Industrial Placement Student Review

I thoroughly enjoyed my placement with Aldi, the level of exposure and responsibility I was given was second to none. I had the opportunity to run two stores over a 6 month period before going to Head Office for the remainder of the year.

Very highly. The fact that I was entrusted to manage a team of 40 people in store, my store manager felt comfortable allowing me to run her store as well as, doing the orders on a daily basis. In Head Office, the Directors assigned us various projects, the results of which were then acted upon and had a direct impact on the decisions made across the stores in the region.

I was given all the support and guidance I required throughout my year at Aldi. I had weekly updates with my mentor, a graduate Area Manager, followed my 6/8 week updates with my Store Operations Director. During my time at Head Office, the Ops Directors office doors were always open, allowing us to ask any questions we wanted to, of which they always made time for.

Extremely busy, across the entire year I never found myself without anything to do. During my time in store, there was never a quiet day! When it came to Head Office, whenever one project finished there was always another to move onto.

I was given a huge amount of responsibility, to be given the opportunity to manage two stores and gain vital management experience at such a young age was invaluable. I have been trusted to manage a large team of people which includes members of staff who were twice my age, as well as, being responsible for anything to do with the day to day operations of the store.

The skills I have learnt this year will stand me in fantastic stead for my final year at university and beyond. Organisation, team work and efficiency are three of many skills I have learnt which will aid me greatly with my studies and my future career.

The atmosphere in the working environment was a large factor in looking forward to going to work each day. The staff in store were extremely hardworking and understood what I was trying to achieve from my placement, this lead to a fantastic team ethic. Head Office was much the same, everyone worked extremely hard but found a balance of hard work and enjoying each others company throughout the day.

My placement was set up brilliantly, on my first day I was given a structured training plan for the entire year. This was adhered to throughout, I knew exactly when my holiday weeks were going to be and could plan ahead if I wanted to organise anything outside of work.

The company invested hugely in the Industrial Placement students. Every opportunity that arose to see a different part of the business, we were able to see it. We were given extended periods of time in each department to learn as much as we possibly could over the year.

The future employment prospects and opportunities are massive within Aldi. The graduate job as an Area Manager is a fantastic opportunity for any young person, effectively running your own business of 3 stores. Throughout the placement year, we have spent a lot of time out with our mentors, the responsibility and autonomy they have is staggering and something I would love the opportunity to do.

I had a fantastic working relationship with the other placement students. We had multiple organised events throughout the year which were a reward for the hard work. Due to students being based in multiple regions across the UK we only met everyone twice in the year.

I was lucky enough to be based near home so I did not have to spend a massive amount of money on rent, however the salary for the year was generous and therefore led to a comfortable lifestyle for the year.

Nightlife in the area was fairly limited but that was due to choosing to live at home for the year. Those who chose to live in a city therefore had a better nightlife. On the other hand, I did not do a placement for the nightlife and was able to maximise visits up to university during my holiday periods.

There were plenty of opportunities to get involved in activities through work and outside of work, once a month there would be a sports evening near by which all Area Managers and Directors were invited, as well as, the Summer Sports day. I was able to plan my sporting commitments outside of work and continue to play throughout the year.