adapting to situations that are last minute and unexpected.

Responsibility is a key aspect of the management placement scheme. For instance, 6 months into my placement I was running a store on my own with my own team of 25 individuals - it really is surreal. You were responsible for staff, customers and the stores performance on a daily basis.

I have always wanted to go into a HR role after my university studies and this placement has fuelled my desire further. It threw me into the deep end and I got to experience management hands on whether it be at Store Manager, Area Manager or Operational level. It has provided me with future potential opportunities with the company and has developed my analytical, communication and organisational skills.

The general atmosphere is engaging, intense and warming. I would say this placement isn’t really based in an office. The first 6 months are within a store for management training and to understand the company on a deeper level. The next 6 months are based in head office which obviously differs completely.

The placement is very organised. At the beginning I was given a year plan which included; my daily updates, store time and the locations, as well as my holidays. This allowed me to plan my year in advance and be prepared for what would be involved and asked of me.

The company invested a lot of time in me. I had around 6 updates with my mentor as well as with my direct leader which was one of the directors. This provided me with an idea of what areas I need to improve on to achieve the company’s competencies and achieve my desired grading score.

The future prospects with Aldi are very interesting and engaging. They offer a graduate scheme which mirrors the industrial placement scheme for the first 6 months. Therefore the store time is similar but you get more exposure with an Area Manager for the rest of the year. It is definitely something I’m passionate about potentially doing after my final university year.

The social scene was a little difficult with other IPs. I believe this is down to the fact we were not based near each other and lived in different cities during store time. Although, we did have a group chat and I became really good friends with one of them, giving advice and support to each other throughout the year and visited when we would be passing one another. Furthermore, when based in head office for the last 6 months we socialised every day and got lunch daily.

The cost for me was relatively low. I lived in Newcastle and therefore wasn’t too expensive. I also lived with three other girls so that helped to split the cost of bills and rent. Socialising is also cheap in comparison to areas down south so I didn’t struggle with the monetary aspect of my placement year. I also found budgeting really helped me to save money and focus on limiting my expenditure.

The nightlife was good. I lived in the same city that I go to university in so nothing was new to me. During my placement I didn’t really tend to go to nightclubs that often during my placement. I wouldn’t say the placement stopped me from socialising, I just think my priorities changed and I became more mature with responsibilities where individuals would be relying on me. It was a matter of finding the right balance of work and social life, which takes time to begin with.

There weren’t many opportunities outside of work. Most activities were set up by me or the two other IPs to meet up. I sometimes met with individuals on the graduate scheme who had the same mentor as me enabling a further support network. There were a few opportunities in the summer for activities such as events to raise money and celebrate achievements as a region but due to Covid-19 it all had to be understandably delayed.